Prince Charles Complained About A "Modernist" Development

Britain's Prince Charles complained about a "modernist" development near London's St Paul's cathedral in 2005. The Prince of Wales wrote a private letter to commercial developer Land Securities recommending Jean Nouvel - who had been commissioned to design the £500 million [$815 million] office and shopping concert next to Christopher Wren's church - be fired in favor of one of his preferred designers.

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Mike Hussey, then the London director of Land Securities, told Britain's Guardian newspaper: "He wrote to me at the time we selected Nouvel and suggested we should meet his preferred architects."

"He hadn't seen the scheme, he just complained about the selection of the architect. He didn't want a modernist."

Hussey says Charles was concerned the chosen design wouldn't "allow St Paul's to shine bright". Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, has branded Charles' 2005 intervention "brazen" and called for him to "step back" from the architectural sphere.

He said: "The prince has an unusual amount of power which, under our constitution, is not designed to be used to interfere with the running of everyday affairs in this country for the simple reason that the prince is not accountable."

"This is a dangerous course to go down. There was an open competition for this building and then along comes somebody with special powers seeking to influence the outcome in a blatant intervention."

At the time, Hussey decided Charles offer of help was "not appropriate" and declined his offer to set up meetings with his preferred designers.

It's not the first time Charles has caused controversy in the architecture world.

The 60-year-old royal was accused of "single handedly destroying" the Chelsea Barracks development project after he wrote a letter to the Qatari royal family - which owns the site - to complain about the "modernist" look of the proposed buildings.

His actions led to the £3 billion [$5 billion] proposals being abandoned in June, just days before it was due to be considered by Westminster council.

After asking The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment to suggest alternative architects, the developers have compiled a shortlist of 10 firms who have been invited to submit their ideas for the site. Half of those companies have confirmed links to Charles.