Kevin McCloud shared his royal experience (Image: Getty)
Kevin McCloud, who began presenting Grand Designs in 1999, has developed a name for himself for all things design and interiors. The presenter, in his illustrious career, also met with royalty, meeting with Prince Phillip in 2009.
The writer shared his experience of meeting royals 15 years ago and his thoughts on Buckingham Palace, particularly the area inhabited by the late and Prince Phillip.
The royal couple lived part-time in the Private Apartments on the north side of Buckingham Palace which have an impressive number of rooms.
The Private Aparments are reported to include 25 of the 775 rooms available in the premises of the royal palace, and boasts views of Constitution Hill.
Despite the extravagance, Kevin revealed that the actual interior and decor was far more minimal than one might expect.
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In an exclusive , Kevin explained his experience of meeting with the late Prince Phillip. He said: “I interviewed him for an hour and a half, and he was completely fascinating.
“A brilliant and natural engineer who just loved things and the way things worked.”
Kevin explained how the royal started the Prince Philip Designer Prize in response to post-war austerity, initially known as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design.
“He was interested in the kind of stuff that changed people’s lives. When he first started the competition in 1959, the project that won that first year was a fridge and he saw that – and so did his design review panel – as a marker for the future.”
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The royals were said to have a simple abode (Image: Getty)
Kevin continued: “While I was there, we ended up waiting in a corridor outside the [late] Queen’s apartment, and I just looked into a room, and it was the most beautiful thing,” Kevin continued. “It was a small room, and I think it was painted green and it had beautiful, polished, elegant, Regency mahogany furniture in it, and it was just very simple.
“It was sort of lean and not at all flamboyant, not what you’d expect from the Queen. My memory of that little room is so strong and it made me realise in this huge palace, this vast place with massive roofs, here was this tiny apartment and it was a real statement of modesty.”