A Royal Grand Design: King Charles restores Dumfries House

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Last month, viewers got to see the renovation project King Charles had been working on for over a decade in the ITV documentary A Royal Grand Design. Working with Jim Brown to film the process over the years, the filmmaker told Express.co.uk about his proudest moment while documenting the journey.

Back in 2007, the then Prince Charles decided to buy a rundown Dumfries House with the goal to restore it back to its former beauty.

Taking much longer to finish than expected, the overall process took 14 years to complete and was documented all the way through by Jim Brown.

The filmmaker spoke to Express.co.uk about the newly appointed King’s secret project along with the different side viewers got to see of the monarch in the hour-long instalment.

When asked what was the highlight for him filming the process over the years, the B4 co-founder revealed it was when he got to meet the late Queen Elizabeth.

He replied: “One of my proudest moments was when the then Prince of Wales introduced me to his mum.

“I have worked with some of the biggest names on both sides of the Atlantic so I would like to say that I was cool and calm at meeting the late Queen – but nothing could be further from the truth.

“Chatting to the most famous woman on the planet was such a privilege and is something that I will cherish forever.

“I have a great photograph of me having a laugh with the new King and the late Queen.”

As the ITV documentary was filmed over a long period of time, Queen Elizabeth made an appearance in the episode from when she visited Dumfries House in 2014.

Once the walled garden and outdoor centre were completed, footage of King Charles showing his mother around the grounds was shown along with Prince William paying a visit.

Along with the restoration of the house and walled garden being saved, the royal decided to add a horticultural and education centre.

Once the project was complete, a cookery school, textiles centre, STEM unit and an adventure playground were also added to Dumfries House which created plenty of jobs for people in the local area.

When asked if people would see a different side to the King in A Royal Grand Design, Jim commented: “Oh without a doubt. I don’t think you will ever have seen him so relaxed and invested.  

“We hope very much that we have captured the real man behind the public persona.”

After seeing the success of the newly renovated Dumfries House, the King confessed although he’s over-ambitious, wants to use this same model elsewhere around the country to help local residents.

He commented: “I hope there’ll be another project fairly soon somewhere, which could be quite large, and hopefully there will be other opportunities.

“We’ll see. I haven’t given up yet… Watch this space, as they say.”

Touching on why the process took longer than expected, the filmmaker confessed initially, they thought it would only take two years.

Ahead of the episode airing on TV, he said: “The project just grew arms and legs. In fact, we worked on it for so long that now that it’s finished, I feel a bit empty.

“We have so much else on our slate but I can’t concentrate on any of it until this hits the screen.”

 A Royal Grand Design is available to watch on ITV Hub.

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