Prince William removes Queen Camilla’s sister from royal payroll

She has been working as an interior designer for the royal family for 19 years.

Annabel Elliot has worked as an interior designer for the royal estates for 19 years and also operates as an antiques dealer.

She is the mother of British Conservative politician Sir Ben Elliot, who served as the Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party.

The 75-year-old studied in Florence and married the late Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner and son of Air Chief Marshal Sir William Elliot and Rosemary Chancellor, in 1972.

She 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 its period properties in Cornwall, Wales and the Isles of Scilly.

Despite her closeness to the King and Queen, The Telegraph now reports that Prince William has removed the chief designer from the royal payroll.

William became the Duke of Cornwall after his father ascended to the throne in 2022, and has been busy managing the vast estate over the last couple of years.

Ms Elliot has been paid several hundred thousand pounds for her services over the last two decades, and the Duchy of Cornwall’s annual accounts detail how she had been paid “in the normal course of business and on an arm’s length basis” varying amounts ranging between £19,625 and £82,272 to maintain its rental properties as well as 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.

Ms Elliot was also employed to oversee the refurbishment of a 20-bedroom pub in the centre of the King’s Poundbury development in Dorset and to help convert two cottages and a lodge for guests at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which the monarch saved for the nation in 2007.

While many inside the royal family consider her to be very successful and highly regarded for her work, the latest published accounts from the Duchy revealed that for the first time in almost two decades, Ms Elliot was not paid for her services during 2023-2024.

The report simply repeats a line from the previous year’s accounts, which concerned Charles’s last six months at the helm and then his elder son’s first six months, after he inherited the estate on the death of Elizabeth II.

It says: "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 revealed, it is believed that the decision was no reflection on her work.

It seems all is lost for Ms Elliott, however, as she has a series of upcoming projects elsewhere within the monarchy to keep her busy.

She was recently employed to oversee significant improvements to the visitor centre and restaurant at Balmoral ahead of its opening to the public this summer and Buckingham Palace sources confirmed she would continue to be involved with the household when there are “appropriate opportunities”.

Reports suggest that she has also undertaken work on the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk over the last 18 months or so.