After the splendor of his coronation, it’s no wonder King Charles longs for the simple life.
He plans to sneak away to his home deep in rural Transylvania within a few weeks, the Daily Mail can reveal.
But Camilla won’t be joining him, preferring to stay in her more modern home in Wiltshire. Although she is very happy that her hard-working, 74-year-old husband gets to enjoy a unique traditional ‘r and r’.
The king sleeps in a plain wooden bed, drinks hand-pressed apple juice – and may even judge the local lawn-mowing competition, as he has done on previous visits.
It may come as a surprise that the British sovereign, who is actually distantly related to Vlad the Impaler, is incredibly passionate about Romania.
He loves the land so much that a few years ago he secretly bought a dilapidated former farm in Zalanpatak, close to the Carpathians, with the help of local landowner Count Kalnoky, his great friend (and another distant relative of Vlad, said to be inspiration for Dracula).
King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, took a walk in Szeklerland, Transylvania, last year
The king loves Transylvania so much that several years ago he secretly bought a dilapidated former farm in Zalanpatak, close to the Carpathians.
The pair – who share a passion for preserving the region’s rich heritage – now co-own three properties in the area, which are rented out to tourists.
Nestled among the hills and meadows of the Zalan Valley, Charles’s humble Romanian hideaway is surrounded by some of the most beautiful and biodiverse wildflower meadows in the region.
Wolves and bears roam the hills above the estate, and the woods are home to one of Europe’s rarest and most spectacular orchids, the lady’s slipper.
Farmers still use horses and carts and work their land with hoes and scythes, as if the industrial revolution has yet to reach their limits.
In the early years of his visits, Charles and his security team slept in pull-out wooden pull-out beds and used outdoor toilets.
Packed with antiques: the house has been restored with traditional furniture and textiles
The property has now been restored with authentic textiles and antiques from the region, as well as indoor toilets.
But it still retains a simple, Transylvanian authenticity, with heating from wood-burning ceramic tiled stoves and tap water from wells.
Guests are greeted with local brandy and pastries, but there’s no Wi-Fi, TV or radio – although the drawing room now has a ‘small hi-fi player with CDs’. But there are plenty of books, nature guides and binoculars to borrow – and even a wood-fired hot tub. It is clear that the king likes to spend his days walking in the hills, enjoying the pure, fresh air, before settling down in the evening to enjoy a good book.
There was some doubt as to whether he would be able to make his annual visit now that he is king, but the Mail understands he will arrive early next month and stay for a week at most.
It is clear that he will probably meet with the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, while he is there.
Charm: wooden trundle bed on the king’s estate. The king sleeps in a simple wooden bed during his stay
One source described the village as ‘the land that time forgot’.
“There are no private secretaries accompanying him and actually very few staff in general,” they explained. ‘There is certainly no servant or cook to come over with him. The local products and chefs are too great.’
The property – now billed as The King’s Residence – is rented out for a reasonable £143 per person per night for an all-inclusive stay including activities and tours… which is far from a king’s ransom.
Six in ten of us watched the coronation on TV and 11 percent went to a street party, pollsters found.
There was an age difference among viewers: 82 percent of those over 70 tuned in, but only 39 percent of those aged 16 to 29.
And despite a host of dishes made for the occasion, including Coronation quiche and Coronation eggplant, only one in 25 of us made one, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.