On sale, home where Charles courted Diana... then resumed Camilla affair
THE house where Prince Charles met Lady Diana Spencer and wooed the then Camilla Parker Bowles is on sale for £3.75million.
Bolehyde Manor, the 17th century property where the Duchess of Cornwall lived with her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles from 1973 until 1986, is on the market for around £1million less than its owners were asking for it in 2011.
Back then the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, were reported to be interested in buying the property but ultimately they bought a £4.75million house closer to their former home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and the manor house was taken off the market.The eight-bedroom house, set in 80 acres of grounds featuring a swimming pool and tennis court, extensive outbuildings and land for organic farming at Allington near Chippenham, Wiltshire, has been put back on the market again by Earl and Countess Cairns, who bought it from Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles for £600,000 in 1986.
It became the scene for royal intrigue, as the place where Charles took Diana when they were courting and also where the heir to the throne resumed his affair with Camilla in 1978 or 1979.
The house, on land inhabited for more than 700 years, lies only 15 miles from Charles’s country retreat, Highgrove in Gloucestershire. It was given Grade II-listing in 1952.
It boasts captivating gardens connected by formal walks that include a plum orchard, a Mediterranean courtyard, an English kitchen garden, and one section of garden known as Regents Park.
Lindsay Cuthill, an agent with Savills, which is selling the property, said: “Bolehyde Manor is an enchanting house with stunning gardens.”