Two years ago (almost exactly) we learned that King Charles had evicted the Sussex family from Frogmore Cottage, their leased home on the Royal Windsor Estate. The Sussexes paid for the renovation of Frogmore in full, at the cost of something like $3 million, and they had a valid lease on the property, which they used as their UK base. Many “reasons” for the eviction were cited by Buckingham Palace: Charles was explicitly punishing Harry for writing Spare; Charles didn’t want the Sussexes to feel like they could come and go from UK safely, he actively wanted to put them in danger; and of course, “the cost” was cited. As in, Charles thought it looked “bad” for a “grand property” like Frogmore to sit vacant for most of the year, and that the Windsors must look like they’re utilizing every piece of real estate. Post-eviction, Frogmore sat vacant for more than a year. It still might be vacant, we’ve never nailed that down.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Charles is making some real estate moves in 2025 – he has put down £3 million to purchase a private home in Wiltshire, a home and property adjacent to Camilla’s private home, Ray Mill. Charles purchased Ray Mill for Camilla back in the 1990s, after she divorced Andrew Parker Bowles (they used to say Camilla bought it for herself, but that’s a lie). Camilla has maintained Ray Mill as her private bolthole ever since – it’s a place where her kids and grandkids can come and go, and where Camilla can be by herself, away from her husband. Wait until you find out why Charles bought the neighboring property:

The King has averted a security crisis by buying a £3million house next to his wife’s country retreat amid fears it could become a rowdy wedding venue. For 30 years Raymill, the Wiltshire bolthole Camilla refused to part with after marrying Charles, has been her cherished sanctuary away from the public glare. But a royal source has revealed that a proposal to sell The Old Mill next door and turn it into a wedding venue has caused her ‘great anxiety’.

Another source familiar with the plans said: ‘Think of it – dozens of wedding guests carousing every weekend just the other side of her fence.’

Last month, with concerns growing over the potential risk to Camilla’s safety, the King intervened at the eleventh hour to block the sale and buy The Old Mill with private funds. Its boundary fence stands just 30ft from Raymill. A friend of Camilla’s told The Mail on Sunday there was ‘an imperative’ to act for Camilla’s protection and privacy because a potential buyer was seeking to ‘maximise commercial use of the property as a short-term holiday rental and wedding venue’. The Old Mill will now be installed with a ‘security-vetted tenant’ who will ensure it is put to ‘appropriate’ use.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night. But a royal source said: ‘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.’

Camilla has endured a difficult 18 months. After the whirlwind of her husband’s coronation in 2023, she began last year coping with his devastating cancer diagnosis. Friends say Camilla ‘can be herself’ at Raymill. It is where she retreated after the state funeral and mourning period that followed the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022 and where she spends as much time as she can when not required to be at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire and Clarence House in London, the official homes she shares with Charles. More than ever, say friends, she has been grateful for the diversion Raymill House in Reybridge, near Lacock, brings.

‘She has her horses, she walks her dogs and she loves spending time with her family,’ said one friend. ‘This business with her neighbour was frankly the last thing she needed.’

[From The Daily Mail]

The Mail also went into the history of Camilla’s beef with her old neighbor, a beef which has apparently been happening for years now. Meaning, Charles probably bought this property just to get Camilla to shut up about her neighbor drama. Anyway, it’s pretty wild that Charles will go as far as purchasing a neighboring property so Camilla won’t be inconvenienced, and yet he wouldn’t allow his son to simply keep a valid lease on a property which his son paid to renovate. “But Camilla’s security!” Yeah, Harry and his security team now have to stay in hotels whenever they’re in the UK. Charles is forever the biggest dogsh-t father.

This is the Country Life cover which was supposedly photographed by the Princess of Wales. Y’all mentioned it in the International Women’s Day post – this was Kate going to Ray Mill and photographing Camilla in her garden. Weird that they didn’t include that in the IWD posts.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of Country Life.