Office area on royal property hits the market

A chapel which sits on an estate once tipped to be the future home of the Prince and Princess of Wales has hit the market.

St Denis’s Chapel in Harewood End, Herefordshire, is available for £795 a month or £9,540 a year. It offers 1,200 square feet of studio or office space, stained glass windows, a cloakroom and kitchenette.

The building up for rent was part of a comprehensive regeneration project of Harewood Park which Prince William inherited as part of the £1 billion Duchy of Cornwall estate when his father became King.

King Charles had originally planned to build a grand country house on the estate to be used as a future family home for his son in the borderlands between England and Wales and in driving distance of his own Highgrove House estate in the Cotswolds.

When news finally broke that William was involved in a serious relationship with Kate Middleton in 2004, rumours that they were about to marry and settle down in Herefordshire reached fever pitch.

But in 2021, Charles dropped his ambitious plans and William, Kate and their three children ended up in Windsor while still retaining their first home at Amner Hall in Norfolk.

St Denis’s Chapel, in Harewood End, Herefordshire, is available for £795 a month or £9,540 a year

The building up for rent was part of a comprehensive regeneration project of Harewood Park which Prince William inherited as part of the £1 billion Duchy of Cornwall estate when his father became King

When news finally broke that William (left) was involved in a serious relationship with Kate Middleton (right) in 2004, rumours that they were about to marry and settle down in Herefordshire reached fever pitch

The chapel was established by Edward III in 1337 to provide an income for the heir to the throne.

William was at university when his father’s Duchy of Cornwall acquired the sprawling yet dilapidated estate in 2000.

Three years later, work started on the ambitious £9 million revamp, which Royal reporters claimed was part of Charles’ vision to create a new Highgrove for William.

In 2007, the future Prince and Princess of Wales split briefly and in the same year Prince Charles successfully submitted plans for a scaled down ‘mini-mansion’ as the centrepiece for Harewood End.

Work was continuing on the rest of the estate when William and Kate announced their engagement on November 16, 2010.

After their wedding on April 29, 2011, it was widely reported that they would live in Herefordshire when the house was completed. 

However, it later emerged that the Queen had offered William and Kate Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate as a wedding present, which was already undergoing a £1.5 million transformation so they could move in.

The couple eventually moved into Anmer Hall in 2015, two years after they welcomed their first child Prince George.

Any lingering hopes of a future in Herefordshire for the Royal couple were then dashed when King Charles earmarked Windsor Castle as their future home.

The man charged with delivering the Herefordshire project for the Prince, David Curtis, retired in 2020 and the Duchy has finally confirmed the house will not happen at all. 

The chapel was established by Edward III in 1337 to provide an income for the heir to the throne

The building offers 1,200 square feet of studio or office space, stained glass windows, a cloakroom and kitchenette

William was at university when his father’s Duchy of Cornwall acquired the sprawling yet dilapidated estate in 2000

Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall acquired the sprawling yet dilapidated estate in 2000, and three years later, work started on an ambitious £9 million renovation

Pictured: A Christmas card of Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge showing the Duke and Duchess with their three children Prince George (left), Princess Charlotte (right) and Prince Louis at Anmer Hall in Norfolk

Although many buildings were restored, work was never started on the final piece of the jigsaw, the recreation of a grand mansion house demolished by the SAS in the 1950s.

Agents said the chapel being offered has a wood pellet boiler, mains water and electricity.

They also claim the building has been finished to a very high standard and both the stonework and stained-glass windows have been carefully restored.

‘The light and spacious interior is a truly unique workspace,’ the agents said.

For over 50 years, the Duchy of Cornwall belonged to Charles but William inherited the Duchy when his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth ll, died and his father ascended the throne, making him next in the line of succession.

 

 

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