Royal family
King Charles and Queen Camilla are now neighbors after he bought the property next to her longtime home, Ray Mill House.
Problem solved! For nearly $4 million, King Charles III has solved the problem causing Queen Camilla “great anxiety.” The cause: real estate. Namely, the property next to her longtime home, Ray Mill House, going on the market. King Charles reportedly bought the house.
Camilla has worried she might become neighbors with a wedding venue
Per the Daily Mail, Camilla’s been experiencing “great anxiety” about Ray Mill House, “her cherished sanctuary away from the public glare” in Wiltshire, England. It all started when the house next door to hers, The Old Mill, went up for sale.
To add to the 77-year-old’s real estate headache were proposals that The Old Mill become a wedding venue. “Think of it—dozens of wedding guests carousing every weekend just the other side of her fence,” a source said.
Camilla, they added, “has her horses, she walks her dogs, and she loves spending time with her family. This business with her neighbor was frankly the last thing she needed.”
She’s ‘grateful and relieved’ that King Charles bought the house next door to Ray Mill
The solution? Buy the house. King Charles reportedly bought the neighboring property for nearly $3.9 million using “private funds.” (That’s a drop in the proverbial bucket for the king, considering his estimated net worth is $750 million.)
Queen Camilla is, as a source claimed, feeling “grateful and relieved” her husband of almost 20 years bought The Old Mill. The insider also called the real estate purchase a savvy move on the king’s part.
“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,” they explained.
“I know how grateful and relieved she is. Not least given all the additional stresses and anxieties of the past year,” they added, referencing the king’s ongoing cancer treatment.
As for the home’s future, The Old Mill is being leased to a “security-vetted tenant.”
Queen Camilla has owned Ray Mill House since 1995
2025 marks 30 years that Camilla has owned Ray Mill House. She bought the property in 1995 for a reported £850,000 or $1 million. She purchased the home after divorcing her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles.
Built around 1860, Ray Mill House showcases Italianate style. There are 12 acres of gardens and orchards. (They might’ve drawn Camilla to the property because she has a known love of gardening.) Ray Mill House also has a swimming pool—with a wall for privacy—that’s popular with Camilla’s grandchildren.
Despite Camilla’s love for Ray Mill House, it only served as her primary residence from 1996 to 2003. These days, she splits he time between the king’s homes, Highgrove House and Clarence House. Ray Mill is her retreat. Additionally, she and King Charles are expected to add Buckingham Palace to the mix. But not until renovations are completed in 2027.
