Prince Charles' Old Estate Is for Sale, With a Weird Rule

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published 6 November 2021

Prince Charles no longer owns Brimps Mead Estate, the six-bedroom residence located beside Dartmoor National Park in Devon, but that doesn’t mean he won’t reserve the right to stop by on occasion.

The Prince sold the residence, which is currently on the market for $6.7 million, according to the Times, to a couple in 1993 for an undisclosed amoung. The estate was built between 1893 and 1906 and includes two cottages, a river bank, and paddocks. It sounds nice!

But now that Brimps Mead is back on the market, potentially buyers might want to know about a special rule that the Prince had the first buyers agree to—and which will apply to the new owners as well. While the estate is theirs, Prince Charles reserves the right to come there to fish whenever he wants, as long as he gives 24-hours of notice.

If that sounds like a weird contract stipulation, that’s because it certainly is. But it sort of makes sense from a royal standpoint: Per People, the residence itself can be sold, but the property surrounding it belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall, the estate first started by King Edward III in 1337, in order to provide income for his heirs.

The Duchy still has claim to 130,000 acres in 23 British counties, including 160 miles of English coast. That also means that, when Prince Charles does ascend the throne, Prince William will inherit the Duchy.

The Times says that Prince Charles has never actually taken the owners of Brimps Mead up on the opportunity to stop by with a day’s notice, but the avid fisherman just might one day. And whether that’s a positive or a negative aspect of buying the residence probably depends on your views about the monarchy in 2021.