The Duchess of Cornwall’s neighbors have been granted planning permission to build a holiday home accessed by the private road leading to her Wiltshire mansion.
Camilla, 74, who has complained three times in the past about renovations to the neighboring property, now faces the prospect of having to rub shoulders with Airbnb-style tourists.
The Duchess’ Grade II listed property, Ray Mill House, in Lacock, Wiltshire, has only one close neighbour, The Old Mill, owned by Phil Clayton. The two estates share a private road.
Camilla uses her historic property to get away from her husband Prince Charles’ Highgrove House estate, which is open to the public during the summer months and receives more than 40,000 visitors a year.
But the 74-year-old is at odds with her only close neighbours, the Claytons, who have been renovating their estate for five years – much to the anger of locals.
They both share the same private driveway and the Claytons have been granted permission by Wiltshire Council to convert the first floor of a former garage into a one-bedroom apartment for tourists.
The Duchess of Cornwall’s neighbors have been granted planning permission to build a holiday home accessed by the private lane leading to her Wiltshire mansion
Camilla (pictured), 74, who has complained three times in the past about renovations to the neighboring property, now faces the prospect of having to rub shoulders with Airbnb-style tourists
The plans prompted seven complaints, including Lacock Parish Council and local Conservative chairman Peter Hickman, who shares the same private access road and said: ‘There is no commercial right of way and we don’t would not accept.”
Owner Trudy hit back at locals complaining about the vacation rental and wrote a letter to the council.
He said: ‘I find it very hard to understand why people who are completely unaffected by the improvements we have made to The Old Mill have taken so long and wasted energy, over and over again…it’ is always the same group of people, objecting regardless of the subject of the planning application.
“I find that rather sad on their behalf. Their time and energy could be used for a much more noble cause.
Although Camilla had no complaints about this particular planning request, she was unhappy with the original 2017 proposal to demolish the garage and replace it with a two-story building, which the Claytons have now modified to include vacation rental.
Grade II listed Ray Mill House (pictured above) in Wiltshire was built in 1860
An aerial view of Ray Mill House, the Duchess of Cornwall’s country estate in Wiltshire
Highgrove Estate manager Charlie Craven wrote on behalf of the royal saying he was concerned about the flooding and ‘the adverse effect on the flow of water in the river during any period of flooding’.
He was also concerned about the design of the garage saying that it “is not conducive to a normal garage as there are 3 large windows and a door”.
In March 2018, the royal twice objected to the Claytons’ plans to demolish another outbuilding to create a granny flat.
Mr Craven again remarked in his first letter on the issue of flooding, saying: ‘I have now been involved with Ray Mill House for six years during which the river has flooded numerous times.’
He added in another objection: “I am now also concerned that the proposed design appears to be larger and taller than the existing building, which clearly goes against the design statement that it would remain unchanged.”
Despite the complaints, the Claytons fine-tuned their plans and Grandma’s apartment was approved in December 2018.
Camilla bought the property in 1996 for £850,000, with the proceeds of her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles, and it’s a welcome respite from Highgrove, which is just 15 minutes away by car.
A source told Express columnist Adam Helliker: ‘At Ray Mill she can sit with a big G&T, kick her shoes and watch Coronation Street, which Charles hates.
“She also doesn’t have to worry about how the place looks – Charles is so picky about cleanliness, as she leaves her things everywhere. She doesn’t need her cushions to be inflated all the time.
But she’s had to deal with the Claytons’ renovations since he bought her from longtime owner Ralph Adams, who died in 2017 and was also involved in a spat with the Duchess over an overgrown hedge in 2006.
The bush was so out of control that binmen refused to back down the narrow private lane to pick up rubbish, and locals were told to drag their bins to the main road, infuriating some.
Mr Adams, a retired sandman, complained: ‘Walking 400 yards is hard for me, but she can find a lackey to do it.’
Mr Clayton’s home in Wiltshire, The Old Mill, pictured, shares a lane with that of the Duchess
The garage previously pictured at The Old Mill. In March 2018, the royal twice objected to the Claytons’ plan to demolish another outbuilding to create a granny flat.
“It might not be a problem for her, but I’m 83, I have arthritis and collapsing discs. She has to trim the hedge. It protrudes about a meter more than it should.
In the same year, the taxpayer was revealed to be paying a £1.8million home security bill, with the area dubbed by the Daily Mail “Camillashire”.
In June last year the Claytons applied for planning permission for a potting shed as locals feared it would be used as a summer home, with Dr Louise Heren saying: ‘It is very irregular that a “potting shed” requires a veranda – what’s the point of that.
It has received nine complaints, with the parish council adding that ‘there are concerns about the amount of ad hoc development taking place on this site’.
Mr Hickman says: ‘By trying to ‘disguise’ a summer house as a shed, the consultants are insulting the intelligence of both the planning authority and the neighbours.”
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