PRINCE CHARLES maintains three houses, just like that other class act Pádraig Flynn in his heyday. Who could forget our former EU commissioner explaining that running multiple households is an expensive business. "You try it sometime!" he told startled viewers of The Late Late Showa decade ago, writes MICHAEL PARSONS
Britain’s heir apparent has a country house at Highgrove, in Gloucestershire, and a Scottish estate, Birkhall, which he inherited from Granny. His official London residence is Clarence House, where he spent the early years of his life, before his mother was crowned, and which was also home to the queen’s mother until her death, in 2002. One way of defraying the costs is to allow paying guests in for a gawk.
Clarence House has become the latest of London’s royal tourist attractions, following Prince Charles’s decision to open it to the public for two months every year. For anyone interested in history, royalty, art, interior design or just plain old-fashioned snooping around other people’s houses, it’s a fascinating place to while away an hour during a trip to the British capital.
Clarence House is on the Mall, the imperial tree-lined avenue that leads from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. The milling crowds, from all over the world, are testimony to people’s love of pomp and circumstance and of monarchy’s enduring fascination in this supposedly egalitarian age. Even the glimpse of a guardsman’s bearskin causes 1,000 digital cameras and mobile phones to rise in unison. But don’t panic: the big queues are waiting to visit Buckingham Palace, which is also open to the public in August and September.
A visit to Clarence House is a much more genteel business. At the entrance you are courteously steered into a tasteful green-and-white-striped marquee that has been erected to process visitors. Friendly uniformed staff chat with the practised ease of minor royals: “Have you come far today?” Here you pass through an airport-style electronic security barrier, though without the indignity of having to remove belt and shoes, before starting the 45-minute tour. Despite the relaxed atmosphere and low-key security, you can’t help feeling like an interloper, and you half-expect a cranky corgi to appear from behind a gold-brocaded sofa to nip your ankle.
The four-storey-over-basement stucco-fronted house received a €7 million facelift and refurbishment in 2003, before the prince of Wales moved in. Although it is also home to his wife, Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, and sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, there’s no visible trace of their lives. No newspapers or magazines left lying around, no half-eaten box of Charbonnel et Walker Violet Creams; no 42in plasma television; no sports gear dumped in the hall.
Although our tour guide was unflappable and delivered a very unstuffy and gossipy commentary, sadly, no member of “the firm” was present. So no chance to exchange tittle-tattle of the “Camilla, darling, where did you get that curtain fabric?” variety.
Prince Charles, who hopes to trade up to the big house next door, could be in for a long wait, as the octogenarian Queen Elizabeth continues to enjoy apparently great health. Clarence House is rather like the Seanad or the House of Lords: it’s where you inhabit when you’re on the way up – or down.
The overall style of the house is a mix of Victorian and Edwardian, with scarcely a nod to the late 20th century, let alone the early 21st. Most of the late Queen Mother’s furniture, pictures and bibelots remain in place, exactly as they were.
Only five state rooms are open to visitors. And don’t even think about going up one of the roped-off staircases to check out tabloid rumours that Kate Middleton, girlfriend of Prince William, has moved in. When asked how many rooms the house has, the guide replied: “I’m not sure. I’ve never been allowed upstairs.” Upstairs, downstairs, indeed.
There are some items of Irish interest: a magnificent chimney piece in the Lancaster Room – used as a waiting room for official visitors – came from Lord Brandon's house on St Stephen's Green; a portrait of George Bernard Shaw that hangs in the Morning Room was painted by Augustus John while both men were staying in Ireland as guests of Lady Gregory; and the glass-fronted bookcases in the Library reveal that the Queen Mother's reading included A History of the Irish Guards in the Second World War(although she also liked the novels of Dick Francis and PG Wodehouse – first editions, of course).
In the Garden Room a magnificent harp is a reminder that Prince Charles has revived the post of royal harpist. A signed copy of The Noel Coward Song Booksits on top of a baby Steinway.
Racing fans should enjoy a stroll through the crimson-hued Horse Corridor, which is lined with wonderful pictures of famous horses and jockeys, including the 1852 Derby winner, Daniel O’Rourke.
The furniture is sumptuous, the lighting (a mix of chandeliers and candelabra) rather gloomy and the pictures of limited interest (mainly a profusion of royal portraits and photographs), though there are important works by Monet, Stubbs, Sickert, Landseer and Van Dyck.
The house has much to interest connoisseurs of clocks, porcelain, tapestries and sculpture – especially Athlete Struggling with a Python, an extraordinary bronze statuette by Frederic Leighton.
In the Dining Room a magnificent Georgian table is set for 10 but can be extended to accommodate 26 people. In a house like this it must be a case of guess who’s coming to dinner every night.
At the end of the tour, and before you emerge blinking into the real world, there’s a chance to visit a rather posh little gift shop. Among the souvenirs are china, soaps, costume jewellery and edible goodies from Prince Charles’s Duchy Originals range. They seem reasonably priced, under the circumstances, and would make classy little gifts to delight closet royalists and women of a certain age. More serious shoppers – and hard-core House of Windsor fans – will probably also want to visit the nearby Royal Collection Shop, on Buckingham Palace Road, which has a greater selection of products. So if you don’t own three houses yourself, or even two, you can take home a reminder of how the other half lives.
By royal appointment: how to plan your visit
- Clarence House
(St James’s Palace, London, England, 00-44-20-77667303, www.royalcollection.org.uk)
is open until September 27th, between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Friday, with last admission at 3pm. (Opening times may change at short notice.)
- You must book timed-entry tickets by telephone or online. They can be posted to you, or you can collect them a few minutes before your entry time. The visit lasts about 45 minutes – and make sure you won't need a lavatory, as none is available for use at Clarence House. (It advises visitors to use the facilities at Green Park Tube or in St James's Park.
- Clarence House says that it is fully accessible to wheelchair users. Call 00-44-20-77667324 for more information.
- The closest Tube stations are Green Park, Victoria Station and St James's Park.
Go there
Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus. com), Ryanair (www.ryanair. com), Aer Arann (www.aer arann.com), BMI (www.fly bmi.com) and easyJet (www. easyjet.com) variously fly to London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City from Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Galway, Kerry, Knock, Shannon and Waterford.