Prince Charles Wins Fight with Qatar Royals over Chelsea Barracks
THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales has won his fight to halt a £1 billion modern flats development financed by the Qatar royal family in one of London's most historic areas.

The developers have withdrawn the proposals for 548 flats in contemporary steel and glass towers on Chelsea Barracks.

The decision to back down comes only days after planning officers on Westminster Council submitted a report which praised the modernist development by Lord Rogers, the architect, who has clashed with the Prince in the past.

In a further victory for the Prince of Wales the Qatar royal family has invited Hank Dittmar, 52, the chief executive of the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment to become part of the new design team. Lord Rogers, who has made no public comment, is not expected to feature in the redesign. Clarnece [sic] House declined to comment. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Friday, June 12, 2009

Prince Charles Rebuffed by Qatar Royal Family over Modern Flats
THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales has been rebuffed by the Qatar Royal Family in his battle to stop a £1 billion modern flats development in a historic part of London.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Jasim al-Thani has been urged by the Prince to reconsider the Chelsea scheme . Photo of Prince Charles courtesy of The Telegraph
The Qataris, who had been reported to be on the verge of backing down in the face of the onslaught from the Prince, have instead reaffirmed their commitment to the luxury apartments development on the site of Chelsea Barracks.

The Prince had written to the Prime Minister of Qatar appealing to him to scrap the modern steel and glass development. He also asked to be involved in the discussions over the future of the site.

But the Prince's hopes that the scheme would be withdrawn are at an end after the Qatari Diar, the development arm of the country's royal family, issued a statement confirming it's commitment to the scheme.

The statement said: "The owner and developer of the Chelsea Barracks site is concerned that several recent reports in the media have either stated or implied that it is actively considering abandoning the scheme which it submitted for planning to Westminster City Council February 27, 2009. As a direct consequence of these reports, we have written to Westminster City Council confirming wholehearted commitment to the scheme." >>> By Andrew Pierce | Friday, May 1, 2009