KEY POINTS
- King Charles spent a day of private reflection at his nine-bedroom country manor, Highgrove, Thursday
- Queen Consort Camilla did not join her husband and instead headed to her own home, Ray Mill House
- They prefer to go to the places where they can “relax” when they get a break from their “grueling schedule,” a royal commentator says
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla each have their own space where they can relax despite being married.
On Thursday, the King, 73, spent a day of private reflection at his nine-bedroom country manor, Highgrove, more than 100 miles from London, amid the national mourning for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96.
His wife Camilla, 75, did not accompany him and instead spent the day at her Ray Mill House — the six-bedroom home she bought in 1996 after her split from first husband Andrew Parker Bowles, the New York Post’s Page Six reported.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla have kept separate homes since they tied the knot in 2005, but an unnamed royal insider told the outlet that this isn’t because of any marital problems.
“They are a very close couple so this is nothing to do with any tensions between them,” the insider said. “Camilla does have her own room at Highgrove, but she very rarely stays there. When they are in the countryside, she prefers to be at Ray Mill House where she not only is close to her family but also maintains her stables. That is just the way things have always been with them.”
Weighing in on the couple’s decision to maintain separate homes, royal commentator Joshua Rom told the New York Post that this isn’t unusual, considering the king and queen consort “have undertaken an incredibly grueling schedule which would impact anyone, let alone people who are in their 70s.”
“So it is no wonder that when they had 24 hours off, they would both go to the places where they can kick off their shoes and relax,” he continued.
While the couple’s main residence has long been Clarence House, Camilla reportedly enjoys a quieter second life at her more cozy country “bolthole,” Ray Mill House, which is said to be worth nearly $1 million. It’s where she keeps her horses and hosts her son Tom, daughter Laura and her five grandchildren.
“Amid all the pomp and ceremony of royal life, Ray Mill is the place where she is just the Camilla who pops to the supermarket and where she can relax with her grandchildren,” Rom said. “It is where she can retain a portion of herself.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the New York Post that he believes the fact that King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are able to take time off from each other shows how in tune they are.
“This is a couple who are ideal for each other. They are a similar age and have the same sense of humor, same attitudes, same friends, same interests … and they both know that sometimes you need a bit of space,” he explained.
Queen Elizabeth will be honored with a state funeral at Westminster Abbey Monday after an official 10-day period of mourning. King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla and the rest of the royal family will gather for the event, which the new monarch has declared a bank holiday.
POOL via AFP / Kirsty O’Connor
