Prince offers Google ‘street view’ of his stately homes
Doors to Dumfries House, Clarence House and Highgrove opened online to mark Prince’s birthday
THEY are some of the most exclusive addresses in Britain: the London and Ayrshire residences of the Prince of Wales, and the Highgrove garden he considers his pride and joy.
As of tomorrow, they are to be opened up for the world to see, as the Prince agrees to let a bespoke royal version of Google’s “street view” into his homes for a “tour without a ticket”.
The Prince’s childhood photograph album, favourite artwork and his own watercolours will also be available for the public to peruse at the click of a mouse, with a simulated stroll along the corridors of Clarence House.
The contents of Dumfries House, which holds some of the most important Chippendale furniture in the world, has been carefully photographed, while 40 pieces of art can be examined in minute detail right down to each stitch or brushstroke.
The project, conceived when the Prince and Duchess of Cornwall visited Youtube on a public engagement in May, has taken around six months to complete, with photographers and specialists spending three months with the Prince’s priceless collections.
Launched on Google Arts and Culture tomorrow to coincide with his 70th birthday, it is intended to use new technology to share the work of the Prince’s art and conservation charities.
Intriguingly, it includes a range of little-known photographs, some taken by the Queen, showing the Prince at home with his family.
Once sees the young Charles cuddled against his beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother, whose collection at Clarence House is still largely in situ.
Others show him larking about with Princess Anne and his mother, picnicking with both his parents and admiring a cockatoo on the arm of Sir David Attenborough. A humorous series from middle life sees a young Prince Harry catch his jumper with a fish hook in Scotland.
The Prince’s own paintings, of the Queen Mother’s former Scottish home the Castle of Mey, and the crofts on the island of Stroma, will also be available, along with pictures and videos showcasing the work of his charities including Turquoise Mountain – which restores historic buildings in Afghanistan – and The Royal Drawing School.
In particular, the cameras have been invited inside the gardens of Highgrove and the halls of Clarence House to capture them in 360 degrees, focusing on hundreds of historical artworks belonging to The Royal Collection.
The route follows that taken by paying tourists at the houses themselves, but allows digital visitors to zoom in on artefacts and architecture not visible to the naked eye. Google Arts and Culture already collaborates with museums and other institutions to bring heritage and artwork to an online audience.
A spokesman for the Prince said: “The Prince was fascinated by the opportunity that arts and culture provides to connect people to museums, other cultural institutions and provide access which they wouldn’t necessarily otherwise have, and so he was very taken with its potential.”
The tour will be on the Google Arts and Culture site from tomorrow, at artsandculture.google.com