Not since the accession of George IV in 1820 has a British monarch come to the throne with such an enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, architecture. King Charles was heir apparent for some 64 years, 53 of them as Prince of Wales. In that period, he championed environmental and humanitarian causes, important amongst which was architecture. Although this website is about royal palaces, the residences of British monarchs, no account of King Charles’s architectural activities would be complete without referring to his pronouncements on contemporary architectural practice which he criticised for being out of touch with what ordinary people wanted. In a speech in 1984 at Hampton Court he challenged architects to build in a more contextual and environmentally friendly way.
Three years later, speaking at the Corporation of London’s annual planning dinner the Prince told the City’s planning committee that people were fed up of being dictated to by planners, architects and developers and that ordinary people wanted to have a say. In 1989 these views were translated into a book and a television programme, A Vision of Britain. By this date royal opinions, treated as outrageous by the architectural establishment, accurately reflected the way most people felt.
These were the principles behind the Prince of Wales’s model town Poundbury outside Dorchester begun in 1989. His objective was to get away from what he considered an architectural monoculture in housing development and build a town that was sustainable, human-scale, land-efficient, low carbon and not car dependent. Master-planned by the Luxembourg architect Leon Krier, Poundbury was at first ridiculed by architects for its adoption of classical and vernacular architectural detailing; but it proved to be one of the most influential housing developments of the late 20th century.
The King’s personal architectural commissions, while Prince of Wales, were all on a relatively small scale. The Prince’s income came through the Duchy of Cornwall, a landed estate established by King Edward III in 1337 to provide independence for his heir, Prince Edward. Since then it has provided an income for the Princes of Wales. Prince Charles’s principal private country residence was Highgrove House bought by the Duchy in 1980 and leased by the Prince. He externally modified the house to give it a grander and more classical feel by the addition of a pediment and pilasters. In London he sequentially occupied apartments at Kensington Palace and St. James’s before moving to Clarence House in 2002. Both Highgrove and Clarence House were decorated by Robert Kime.
The Prince also established residences in Wales and Scotland. Llwynywermod, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales, was bought by the Duchy of Cornwall in 2007 and leased by the Prince. The property was a former coach house and was converted, using traditional materials and techniques, by Craig Hamilton; the interiors were decorated by Annabel Elliot, sister of the Duchess of Cornwall (Queen Camilla). On becoming King he gave up the lease on the house.
In Scotland the Prince led a consortium that made the spectacular purchase of Dumfries House, the first country house built by the Adam brothers in 1754-9. In the ownership of the marquises of Bute until 2007, it contained all its original furniture and paintings. The 7th marquis put it up for sale triggering a heritage outcry and the eventual intervention of the Prince. The house is now the property of the King’s Foundation and the centre of his activities to promote a more sustainable world; he retains rooms there for his personal use.
In 2006, entranced by the beauty and simplicity of rural Romania the Prince bought a farmhouse in the Transylvanian village of Viscri. The Blue House, as it is known, was restored by Alireza Sagharchi of Stanhope Gate Architecture. The house is set round a cobbled courtyard and decorated with traditional handcrafts. In 2010, attracted by the way local people lived in harmony with nature, the Prince bought a second house in Zalanpatak in the Zalán Valley among the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. As at Viscri the house has been restored using traditional methods and is furnished with Transylvanian antiques.
After acceding to the throne King Charles started a rejuvenation of his Norfolk estate, Sandringham. The gardens in front of the mansion are being laid out with an elaborate parterre and some of the interiors of the mansion are being redecorated and rearranged. Other buildings on the estate are being improved and developed.