The surprise purchase which transformed King Charles' life forever

When King Charles purchased in 1980 it truly marked the beginning of a lifelong passion project that combined his love of nature with the desire for a rural retreat away from formal London life.

Previously passionate about nature, Highgrove was where Charles' gardening pursuits blossomed. "In some strange way, when I took on Highgrove, I knew what I wanted to do, even though I had absolutely no experience of gardening or farming and the only trees I had planted had been official ones in very official holes," the King reflects in his book "Highgrove: Portrait Of An Estate."

"I knew I wanted to take care of the place in a very personal way and to leave it, one day, in a far better condition than I had found it," he continued. "This was unlikely to be very difficult because everything was pretty dishevelled and run-down anyway!"

For more than four decades, Charles poured his passion into Highgrove House, which he described as "one very small attempt to heal the appalling short-sighted damage done to the soil, the landscape and our souls". While offering the King a sanctuary for over four decades, Highgrove isn't a heavily guarded safe haven where he isolates himself.

In 1996, he made the garden accessible to the public, and it now hosts an impressive 40,000 visitors annually. "One of my great joys is to see the pleasure that the garden can bring to many of the visitors, and that everybody seems to find some part of it that is special to them," he has said.

"My enduring hope is that those who visit the garden may find something to inspire, excite, fascinate or soothe them."

Highgrove isn't just a peaceful place for Charles and Camilla, however, also it was also where Princes William and Harry played as kids.

The lush greenery of its gardens provided the perfect playground for the brothers and childhood photographs show them laughing while playing with Charles and their late mother Diana.