Project’s fit for a Prince

OUR future King gets quite emotional tonight during the first in a two-part documentary. Emotional in a good way, that is. At a party to mark his 70th birthday, a lady has just stood up and read him a poem, written in his honour.

It’s full of affection, admiration and respect, with a little gentle teasing about his occasionally eccentric ways.

“Unbelievably special,” Prince Charles calls it afterwards. “It made me cry.”

In truth, the poem is awful, but that’s not really the point.

It’s the sentiment that counts.

For half a century, ever since he became Prince of Wales, Charles has headed up the Duchy of Cornwall, the ancient estate which holds around 700 farming tenancies, and it’s on behalf of these grateful tenants that this lady has penned her celebratory verse for the Prince.

These people clearly love him and PRINCE CHARLES: INSIDE THE DUCHY OF CORNWALL (ITV, 9pm) is actually a bit of an eye-opener, facts-and-figures-wise.

This may be common knowledge, in which case forgive my ignorance, but I had no idea just how ancient this estate is (dating back to Edward III), nor how vast.

“It now has land and property dotted across 23 counties of England and Wales, totalling 130,000 acres of land and 160 miles of coastline,” explains Amanda Redman, not because she’s necessarily cleverer than me, although I’m sure she is, but because she’s the person doing the voiceover. Not only does the Duchy’s income support Charles, his immediate family and his various good deeds (it made a profit of

£21 million last year, having barely broken even when he took over), it also, to quote his dear lady wife “encompasses everything he’s passionate about: the environment, sustainability, looking after the land.”

Charles himself describes it as “a family exercise, above all”, and it seems you won’t find many who dispute that.

“No airs and graces, he’s one of us, down to earth,” remarks one farmer. “A lot of people don’t know the other side of him.” Elsewhere tonight, THE ACCIDENT (C4, 9pm) is a tough, challenging, often harrowing watch. Written by Jack Thorne and with a cast including Sarah Lancashire and Joanna Scanlan, this four-part drama is centred on a struggling Welsh community that’s set to enjoy a boost from a new local building project, only for a terrible tragedy to strike.

Shortly after a group of kids have broken into the site, a huge gas explosion brings the structure crashing down.

The immediate consequences are inevitably grim, but then comes the question of who’s to blame.