Camilla’s interior designer sister, 75, is no longer on Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall payroll after two decades of decorating and updating period properties

Queen Camilla’s sister, who was an interior designer, is no longer on the payroll of the Duchy of Cornwall after the company was taken over by Prince William, according to latest reports released today.

Annabel Elliot, 75, was employed as chief estate designer by King Charles when he was still Prince of Wales following his marriage to her older sister Camilla in 2005.

Over two decades, she received hundreds of thousands of pounds to decorate and modernise the Duchy’s historic holiday homes in Cornwall, Wales and the Isles of Scilly.

But the Duchy’s latest accounts showed Ms Elliot was not paid for her services in 2023/24. Sources have now confirmed to the Daily telegram that William would no longer employ Mrs Elliot, but he stressed that this would not reflect on her employment.

Furthermore, MailOnline understands that her contract was always a ‘temporary contract’ and that this has now ‘ended and Duchy’s team has learned from this’.

A section of the accounts under ‘related party transactions’ stated that Ms Elliot was paid ‘in the ordinary course of business and on an arm’s length basis’.

It also became clear how she was previously paid for ‘fees and commission’ and how she was reimbursed separately for the ‘purchase of furniture, furnishings and store inventory’.

There was some controversy when Mrs Elliot joined the Duchy, given her family connections and the fact that her contract was never put out to public tender.

But royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said it made “perfect sense” to put her on the duchy payroll and that it was “considered a success”.

He told MailOnline today: ‘She has done incredibly important work as chief designer, particularly on interiors and modernising historic properties on the estate.’

Mr Fitzwilliams described Ms Elliot as ‘highly respected’, but added: ‘It is only natural that Prince William, having inherited the Dukedom, would want to put his own stamp on the estate.

“His priorities include building social housing and reserving housing for the homeless. There are also environmental issues.”

‘By dismissing the Queen’s sister, who has held the position for 20 years and is 75, it will be easier for him to implement a new approach. The King and Queen will undoubtedly understand that.’

Last December, the Daily Mail reported that Ms Elliot had recently been hired to carry out work on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk and to ‘refurbish’ several commercial properties in Balmoral, including a major extension to the castle’s gift shop.

The Duchy’s latest accounts state: ‘During the period to 8th September 2022, the Duchy paid Mrs Annabel Elliot, sister-in-law of The 24th Duke of Cornwall, in the ordinary course of business and on an arm’s length basis, £19,625 in fees and commission and £12,316 towards the purchase of furniture, furnishings and store inventory for the Duchy of Cornwall’s holiday homes, offices and nurseries.

‘At 31 March 2024, £nil (2023: £nil) was still owed to Mrs Elliot in respect of these debts.’

This entry was an amended repetition of a similar section under the same title in the accounts of the duchy of the previous year.

Last year, the post said: ‘During the period up to and including 8 September 2022, the Duchy paid Mrs Annabel Elliot, sister-in-law of The 24th Duke of Cornwall, in the ordinary course of business and on an arm’s length basis, £19,625 (2022: £32,920) in fees and commission and £12,316 (2022: £30,373) towards the purchase of furniture, furnishings and store inventory for the Duchy of Cornwall’s holiday homes, offices and nurseries.

‘As at 31 March 2023, £nil (2022: £5,376) remained owed to Mrs Elliot in respect of these debts.’

Camilla and Mrs Elliot were born 18 months apart in age and are known to talk to each other every day. The Queen’s sister is a regular at palace functions – and accompanied her to Wimbledon two weeks ago on July 10.

She was one of the few people given permission by Buckingham Palace to talk about their relationship and the coronation in BBC One’s Boxing Day 2023 documentary about the King’s first year in office.

Mrs Elliot was seen leading her sister away from waiting photographers when John Major announced the divorce of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1992.

And it was during her 50th birthday celebration at the Ritz in 1999 that Charles and Camilla first made their relationship official by posing together for their first public photographs on the hotel steps.

Mrs Elliot and her husband, businessman and landowner Simon Elliot, even joined the couple on their honeymoon to Scotland after their wedding in 2005.

During the pandemic, the two women even briefly joined the app House Party so they could keep in touch during lockdown, sources told the Mail at the time.

But Mrs Elliot suffered immense grief when she tragically lost her husband of 50 years after a long illness in March last year, just weeks before the Coronation.

The King was among those present at the funeral in Dorset, but Mrs Elliot was with her sister at the coronation in May. She wiped a tear from her cheek as she watched Camilla drive away in her golden carriage.

Many had expected Mrs Elliot to become a Queen’s Companion, Camilla’s six closest friends who have replaced the more traditional ladies-in-waiting at Buckingham Palace as her aides and gatekeepers.

But a source previously told the Mail they had decided against it ‘because neither of them wanted the balance of their relationship to be affected by a formal role.’

A spokesperson for Ms Elliot’s company, Annabel Elliot, told MailOnline today she would not be commenting.