King Charles III has purchased property next door to Queen Camilla’s vacation home amid safety concerns, Us Weekly understands.
Charles, 76, purchased the £3 million (around $3.8 million) property in Wiltshire, England, to prevent it from being turned into a wedding venue, The Mail on Sunday initially reported on Sunday, March 9.
A friend of Camilla’s told the Mail there was “an imperative” for the king to act in order to ensure his wife’s protection and privacy, in part because a potential buyer was considering “commercial use of the property as a short-term holiday rental and wedding venue.”
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Us Weekly understands that no public funding was used to purchase the private property, which overlooks the home Camilla, 77, purchased in 1995 following her divorce from Andrew Parker-Bowles.
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“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,” a royal source told the Mail.
The source added that Camilla is “grateful and relieved,” especially considering “all the additional stresses and anxieties of the past year.”
Charles and Camilla had a difficult year after the king and his daughter-in-law, Princess Kate Middleton, were both diagnosed with undisclosed types of cancer at the start of 2024.
Though Kate is in remission, the king is thought to still be receiving treatment as he carries out full-time royal duties with the support of his wife and other senior members of the royal family.
Friends of Camilla’s say the queen can “be herself” at her Wiltshire vacation home, where she spent time mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
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“She has her horses, she walks her dogs and she loves spending time with her family,” one friend told the outlet. Camilla is thought to prefer the private home to the official royal residences she shares with Charles and the royal family.
Prior to Charles purchasing the property next door, the building’s former owners converted a garage in the grounds into an Airbnb rental, the Mail reported.
According to the outlet, the Airbnb was booked for most of 2024 and welcomed visitors from Europe, the U.S. and Australia.
The former owners also previously submitted planning permissions to increase the size of some of the rooms and also to renovate the interior and exterior of the property, including the addition of new outbuildings and an Italian-style courtyard, the Mail reported.
As for Camilla, the queen’s representatives submitted three formal objections to the plans, citing fears of an increased risk of flooding, but she was overruled, the outlet added.
“The situation was becoming intolerable,” a friend of Camilla’s told the Mail.
Now that the couple own the nearby residence, they can control the building’s private road and prevent public access, the outlet added.
The royal family has several properties across the U.K., including Buckingham Palace, which is predominantly used as administrative headquarters, Clarence House and Kensington Palace, both in London, as well as Windsor Castle.
Charles and Camilla also spend time at several private residences, including Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where Elizabeth II died, and the Highgrove estate, where they recently hosted a reception attended by Stanley Tucci and David and Victoria Beckham.
Us Weekly
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