King Charles has taken the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on a tour of the Cornish housing project he inspired – in what marks a rare joint engagement between the monarch and political leaders.
The King was accompanied by Sir Keir Starmer and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, to Nansledan, a 540-acre extension to the seaside town of Newquay.
Nansledan was launched in 2014 as a “human-scale” housing development that drew on the King’s environmental principles, providing green spaces, using local materials and training people in building skills.
Sir Keir is said to have expressed an interest in seeing the development in person, with Charles offering to show him around.
So far there are 840 houses built out of an intended 3,700, in a project that began when Charles was Prince of Wales and owned the Duchy of Cornwall.
The King regularly meets the Prime Minister for a weekly audience and they are said to have a good relationship.
Monday’s trip to Cornwall was a “joint initiative” between the King and Starmer, following discussions between them on their shared interest in housing.
The three met Nansledan residents and visited local businesses, saw a community kitchen which provides training and skills, visited a primary school and saw an orchard, which provides locally-grown food and supports 45 jobs.
At the allotments, they spoke to students and volunteers including Rory Bendle, who had met Charles during a previous visit. Mr Bendle, 29, said: “I was really surprised to see all three of them.”
He added: “I met the King when he was Prince Charles. He is a very calm and gentle person. I told him today that my middle name is also Charles and we had a laugh about that.”
The King, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister then walked to the Kew An Lergh development where they met residents, business owners and construction workers building the estate.
When completed around 3,700 homes will have been built and is based on principles of mixed use, mixed income, walkability and sustainability.
Monday’s visit is believed to be the first time in recent history that a monarch has been accompanied by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on a joint royal engagement, focusing on a royal-inspired project.
In 1998, Charles as the prince of Wales took deputy prime minister John Prescott on a tour of his Poundbury development on Duchy land in Dorchester, Dorset, after personally invited him to see the housing project.
Building new homes is a priority for the current government with its target of building 1.5 million new homes by 2029.