What is Ray Mill House, Queen Camilla’s private home?

King Charles' wife has owned the home since before their marriage

Queen Camilla poses for a portrait to mark her birthday in the garden of her home Ray Mill House in the village of Lacock on July 16, 2025 in Lacock, Wiltshire, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images For Buckingham Palace)

JULY 17, 2025 1:12 PM EDTJUL 17, 2025, 1:12 PM EDT

Ray Mill House served as the backdrop for Queen Camilla’s 78th birthday portrait. The country house located in the village of Lacock is Her Majesty's private home. "It is my refuge," she once told Country Life. "The one place where I can be completely relaxed on my own terms."

The Queen is said to have purchased the property in 1990s following her divorce from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. Friends have previously told the Daily Mail that Camilla, who married Charles in 2005, "can be herself" at Ray Mill House. According to the outlet, "It is where she retreated after the state funeral and mourning period that followed the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022 and where she spends as much time as she can when not required to be at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire and Clarence House in London, the official homes she shares with Charles."

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The Princess of Wales photographed her husband's stepmother in the gardens of the house for Camilla's 2022 Country Life cover. The magazine described Ray Mill's 12 acres of tended grounds as having "an intimacy and idiosyncracy that can only come from a personal connection," and noted that "every area of the garden is part and parcel of a home, where lives are lived and shared, rather than a horticultural showpiece existing primarily for the admiring gaze." Camilla revealed to Country Life that she's had her painted tiger in every garden that she's owned.

LACOCK, ENGLAND - JULY: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO SALES. THE IMAGE SHALL NOT BE USED AFTER 0001 HRS ON TUESDAY 29 JULY, 2025. After that date, no further licensing can be made, please remove from your systems. Copyright vests with Getty Images and publications are asked to credit Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Buckingham Palace. All terms of release must be adhered to. The photograph has been distributed with permission from Royal Communications. The photograph should be used for news editorial purposes only â for publication and broadcast, not for social media. The photograph is not approved for use on merchandise including souvenirs, or memorabilia; or anything similar. No charge should be made for the supply, release, or publication of the photograph. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photograph. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated, or modified in any way and must include all those featured when published. Any further licensing needs Buckingham Palace approval. Questions relating to additional use of the photograph should be first directed to Buckingham Palace: buckingham.palace@royal.uk. In this image released on July 14, 2025, Queen Camilla and her rescue puppy Moley from Battersea Dog and Cats Home, of which she is patron, pose for a portrait in the garden of her home Ray Mill House in the village of Lacock in July, 2025 in Wiltshire, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Buckingham Palace)

In March of 2025, it was reported that King Charles purchased the Old Mill estate next to his wife's private home using private funds, in order to prevent it from being turned into a wedding venue. According to the Daily Mail at the time, the Old Mill was now going to be "installed with a 'security-vetted tenant' who will ensure it is put to 'appropriate' use."

A royal source told the Daily Mail: "The new arrangement is a pragmatic solution, being both a sound financial investment and a way of maintaining Her Majesty's privacy, protection and continued enjoyment of her much-loved home, without any public funds being used."

Camilla was photographed "relaxed" in the garden of Ray Mill House in a portrait released on the eve of her 78th birthday. Photographer Chris Jackson wrote on Instagram that Her Majesty was "pictured here happy and relaxed at home." Another portrait of the Queen, seemingly taken the same day as her birthday photo, was released days earlier, showing the Queen in the garden again with her adorable rescue dog Moley.