Prince of Wales removes Queen's sister from payroll

By Victoria Ward

The Prince of Wales has removed the Queen's interior designer sister from the payroll after taking over the Duchy of Cornwall.

Annabel Elliot, 75, has been paid several hundred thousand pounds for her services over the last two decades.

She was employed by the King, then Prince of Wales, as chief designer of his estates following his 2005 marriage to Queen Camilla, her elder sister.

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Since then, she has enjoyed an annual cash injection for her work on the Duchy holiday cottage portfolio, decorating and updating its attractive period properties in Cornwall, Wales and the Isles of Scilly.

Sources confirmed that Prince William would no longer employ Ms Elliot, although it was no reflection on her work.

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The Duchy's annual accounts detail how she had been paid "in the normal course of business and on an arm's length basis" varying amounts ranging between £19,625 ($38,492) and £82,272 ($161,366) to maintain its rental properties as well as the Duchy offices and its plant nursery.

She was reimbursed additional amounts each year, ranging from £7,160 ($14,041) to £90,285 ($177,061), for the purchase of furniture, furnishings and retail stock.

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Ms Elliot was also employed to oversee the refurbishment of a 20-bedroom pub in the centre of the King's Poundbury development in Dorset and to help convert two cottages and a lodge for guests at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which the monarch saved for the nation in 2007.

The Elliot touch, it was once said, had "proved to be extremely successful".

However, the latest Duchy of Cornwall accounts, detailing the incomings and outgoings of Prince William's first full year as Duke of Cornwall, reveal that for the first time in almost two decades, Ms Elliot was not paid for her services during 2023-2024.

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The report simply repeats a line from the previous year's accounts, which concerned Charles's last six months at the helm and then his elder son's first six months, after he inherited the estate on the death of Elizabeth II.

It says: "During the period to Sept 8 2022 the Duchy paid Mrs Annabel Elliot, the 24th Duke of Cornwall's sister-in-law, in the normal course of business and on an arm's length basis £19,625 ($38,487) for fees and commission and £12,316 ($24,153) for the purchase of furniture, furnishings and retail stock for the Duchy of Cornwall Holiday accommodation, Duchy offices and Duchy Nursery."

Her extensive interiors work across the estate is considered complete and the current staff have learnt sufficiently from her, sources said.

The Duchy has previously admitted that the contracts for its design work were not put out to tender.

Shift in approach

It reflects a gradual shift in approach as the heir to the throne manages the vast property portfolio in his own way.

He has already ensured that 24 properties on his Nansledan development in Cornwall are earmarked for the homeless and the Duchy has committed to building more than 400 social rented homes on its new development of South East Faversham in Kent.

However, all is not lost for Ms Elliot, who is still enjoying some professional benefits from her relationship with the King and Queen.

She was recently employed to oversee significant improvements to the visitor centre and restaurant at Balmoral ahead of its opening to the public this summer and Buckingham Palace sources confirmed she would continue to be involved with the household when there are "appropriate opportunities".

Reports suggest that she has also undertaken work on the King's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk over the last 18 months or so.

Ms Elliot's taste certainly chimes with the King's. She was once quoted as saying that she was "not a white and beige person".

Eye for detail

In 2012, she told The Royal Restoration, an ITV documentary about Dumfries House, that her brother-in-law "always likes to be completely involved and know what's being suggested".

She said: "He's looking at every piece of material – 'What's this for?', 'Is that for a chair?', 'Where's that sourced from?' 'Has it got nylon in it?' He doesn't like duvets.

"He will look at everything … His eye for detail is quite extraordinary. I don't think I've ever worked with anybody who is so interested in the detail. I'll say: 'I really think actually …' So we'll definitely have a good, healthy [debate]. He doesn't just agree or disagree."

Ms Elliot runs Annabel Elliot Limited from her country house in Stourpaine, Dorset, where she and her late husband, Simon, allowed Charles and Camilla to hold secret meetings while he was still married to Princess Diana.

Accounts suggest that the company has not fared too well in recent years, with its net assets dropping from £257,157 ($504,319) in 2019 to £17,077 ($33,485) last year.

Annabel Elliot Ltd has been contacted for comment.

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