Enthroning harmony

The search for harmony has informed The King's many pursuits since the 1980s. Clive Aslet explores how this idea is expressed in his architectural ventures

- Clive Aslet

IT is now more than 40 years since The King, then the Prince of Wales, stunned the architectural establishment by delivering his 'carbuncle' speech to an anniversary gathering of the RIBA at Hampton Court Palace in 1984 (Fig 4). Since ascending the throne in 2023, protocol has forced him to withdraw from public debate, making this a good time to take stock of his many achievements and interventions. What a lot there have been, from the controversial speeches of the 1980s (Fig 1) to his own projects at Poundbury and Nansledan, Dumfries House in Ayrshire (Fig 7) and Romania—not forgetting the Institute and Summer Schools that bore his name in the 1990s, providing an alternative, exhilarating if chaotic architectural education for those who attended them. He has championed conservation, sacred geometry, traditional building techniques and the art of drawing by hand. The breadth of The King's engagement has been extraordinary, particularly given that architecture is only one of the royal enthusiasms, together with the Armed Forces, organic farming, homoeopathy, wildflower meadows, the King James Bible and warning the world about climate change.