EXCLUSIVEKing Charles buys house next door to Camilla's Wiltshire bolthole for £3million... to stop it being turned into a rowdy wedding venue
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.
Ray Mill House, the Wiltshire mansion getaway and home to Camilla Parker Bowles
King Charles III and Queen Camilla smile during a visit to a beach in Australia
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.'
The King bought The Old Mill, Wiltshire, after a proposal to turn it into a wedding venue
Queen Camilla and King Charles III visit the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Property developer Phil Clayton, 60, bought The Old Mill seven years ago for £675,000 and immediately began major renovations which put him at loggerheads with Camilla and other neighbours.
In the most contentious building work, Mr Clayton converted a former garage in the grounds into a £160-a-night holiday apartment, Pear Tree Loft, which he advertised on Airbnb and other rental sites.
To the dismay of Camilla and her security team, it was just 200ft from her front door.
It was booked up throughout last year and gave tourists from Europe, the US and Australia the opportunity to glimpse the Queen and use her private access road, which she shares with Mr Clayton.
Mr Clayton's wife Trudy, 58, wrote to the local council to protest at complaints about the apartment.
She said that she found it difficult to understand why people unaffected 'by the improvements we have carried out at The Old Mill' wasted so much time complaining about them.
She added: 'I find it rather sad on their behalf. Their time and energy could be used for a much more worthy cause.'
Friends of Camilla's said selling the property to a developer who wanted to build a wedding venue was the last straw.
King Charles III, wearing his Irish Guards uniform, and Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
Queen Camilla attends the CHOGM Women's Forum Side Event at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel in Apia, Samoa
'The situation was becoming intolerable,' said one.
Raymill and The Old Mill stand alongside a quiet stretch of the river Avon as it meanders through ancient farmland.
The Old Mill dates from the Norman Conquest while the nearby village of Lacock is recorded in the Domesday Book.
Costume dramas such as Pride and Prejudice and The Cranford Chronicles, as well as scenes for Harry Potter movies, have been filmed there.
The Claytons' renovation project included adding new outbuildings and an Italian-style courtyard with olive trees and lavender.
They upgraded the river hydropower plant which produced their mains electricity.
They also submitted planning applications to increase the size of several bedrooms, a lounge and dining room, renovate the interior and exterior of the property, construct a glass passageway and replace the garage with a two-storey gym.
Three times Camilla submitted letters of objection to Wiltshire planners, via the head of the Highgrove estate. Printed on HRH-headed notepaper, the objections cited fears of an increased flood risk to Raymill. However, she was overruled.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive to meet members of the Military Wives Choirs
Charles's intervention means the 400-yard private road leading to the two properties is now under Camilla's control
Camilla bought Raymill in 1995 for £850,000 following her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles.
Built in the Italianate style around 1860, it boasts 12 acres of gardens and orchards and has a secluded, walled swimming pool said to be much loved by her grandchildren.
Camilla also had problems with The Old Mill's previous owner, Ralph Adams, who died in 2017.
She once objected to her dressing room being overlooked from his land.
Relations between the neighbours deteriorated rapidly in 2006 when Mr Adams complained about her overgrown hedge.
Binmen had refused to reverse down their shared drive, claiming the hedge was 'out of control'.
Mr Adams was told to drag his bin to the nearest main road.
The retired sand merchant said at the time: 'Walking 400 yards is hard for me but she can get a flunky to do it.'
Antagonism deepened that same year when Camilla won planning permission to knock down outbuildings and build new premises for security staff.
'There are planning laws for the select and other rules for the remainder of us,' said Mr Adams.
As one source put it, as well as 'lancing a boil', buying The Old Mill will help to safeguard Camilla's future security.
If she outlives the King it is likely that she will permanently retreat to Raymill rather than a royal palace.
Charles's intervention, meanwhile, means the 400-yard private road leading to the two properties is now under Camilla's control.
Previously, while she had a legal right to use the road, it belonged to the owners of The Old Mill.
This effectively prevented her restricting access to the public, as visitors to her neighbours could come and go as they pleased.
One of her friends said: 'Phil Clayton has spent a load of money on The Old Mill – and I mean a lot.
'I can understand Camilla wanting it to improve her privacy. But, more importantly, she'll want control of the access road which is on that property's land.
'Then she could stop the public getting near Raymill. It would make life easier for her security people.'
