The ideal village of King Charles celebrates his coronation understated

Half an hour before it all starts, there is little evidence in Charles’s model village that something special is about to happen this Saturday. A few expired flags on houses. That’s all. The rain pours through the streets. There is some movement in the building of the Dorchester Community Church. The doors are open here to watch the coronation together. Two elderly women are already sitting in front of the television.

They’re looking forward to it. “Big events, that’s what we’re good at in this country,” says Sally Burton. They watch the guests in Westminster Abbey. “Have you seen Kate yet,” asks her friend, Sandra Woods. “No. And neither will William. How can they keep all those horses under control?”

This is Poundbury, the ideal village of the new King of the United Kingdom. A king with strong opinions about nature and the environment, about the power of alternative medicine and about architecture. The latter makes Poundbury clear. It was set up and built according to his insights. Charles has nothing to do with modern architecture. Stronger, he said in 1987modern architecture has mutilated London’s skyline more severely than Hitler’s bombings.

Hidden problems

In the sterile building of the community church in Poundbury, a village near Dorchester in southern England, some people slowly trickle in at eleven o’clock. But it won’t get full, with a maximum of twenty people. Most of the 4,600 inhabitants will be sitting in front of the TV at home.

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“While we could use a party,” says Allan Smith. He vaguely remembers Elizabeth’s coronation. “Then was the mood of the nation completely different. A new age was in the air, with a young woman as queen. Now it’s all a bit darker.”

Sandra Woods and Sally Burton enjoy living in Poundbury, they say as they watch the coronation. No, not everything worked out well here. But King Charles didn’t have everything to say either, Woods laughs. Garages are too small, the residents say, they don’t fit in, or you can’t get out of your car if you did.

Letting pedestrians and motorists share the road without a clear separation is not always a good idea either. It sometimes leads to dangerous situations. There are construction companies that turned out to be unreliable, there have been civil servants who have pushed rules too far. For example, every new piece of Poundbury must have social housing, greenery and shops. The result: the shops are not close to each other. “When you go shopping, you have to walk quite a bit,” says Woods.

There are still cheap rental houses, but not cheap owner-occupied houses. The village is popular, nothing is for sale under two tons. “My daughter can never buy anything here. She has been on the waiting list for a rental house for a long time,” says Tory Barrow, the wife of the church’s pastor. While everything looks good, there are hidden problems, she says. Poverty reigns here too. Her church gives 80 families a grocery package every week.

Poundbury should have been ready in 2020, but due to the pandemic and the economic crisis, it will take a few years before the planned 6,000 people live there. All the buildings look old, but nothing is older than 30 years. The architectural styles come from the past. Rich and poor had to live together.

It is taken from the bookA Vision of Britain‘ by (then) Prince Charles from 1989, with his personal view on architecture. It had to break through traditional housing in the United Kingdom. But architects criticized it, describing it as bogus and callous. The village looks like a movie set before The Truman Show. A Labor minister described it as “an ego trip from Charles”. But the residents are happy. “It functions. Poundbury has really come to life,” says Tory Barrow.

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It is built on the grounds of the Duchy of Cornwall owned by the Royal Family. Charles has now transferred the dukedom to Crown Prince William. The residents do not know whether he is also interested in architecture and housing. At least they didn’t see him often, while Charles came by twice a year.

Party all weekend

The service at Westminster Abbey is “a bit too long,” says Sally Burton after an hour and a half. Her friend thinks that all music is too long. When Charles gets the crown put on, she has to laugh. “It doesn’t fit,” Sandra exclaims. At the end they pray together. „For ever and ever. Amen.As King Charles and Queen Camilla walk out of the church, they sing it God Save the Queen.

“How well they must have practiced this. Everything went well,” shouts Sally Burton. Sandra Woods bends over when the music prevents her from hearing the question: “Are we proud? Extremely proud. This is our heritage.”

Poundbury hopes for better weather for the rest of the coronation weekend. The main pub in the village has live music for the rest of Saturday. And on Sunday there are street parties, like everywhere in the UK.