When King Charles was Prince of Wales, he bought real estate and folded those properties into the Duchy of Cornwall, the vast real estate empire controlled by the heir to the throne. One property was Highgrove, the Gloucestershire “country estate” Charles has called home for more than forty years. Charles retains his “lease” on Highgrove and pays the Duchy (meaning, his son) a fee for staying there. In 2007, Charles also purchased a Welsh “cottage,” which is more like a farmhouse on an enormous piece of land. The estate is called Llwynywermod, and as Prince of Wales, Charles made a point of visiting the estate once a year or so. Well, in June, Charles decided that he simply has too many houses, palaces and castles, so he would give up his lease on Llwynywermod. The palace made a big f–king deal about it too, like they were trying to convince people that Charles was downsizing by giving up his 13th property or something. Well, it also looks like William has no interest in taking on Llwynywermod for himself, so he’s going to rent it out. Which means he expects his father to move out of the property right now. Charles is reportedly “miffed” to be evicted by his son. Weird!

Prince William has told his father he will have to pay to stay as a guest at his beloved Welsh holiday home – and must move all of his belongings out of the property, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The King is said to be ‘miffed’ after William, the new Prince of Wales, told his father that he plans to rent out the picturesque cottage which Charles bought for £1.2 million in 2007 and had lovingly restored.

The property, Llwynywermod, on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons National Park, was bought through the Duchy of Cornwall, which William took over following the late Queen’s death last year. Charles spent a week or two at Llwynywermod each summer, but William has not renewed his father’s lease. After September, it will be available for hire as a holiday home – much to the King’s ‘disappointment’, according to an insider. It means Charles must move his belongings and personal effects out.

Llwynywermod will be marketed to holidaymakers after September. Three nearby properties owned by the Duchy are already let out. The three-bedroom North Range cottage is priced at £2,400 a week. Charles had restored Llwynywermod with the help of architect Craig Hamilton. Such is his affinity for the place, the King agreed to continue to pay for the upkeep of the property, including the cost of hiring the two topiary experts to maintain the manicured trees and shrubs in the grounds.

Last night, a Royal source said: ‘The King was quite miffed but that was the deal. It means he can continue to stay there but he will pay rent to the Duchy and the rest of the time it will be rented out. The King has agreed to pay for the topiary upkeep as he doesn’t want to see all the good work in the grounds go to waste.’

The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that William wants to spend more time in Wales staying in B&Bs and holiday rentals rather than any permanent Royal residence. Palace sources said the Prince and Princess want to support the tourist economy by renting cottages and rooms.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Palace sources said the Prince and Princess want to support the tourist economy by renting cottages and rooms” – more like William and Kate want to only travel to Wales once in a blue moon and they don’t want to set the expectation of having a Welsh home which they never visit. I always wonder about these royal properties being rented and what kind of people actually rent them. Like, does a normal middle-class family really think “oh, I’d like to rent the king’s old Welsh property for a family vacation?” I guess some people are like that? But it does sound like Llwynywermod is in the middle of Welsh Bumf–k, and it doesn’t even have a pool or anything fun to do? As for Charles being “miffed” – my gut says that this is all kind of performative on Charles’s part, like “oh, look at me, I’m so mad at William telling me to get my sh-t out of the cottage I already said I no longer want!” Sometimes, I kind of think these stories are lowkey spon-con, like they’re using royal reporting to promote royal rentals.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.