A throne for Harry!
...but builders in race against time to make Caribbean Clarence House fit for a Prince
Missing him already... Meghan is home alone
IT IS often joked that the smell of fresh paint heralds a visit by a member of the Royal Family.
And Clarence House in Antigua was a case in point last night as builders raced against the clock to finish restoration work ahead of Prince Harry’s arrival today.
The 200-year-old former residence of the Commissioner of the Royal Navy Dockyard – complete with its own throne, an antique commode built into a chest of drawers – was a favourite spot of Princess Margaret, who spent part of her honeymoon there.
Harry is due to officially open the building this afternoon as he kicks off his Caribbean tour. The 32-yearold Prince will enjoy local music and sample cocktails ‘with a Caribbean twist’.
But as locals prepared to welcome Harry, not everyone was buzzing with excitement.
A gloomy Meghan Markle was spotted out and about, prompting suggestions that she was missing her Prince after a visit to London to see him earlier this month. She is unlikely to make an appearance on this tour – and will not have a chance to see her partner for more than a fortnight.
Wearing sunglasses and a long purple trench coat, actress Miss Markle, 35, was spotted in downtown Toronto where she films her television drama, Suits.
Back in Antigua, 30 painters, stonemasons, electricians and carpenters have been working frantically to complete a threeyear project to rebuild the historic house after it was badly damaged by a hurricane in 1998. British businessman Peter Harrison pledged £2.4million to restore the property to its original glory.
When The Mail on Sunday visited yesterday, some workers were still laying bricks outside. Others were cutting metal for the railings and burning lead over a fire to weld them into place.
Tiles were being laid outside while staff polished the wooden floors and builders shifted debris in trucks.
Trustee Reginald Murphy, who is overseeing the restoration, said the Royal visit came as a surprise.
‘It has been a bit hectic,’ he said. ‘There were rumours, but we didn’t know Prince Harry was going to come here until the last month. We were aiming to complete this in the first couple of weeks in December, so we moved it forward a month.’
A unique feature of the renovated building is the 18th Century chamber pot built into a chest of drawers. Dr Murphy said: ‘You pull out the drawer and then you sit on it to do your business. Poor people would have just shoved it under the bed, but this was a more fancy option.
‘If Prince Harry wants to test it, then he is welcome to have a go.
‘But he has to be the one to dump it afterwards!’