THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales has intervened to try to block a £1 billion modern flats development which is backed by the Qatari royal family.
The Prince has written to the Prime Minister of Qatar appealing for him to scrap plans for a modern steel and glass luxury flats scheme, designed by Lord Rogers, at Chelsea barracks. He has proposed instead an alternative, more traditional scheme by one of his favourite architects.
The intervention has put the future King on collision course all over again with the architect Lord Rogers, whose proposed extension of London's National Gallery 25 years ago he memorably described as a "monstrous carbuncle".
Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London, however has accused the Prince of trying to circumvent the lawful planning process.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Jasim al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar - part of the ruling royal family, has been urged by the Prince to reconsider the Chelsea scheme. He has proposed instead, at a classical design by one of Quinlan Terry one of his favourite architects.
In the letter written last month, the Prince urged Qatari Diar, the development arm of the Qatar royal family, to involve him in discussions over the future of the site.
The Prince had already described the Rogers' scheme, headed by the developers Nick and Christian Candy, "unsympathetic" and "unsuitable" for the area. The brothers, with Qatari Diar, bought the site from the Ministry of Defence in May 2006 for almost £1 billion.
Lord Rogers drew up plans for 350 luxury flats on the barracks site. The original scheme was for the apartments to be housed in a series of ' pavilions' rising to ten storeys. But the plans were opposed by the local Belgravia Residents' Association. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Monday, April 6, 2009
