Interview: Prince Michael of Kent

Started by cinrit, September 28, 2014, 11:46:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

cinrit

QuoteRural life is of fundamental importance to Britain,' says Prince Michael of Kent, the royal patron of the first Country Life Fair, which takes place at Fulham Palace, SW6, this weekend. Some of his happiest times have been spent in the country. He was born in Iver, south-east Buckinghamshire, when that was still a rural idyll and he spent 25 contented years in Gloucestershire before having to sell his early-18th-century neo-Classical gem, Nether Lypiatt.

'It has a lovely garden; the children were brought up there. We had horses in the stables. We rode a lot and it was a place we very much regarded as home.' All this is explained in a mellifluous bass voice tinged with nostalgia. If there is a note of regret, it is understandable. 'We were very, very fond of it. We were very lucky to have a lovely house to ourselves for so long.'

We meet in the walled garden next to his apartment at Kensington Palace, where he now pays the market rent to the Crown Estate. It's a balmy September afternoon and we sit in the shade of an Indian-style tented pavilion. Wearing a navy blazer and grey flannel trousers, the Prince is in relaxed mode, but his large collared white shirt and big-knot tie remain his sartorial leitmotif even when not on official duty.

More: Interview: Prince Michael of Kent - Country Life

Cindy
Always be yourself.  Unless you can be a unicorn.  Then always be a unicorn.