Finding Harmony

A new Amazon Prime documentary brings Dumfries House to an international audience through the work of The King's Foundation

- by DANIELLA THEIS

SCOTLAND'S mansions and landscapes have often been the backdrop of TV series, and in February, Dumfries House, an 18th-century stately home near Cumnock in East Ayrshire, will be at the centre of a new Amazon Prime documentary.

The documentary, Finding Harmony: A King's Vision, is the story of King Charles's decades-long campaigning on environmentalism and how action is needed now to sustain the planet for the future.

"I have dedicated much of my life to the restoration of harmony between humanity, nature and the environment," Charles says in the documentary.

"We are nature ourselves," he adds. "We are a part of it not apart from it."

The documentary, narrated by actress Kate Winslet, was filmed across four continents and includes 75 years of archive footage.

Ahead of the documentary's release, we visited the site to learn of its significance.

Built by William Crichton-Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries, Dumfries House was to be a lavish family home for generations and centuries.

However, after the death of its final full-time occupant, Lady Eileen, Dowager Marchioness of Bute, in 1993, the mansion and its contents - including a vast collection of furniture made by famous furniture-maker Thomas Chippendale - were put up for auction in 2007.

To save the house and its history from being lost, Charles stepped in at the final hour to save it, keeping Dumfries House with the community and eventually making it the headquarters for his charity, The King's Foundation, with a wider vision of reconnecting humanity, nature and the environment.

Dumfries House's grounds are open to the public, and you can access its gardens 365 days a year. It is also home to a whole host of programmes for locals and other people across the UK.