Last night on television Gerard O’donovan No Royal feather-ruffling here
What with all the angst and anger around over Brexit, it can be a relief to find the likes of Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall (ITV) offering a sense of on-screen continuity. This hour-long film was the first of a two-part hymn to princely patronage, exploring how for 700 years the Duchy of Cornwall estate has existed to provide every Prince of Wales with a personal income – while at the same time, under the current incumbent at least, doing a great deal of good.
The facts poured out. Now worth a billion or so, with land and property holdings “twice the size of Greater London”, the Duchy estate turned a modest profit of £21m last year. But this was no critical investigation. Rather it was a celebration of Prince Charles’s 50 years at the helm of an organisation to which he has devoted a life of waiting to become king. The closest it came to shocking was regarding those biscuits we dig out for the in-laws: “Despite what it says on the tin, the Duchy Originals brand was licensed off to a supermarket 10 years ago.” But even that blow was softened by the revelation that the brand contributes £3m a year to the Prince’s coffers. Which almost certainly means it’s doing some good somewhere.
That was the focus: not the profits but the good being done. The devotion to supporting traditional farming methods and crafts, to maintaining vast tracts of near-wilderness, and supporting remote communities such as those on the Isles of Scilly. Despite half-chortled grumbles from tenants – an unusually happy bunch – about rent rises, this was a film that was exclusively complimentary towards Charles’s stewardship of the Duchy. Due tribute was paid to his visionary attitudes towards the environment and the organic movement. And to his retro architectural passion project, the new town of Poundbury in Dorset, where, despite rules and regulations (front-door colours must be approved) houses continue to sell at a premium.
As for the future, the Duke of Cambridge is being prepared for the tough task of inheriting the lot, along with the responsibilities. What might happen when he takes over what’s still, in many ways, an old-fashioned institution is explored next week. Just don’t expect any radical revelations.
Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall ★★★
For a review of Channel 4 drama The Accident, see p28