King Charles is set to lose one of the strings to his estimated £240million bow as he is reportedly selling off his Welsh home in a bid to downsize his property portfolio. The former Prince of Wales bought the cottage which sits on the 192-acre Llwynwermod estate in Llandovery in Carmarthenshire for £1.2million in 2007. Since then, it has acted as his base when visiting Wales.
But now that he is King, with his title passing to Prince William, sources told the Telegraph that it is now “unlikely” that the 74-year-old will be visiting as much although he remains “passionate” about Wales.
What to do with the various properties owned by the King has become a burning question as Charles hopes to cut the costs of his residences.
A royal source told the newspaper that it was an “issue that needs to be addressed” with talks about increasing public access to properties already taking place.
After the Duchy of Cornwall was passed to William, the King gave notice that he would be giving up the estate’s lease which is due to expire later this summer.
The Duchy of Cornwall estate, worth some £1billion, was passed to William when he became the 25th Duke of Cornwall upon the death of the Queen. Since then, Charles has been paying rent on his Welsh farmhouse.
The property, worth £3.15million according to Forbes, is surrounded by holiday rentals that can be used when the King is not in residence. It costs between £550 and £1,200 a week to rent, meaning the King’s larger property cost him some £2,000 a month, the Telegraph estimates.
William will not be taking on the cottage as it was reported that he prefers to stay in hotels when visiting Wales, giving back to the local community in doing so.
When Charles came to the throne in September of last year, he inherited a £20billion property portfolio including ten castles, seven palaces, 12 homes and 56 cottages, according to research conducted by Forbes.
READ MORE: Inside King Charles’s remote Romania residence he ‘loves’ to visit alone
Other than his Llwynywermod country home, which he is now giving up, Charles owns Highrove House in Gloucestershire. The King first purchased this country residence in 1980 for £865,000 but it is now thought to be worth more than £31million.
Unlike the likes of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Scotland are owned personally by the Monarch.
Together, the two estates are estimated to be worth £154million and the latter boasts a 50,000-acre estate which includes a golf course. Charles inherited both properties on the death of the Queen.
Further afield, Charles has several properties in Romania, including a guesthouse in Transylvania, and he is currently on his annual pilgrimage to the country.
He first visited in 1988 and fell in love with the place, later purchasing Blue House, a remote, rustic farmhouse, in 2006.On the exclusive island of Tresco on the Isles of Scilly, Charles owns a six-bedroom property called Dolphin House.
William and Princess Kate enjoyed a family holiday there with their children in 2019. In 2007, Charles bought Dumfries House in rural Ayrshire, Scotland, for £45million, about the equivalent of more than £70million today, through a trust.
The Palladian country house was saved thanks to the King’s intervention, according to Visit Scotland, and has been restored. It is now open to the public at various points throughout the year.
The Queen Mother bought the Scottish Castle of Mey in 1952 and renovated the castle itself and its 30-acre gardens. In 1996, she handed it over to a trust which is part of the Prince’s Foundation.
As part of the Monarchy’s slimming down plan, it is thought Buckingham Palace and Balmoral will now be opened up more to the public so they can pay their way.
Other residences have been made more energy efficient, in part, to further cut costs. Just last week, it emerged that Charles had turned down the temperature of the Buckingham Palace pool to conserve energy in a report in the Times.
