King Charles is giving up his home in Wales on the edge of the Bannau Brycheiniog, the official new name for Brecon Beacons, with the lease due to expire later this summer.
Llwynywermod was bought for £1.2m by the Duchy of Cornwall estate on behalf of the then prince in 2007 after he spent 40 years searching for the right property.
The former coach house and farm buildings, near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, are at the centre of 192 acres of idyllic rolling countryside.
Since the Duchy of Cornwall was passed to Prince William, the king has been paying rent on Llwynywermod, according to the Telegraph newspaper.
Buckingham Palace said the king gave notice to the duchy earlier this year that he would be giving up the lease, which is due to expire this summer.
The Telegraph quoted royal sources who said the king remained “passionate” about Wales but had decided to give up the property because it was “unlikely” he would be able to use it in the same way as before.
The original owner, William Williams in the 13th or 14th century, was related to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII.
The old house and the disintegrating concrete and corrugated iron farm buildings, where there was also an abandoned slurry pit, were restored by Welsh craftsmen using traditional methods and local materials. Charles also planted climbers including Albertine roses, jasmine and honeysuckle up the walls.
Six of the English field maples that formed the avenue of trees at William and Kate’s 2011 wedding were later rehomed at the Welsh retreat.
The idea was Charles’s, and with William and Kate’s approval he set them in the soil at the front of the house, along a rustic wooden fence.
William inherited a £23m-a-year income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
As heir to the throne, the prince is entitled to the annual surplus generated by the Duchy’s vast portfolio of land, buildings and financial investments. He has also taken charge of overseeing the management of the estate.
In 2021-2022, the annual duchy income came to £23m for Charles.
