Zelenskyy Acquires Highgrove House, Former Residence of King Charles for £20Million

Ukraine’s Zelensky is the New Owner of Highgrove House, Former Home of King Charles and Princess Diana

Royal Purchase – Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the New Owner of Highgrove House, Previously Owned by King Charles. Highgrove House, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire, served as the country residence of King Charles III even after he assumed his new role as Britain’s reigning monarch.

Zelensky purchased Highgrove House, formerly owned by King Charles III, for £20 million. Yet congress wants to send Ukraine more money pic.twitter.com/dmfR92wdpi

— Ronnie (@Ronnieshke) April 2, 2024

It was purchased in 1980 by the then Prince Charles from Maurice Macmillan, son of the former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. During his first marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, the family would spend weekends in Gloucestershire with Princes William and Harry, before returning to Kensington Palace.

In 2024, King Charles III sold his residence, having owned it for 44 years. What is _at first glance surprising_ is that the new owner of the royal estate is Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine.

Charles has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In February 2023, The King held an audience with Volodymyr Zelensky at Buckingham Palace. Charles III issued a strongly-worded message of support for Ukraine, in a statement marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion in February 2024. The unusually direct message seems to be a rallying call to keep up international assistance for Ukraine.

Zelensky buys a new mansion for $20 million in London, as part of his ongoing mansion acquisition program from the generosity of Americans. https://t.co/kDEsQ6MJA8

— Christine Duhaime (@cduhaime) April 1, 2024

The war in Ukraine has been close to the King’s heart. It may explain the nature of an unusual sale of the King’s property to Volodymyr Zelensky – whom Charles III probably sees as a defender of democracy.

Although there is no official statement from Buckingham Palace on the Highgrove house sale yet, there are many details that indicate the sale was completed in late February – early March of 2024.

Grant Harrold, the King’s former butler, who worked for Charles III at Highgrove from 2004 to 2011, believes the final details of the deal were negotiated during Mrs Zelenska’s visit to the UK on 29th February. He mentioned, “Prince William could have gifted the house to his father. So, the King was within his rights to sell the property.” Prince William inherited Highgrove House after Charles assumed his new role as Britain’s reigning monarch.

According to Grant Harrold, another detail indicating Highgrove House now has a new owner is that at least 6 Highgrove staff members received redundancy notices on 21st March.

The royal family has always maintained a fine line between balancing private matters with disclosure to the public they serve. The lack of clarity surrounding the King’s health and him stepping back from public-facing duties during treatment, followed by a prolonged absence of information about Kate Middleton’s health – all this shows the royals’ shroud of secrecy is stronger than ever.

It is unclear how much Highgrove House was sold for to Volodymyr Zelensky. Its price in 1980 (£800,000) is the equivalent of about £4.7 million to £8 million today. But the actual price is supposed to be much higher – around £20 million.

https://youtu.be/3Jkle7w2EvM

It remains unclear why the President of Ukraine decided to purchase the royal residence and how he managed to persuade the King to sell it. Perhaps Olena Zelenska’s “affinity” with Queen Camilla helped to negotiate the deal. The source of funds for this purchase also remains unknown.

The UK has pledged almost £12 billion in overall support to Ukraine since February 2022. On 12th January 2024, the Government announced a further £2.5 billion of funding for 2024/2025.