The Rock show - check out Cornwall's little gem

The north Cornish coast has always attracted our more extrovert Royals. According to legend it was here, at Tintagel, that King Arthur made merry with his minstrels and damsels. And just half an hour's drive away is Rock, where the future king, William, has been known to let his hair down at beach barbecues with his Old Etonian pals.

The area's appeal is easy to fathom, with its wide white-gold strands, energetic North Atlantic surf and dramatic golf courses. For the modern Royal, there is the added bonus of anonymity, for Rock is not your average seaside resort. There are just two main streets: Rock Road, with a Spar and the popular deli Di's Dairy and Pantry; and the traffic-clogged seafront, with a couple of shops selling beach gear and the Mariners pub, where Prince Harry has been known to press his face against the glass to amuse the blondes parading in their bikinis.

The real action takes place behind the walls of the wildly expensive real estate – some of the costliest in the world. When the Princes visited they stayed in a private house owned by the parents of school friends, but I bet that their accommodation wasn't half as swish as the cottage where my husband and I were holed up. We were staying at CK Rock, an old farmhouse just renovated by British banker Charlie Berman, co-founder of the brokerage firm Amias Berman & Co. Everything has been done to the very highest spec, from the fully integrated sound system, piping music into every room, to the beautiful slate floor. Adjacent to the cottage is Berman's own newly built holiday pile, and shared between the two properties is an oval infinity pool overlooking the Camel Estuary, with an articulated cover that emerges from the bottom of the pool at the push of a button, and a Jacuzzi sending up plumes of steam. There is also a marble-clad shower block (no sandy feet in the house, please) and a man cave where Berman keeps his fleet of shiny vehicles. If Batman built a holiday house in Cornwall, this would be it.

Prince William, with his love of fast motorbikes, would feel right at home, as would Kate, busy heating up ready-made pizzas in the new state-of-the-art Rayburn. In fact, as I was nosing through a cupboard containing every board game imaginable and a cache of sunhats, I came upon a well-loved cap with the insignia WILLS. For a moment I thought I might be holding the royal headgear. But further inspection revealed this to be a clever branding exercise by the surfing Sloane's fashion label of choice – Jack Wills.

We visited in June, just prior to the end of the school term, so there weren't many Sloanes surfing, and, apparently, the days of braying packs of drunken public-school children cavorting in the dunes, Skins-style, are long gone, dispersed by a combination of local outcry and police clampdown. Instead there are acres of sandy beach that seemed to extend as we walked, the tide receding before our eyes, smooth blue giving way to rippled wet sand. We headed up into the dunes and over Brea Hill. On our right was the sunken 12th-century St Enodoc Church, which was buried under the dunes for 300 years and only excavated in the 19th century, now the site of Sir John Betjeman's grave and surrounded by the exclusive St Enodoc Golf Club. On the other side of the hill is Daymer Bay, a lovely cove with an inviting little shop where we invested in a tub of gourmet Cornish ice cream.

Our walk back to CK Rock took us through cattle fields and past pleasure palaces, and once we'd washed the sand from our feet, we opened a bottle of the local Camel Valley fizz, which we drank on a cashmere picnic blanket in the garden, watching the tide spill back into the estuary.

We dined that night on an organic chicken and local asparagus from the brilliant Trevathan Farm Shop in St Endellion, ate sun-warmed strawberries from CK Rock's own vegetable garden and, the following morning, were filled with so much energy that we decided to drive to Wadebridge and ride a section of the Camel Valley cycle trail to Padstow. The route takes about an hour, there are little shacks selling tea and cake for the weary, and it offers a wonderful view of the estuary with all its bird life. At Padstow we chained up our bikes and walked into the town, an attractive, bustling little tourist spot that has become synonymous with Rick Stein, Cornwall's culinary master. There are a number of Stein lunch spots in Padstow, catering for all purses. We chose the lowliest, the posh fish and chip shop, where we had battered lemon sole and chips washed down with spicy ginger beer.

The quickest way to get back to Rock from Padstow is the foot ferry that chugs back and forth across the water all day, but we had to return our hire bikes, so took the long route, stopping off at Sharp's Brewery where we stocked up on Doom Bar, the popular local beer. And although it doesn't yet have a royal warrant, I suspect it won't be long.

WHERE TO STAY

CK Rock (Treverra Farm Cottage) sleeps up to eight people. It is set in landscaped gardens with an outdoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi and tennis court. It is available on a weekly basis with prices starting from £375 per person, per week, based on eight sharing (07769 691 700; ckrock.com).