Royal setting for TV programme

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 15

Royal setting for TV programme

From

GILLIAN WAINWRIGHT

in London Highgrove, the country home of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, will be the setting for a television programme. It is the 8.8.C.’s “Tomorrow’s World,” which looks at new inventions and ideas. Four years ago Prince Charles appeared on “Tomorrow’s World” and spoke of the difficulty of getting ideas and inventions produced. A viewer wrote challenging him to do something about it, and the result was an annual award for industrial innovation and production. The “Tomorrow’s World”

editor, David Filkin, asked the Prince to present his award on the programme and suggested it would be a good idea to do so somewhere other than in a TV studio. He said, “We asked Buckingham Palace if we could present the awards at the Palace, at Windsor or Sandringham. It turned out the Prince was keen on the idea and he offered us the opportunity of going to Highgrove. It is something of a privilege because it is very much their personal home. It is normally where they g0.,t0 get out of the public eye.” Carpets and protective polythene were put down and the Prince commented

that he hardly recognised his own home. Mr Filkin added, “We did take precautions not to disturb their privacy. Only essential staff went inside the house. Highgrove made an excellent setting. The stables and countryside were a good backdrop for showing off the inventions.” The awards are run by the Engineering Council. The finalists are chosen one year and then the contestants have a year to make their products a commercial success before they become considered for the prize. This year’s finalists include a sailing dinghy which does not need to tack and a new flush valve for toilets.