King Charles has bought a £3 million home in Wiltshire amid fears that it would become a wedding venue, it has been reported. The home is situated next to Queen Camilla’s Ray Mill House. The 77-year-old bought the country retreat in the village of Lacock in 1995 and still uses the countryside mansion to spend quality time with her family.
A friend of Camilla previously told the Mail on Sunday that a potential buyer was seeking to “maximise commercial use of the property as a short-term holiday rental and wedding venue”. Phil Clayton, the owner of The Old Mill – which is the neighbouring property of the Queen’s retreat – is said to have been granted planning permission to use the outbuilding as a holiday let in February 2022. The one-bedroom apartment was then listed on Airbnb and Booking.com for £157 a night.
The four-bedroom home, which is “set within approximately two acres”, is said to have been purchased by King Charles.
A royal source told the Mail on Sunday: “The new arrangement is a pragmatic solution, being both a sound financial investment and a way of maintaining Her Majesty’s privacy, protection and continued enjoyment of her much-loved home, without any public funds being used.
“I know how grateful and relieved she is, not least given all the additional stresses and anxieties of the past year.”
Queen Camilla is said to have purchased Ray Mill House for £850,000 after her divorce from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles.
In 2009, when she was still the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla was granted permission to extend the property. She wanted to create more space so her five grandchildren—Lola, Eliza, Freddy, Louis, and Gus—could stay with her.