In a surprising move, Prince William has decided to remove Queen Camilla’s sister, Annabel Elliot, from the royal payroll. Elliot, a prominent interior designer and antiques dealer, has worked for the royal estates for the past 19 years.
Annabel Elliot, 75, began her career in interior design after studying in Florence. She married the late Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot and Rosemary Chancellor, in 1972. Annabel is also the mother of British Conservative politician Sir Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party.
Elliot was hired by King Charles as the chief designer of his estates following his 2005 marriage to Queen Camilla. Over the last two decades, she has worked extensively on the Duchy holiday cottage portfolio, decorating and updating period properties in Cornwall, Wales, and the Isles of Scilly.
Despite her long-standing relationship with the King and Queen, The Telegraph reports that Prince William has removed Annabel Elliot from the royal payroll. William, who became the Duke of Cornwall after his father ascended to the throne in 2022, has been managing the vast estate over the last couple of years.
Elliot has been paid several hundred thousand pounds for her services over the years. The Duchy of Cornwall’s annual accounts detail how she was paid “in the normal course of business and on an arm’s length basis,” with amounts varying between £19,625 and £82,272 for maintaining rental properties, the Duchy offices, and its plant nursery. She was also reimbursed additional amounts each year, ranging from £7,160 to £90,285, for the purchase of furniture, furnishings, and retail stock.
Among her notable projects, Elliot oversaw the refurbishment of a 20-bedroom pub in the King’s Poundbury development in Dorset and helped convert two cottages and a lodge for guests at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which the monarch saved for the nation in 2007.
Despite her successful tenure, the latest published accounts from the Duchy revealed that for the first time in almost two decades, Elliot was not paid for her services during 2023-2024. The report states: “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 for fees and commission and £12,316 for the purchase of furniture, furnishings, and retail stock for the Duchy of Cornwall Holiday accommodation, Duchy offices, and Duchy Nursery.”
While no official reason for her removal has been disclosed, it is believed that the decision does not reflect the quality of her work.
Although her role with the Duchy has ended, Annabel Elliot is not without upcoming projects. She has been employed to oversee significant improvements to the visitor center and restaurant at Balmoral ahead of its opening to the public this summer. Buckingham Palace sources confirmed she would continue to be involved with the household when there are “appropriate opportunities.”
Additionally, reports suggest that Elliot has undertaken work on the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk over the last 18 months or so, indicating her continued association with royal projects despite her removal from the Duchy payroll.
