Royal Anecdotes has covered the long-running saga of the sale of Nether Lypiatt before. The country house of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent has been on the market for ten months. It’s said to be poorly decorated, even down-at-heel, and to be too close to the Stroud Pony Club for comfort. The price has been lowered from £6m to £5.5m, all to no avail.

The latest prospective buyer was TV presenter Noel Edmonds, a man forced to part with his beloved Okehampton estate following a messy divorce. Surely Noel, who is currently enjoying renewed success with his television career, would take to the early 18th-century mansion set in 36 acres, with eight bedrooms and six bathrooms? Unhappily, it was not to be.

The decor didn’t matter to Edmonds, President of the British Horse Society, who had planned extensive refurbishment anyway. It was the overall lack of privacy that put him off, a view that echoes other complaints about noise from the Pony Club.

A friend of Edmonds said: “The house completely lacks privacy. It can be viewed easily by members of the public from the road outside. It isn’t a main road — but it’s used as a cut-through between Bisley and Stroud. A number of celebrities have viewed it and its lack of privacy is why they’re struggling to find a buyer.”

The Royal couple are anxious to sell because their rent subsidy from the Queen of £120,000 a year for their apartment in Kensington Palace runs out next year. Estate agents have advised that Nether Lypiatt is unlikely to go for more than £4.5m, a sum recently offered by artist Damien Hurst.