Inside King Charles’ $80 million private country getaway
After experiencing temporary side effects from his cancer treatment, King Charles has made an unexpected decision.
King Charles is currently recovering after experiencing temporary side effects from his cancer treatment.
Last week, the monarch, 76, retreated from London after a short period of observation and departed for his £39 million ($A80 million) Gloucestershire mansion.
According to The Sun, Charles’ nine-bedroom Highgrove House is the safe haven he uses to escape the pressures of public life.
It was where the King retreated to privately mourn his mother following her death aged 96 in 2022.
Royal author Phil Dampier told The Sun’s Fabulous that despite having access to several large royal homes since the Queen died, Charles still loves retreating to Highgrove.
“It is a place where he feels most relaxed and at home, along with Birkhall in Scotland,” Mr Dampier told the outlet.
“He only has a skeleton staff there and a full time gardener but also takes some staff with him when he travels.
“He has said that it’s one of the few places where he can be truly alone and not reached by staff or a phone ringing.”
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Charles purchased Highgrove in 1980 for a reported £800,000-£1 million – funded by the selling off of other parts of the Duchy of Cornwall portfolio – and made it into his family home.
“He spends time on his own deep in thought and reflection at moments when he feels the need to be on his own,” Mr Dampier added.
“No-one is allowed near the sanctuary while he is ruminating there.
“Charles does not watch much television, preferring to work at his desk and receive guests.”
Alongside having six bathrooms, four reception rooms, a nursery wing and 347 acres of land, Charles can take advantage of the swimming pool too.
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No breakfast in bed
Grant Harrold, butler to King Charles and his family from 2004 to 2011, lifted the lid on how the royal spends his day at Highgrove.
Speaking on behalf of JeffBet, Mr Harrold revealed that, despite the popular image of royal decadence, you would “never catch the King having breakfast in bed”.
And while things may be different while Charles recovers, typically he usually works “throughout the day”.
“The day would always begin with breakfast, the only difference with the royals is that it would always be taken in the dining room,” Mr Harrold.
“Royal engagements would start at 10 o’clock.
“The King would hardly ever stop for lunch and engagements would continue throughout the day.
“Often one of their engagements later in the day would usually involve an afternoon tea to make up for the lack of lunch.
“The royals are huge advocates for afternoon tea. This is traditionally taken between 4-6pm.
“All engagements are usually finished by the early evening, but sadly this is when the office work begins. Charles doesn’t really stop.
“Dinner will usually be served between 8-11pm, it is difficult to be precise on that as it depends on what kind of dinner it was.”
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Panic room
As well as having amenities fit for royalty, Highgrove also has a “panic room” with supplies for King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Royal expert Brian Hoey claims in his book, “Not in Front of the Corgis”, that the house was kitted out with a steel-lined panic room, which would stay intact if the rest of the house collapsed.
He wrote: “Inside [the room] are medical supplies including containers of Charles and Camilla’s blood group, long-lasting food and drinks, an armoury, radio transmitters equipped to obtain a signal even within its steel walls, air purifiers and chemical lavatories.”
Decorated for each wife
For a brief time the 18th century house was a “happy home” for Charles and his first wife Princess Diana, according to Mr Dampier.
When Charles moved in, his first wife is believed to have taken on the decoration, with interior designer Dudley Poplak – who knew Princess Diana as a child – hired to ensure she felt comfortable there.
He told The Times there would be “nothing vulgar”, with a “palette of clean, fresh colours — plenty of lime green and aquamarine”.
Mr Dampier added: “Charles and Diana were photographed and filmed there on several occasions with young sons William and Harry, but sadly the marriage didn’t last.”
After Charles and Diana’s divorce the interior was overhauled again to accommodate the taste of his new wife Camila Parker Bowles.
Queen Camilla commissioned the late British interior decorator Robert Kime to make the home more to her taste.
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‘Sleeping apart’
Queen Camilla and King Charles are celebrating 20 years of marriage this year – but despite this are said to spend “quite a lot of time apart”, according to an expert.
While the couple are dedicated to one another, Camilla is said to retreat to her beloved “messy” countryside pad in Wiltshire without Charles each weekend.
Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward told Fabulous: “They actually spend quite a lot of time apart.
“Ray Mill house is Camilla’s sort of release from royal life, if you like.
“Before she married Charles she made a pact with him that she would keep Ray Mill house as her bolthole.
“She goes every weekend when she can, and she goes during the summer so that she can spend some time with her grandchildren and her children, and it’s something that’s away from the whole royal world.”
‘Club H’
Years after their mother’s death, royal expert Katie Nicholl claimed the teenage princes liked to throw parties at Highgrove, with pals dubbing it ‘Club H’.
She said a 17-year-old Harry was once spotted drinking and smoking at a pub near his father’s house.
In her book “The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown”, Ms Nicholl writes: “Those who knew turned a blind eye, but when an aide recognised the unmistakeable smell of marijuana emanating from Club H, the young prince was busted.”
The royal author also alleges that the boys were often given the run of the house as their father trusted them to look after themselves.
Ms Nicholl claims: “With a busy work schedule and Camilla now very much a priority in his private diary, Charles placed too much trust in William and Harry to look after themselves.”
Charles rents it
Now Prince William, the new Duke of Cornwall, owns the house and is thought to charge his father £700,000 ($A1.4 million) in rent for the year.
Mr Dampier added: “But eventually the house will be William’s, although there were rumours that at one time Charles wanted Harry to inherit it.
“That now seems unlikely as Harry is living a new life in the US.”
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‘Pride and joy’ gardens
Despite being a private residence, the house’s gardens are open to the public.
Visitors can take tours between April and mid October, attend annual galas for Christmas and Burns Night, and dine at The Orchard Tea Room.
Up to 200 chickens are said to roam free, producing around 4,200 eggs a year.
There is also a shop that sells food and drink made on the estate, alongside clothing and other mementos, with money raised donated to The Prince of Wales’ Charitable Foundation.
Mr Dampier added: “He has spent decades lovingly restoring the gardens, which are his pride and joy.
“So much so that he throws open the gardens to 30,000 visitors each summer and has so far raised £7 million ($A14 million) for charity as a result.
“At Highgrove he spends as much of his time as he can in the garden, often tending to hedges and flowerbeds himself.”
He’s planted a large number of trees across the sprawling estate which includes a beech collection and created a wild garden as well as a walled kitchen garden.
There’s also a ‘carpet garden’, a wildflower meadow, a sundial garden, and an Autumn Walk.
Charles said: “One of my great joys is to see the pleasure that the garden can bring to many of the visitors and that everybody seems to find some part of it that is special to them.”
Parts of this story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
Originally published as Inside King Charles’ $80 million private country getaway
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