Britain | Urban planning in Britain

Now it’s Prince William’s turn to shape British town planning

What the Duchy of Cornwall builds today, others will build tomorrow

A view of a row of traditional houses overlooking a green in Faversham, a market town in Kent, England.
Williamsburg, KentPhotograph: Duchy of Cornwall
|FAVERSHAM

Let a man linger close to the British throne and his mind will eventually turn to architecture. In between drinking and gambling sessions, the prince regent who became George IV commissioned the loopy Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Prince Albert had “a wonderful turn for architecture”, in the fond estimation of his wife, Queen Victoria. Charles III began to pronounce on the subject in the mid-1980s, to many actual architects’ chagrin.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “William the Architect”

From the May 11th 2024 edition

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