Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment

The Prince of Wales is the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission, after a complaint that he is using Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment as a private lobbying firm 20 Aug 2009 The Daily Epxress report today that the heir to the throne is under the spotlight, according to the Evening Standard, after it was alleged that he has repeatedly used it to try to lobby Government ministers, developers and others to support his traditionalist views on designing major projects. The Charity Commission, which regulates 190,000 organisations will look into a complaint made about Charles’s architecture body, the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. picture © Nick Panagakis Republic, a group that campaigns for an elected head of state, is to lodge a formal complaint, arguing that the foundation is in breach of commission guidelines that stipulate campaigning should not damage the reputation or independence of a charity or become the main reason for its existence. Chelsea Barracks image : Hayes Davidson/Candy & Candy The complaint follows a series of controversies about the role of Prince Charles and the foundation in lobbying to have contemporary architects removed from key projects, including the £3 billion Chelsea Barracks project and the £500 million One New Change by Atelier Jean Nouvel next to St Paul’s Cathedral in London. One New Change photo © Nick Weall Last week, Roger Madelin, chief executive of developers Argent, told the Guardian that the Prince now has a similar stature as a consultee as statutory bodies including English Heritage, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and professional bodies including RIBA and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. RIBA President Sunand Prasad said this week that the Prince of Wales' intervention in architecture was 'brazen' and 'pernicious' and that the democratic process should be followed. But the list of lobbying increases: The Guardian also report that the Prince Charles threatened to resign as president of the National Trust unless it altered the design of its headquarters : National Trust headquarters The Guardian also reports that celebrated British architects Bennetts Associates and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios separately claimed their bid to design a new building for the Soil Association, whose patron is the Prince of Wales, ended when the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment intervened. "The Prince's Foundation let it be known that modernist architects were not what was required for this job," said Rab Bennetts. Comments welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk