Britain's Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales is a much maligned gentleman, especially among his country's tabloid media. There's hardly been a week, in recent years, when he hasn't awakened to some nonsense written about him.
It is slightly unfashionable to say anything positive about the Heir to the British throne these days certainly in the UK.... but times are getting better for him. I am one of the many who prefer to concentrate on the man away from the gossip and badly researched comment.
In my book he's a man of vision on the environment and architecture and a man of sensitivity as his extensive charity works show. He has helped raise millions for young people helping them gain entry into the business world.
A great deal of this work goes unreported.
The prince's charities, about 25 in all, contain around 20, which he has personally founded and together they raise well over £100 million annually. At The Duchy of Cornwall his team has, for example, produced a range of extremely popular foodstuffs from marmalade to Christmas puddings, all sold to raise money for good works. There's not much that the Prince won't sell you as long as it is for a good cause.
This is one of the reasons why I was anxious to see the magnificent Robert Adam designed sleeping beauty, Dumfries House, as Adam was only 26 when he designed the building in Ayrshire, Scotland. I had heard that Prince Charles had also single-handedly spearheaded a nail-biting last minute rescue plan to buy and restore the House by firstly and most likely picking up the telephone to his many unrivalled contacts worldwide and raising the money.
Adam created and the Prince rescued and expanded one of the most important houses in Great Britain. The principal rooms with their rococo plasterwork are of exceptional quality and craftmanship as I saw on a recent private tour.
Almost every year, usually in October, a wonderful month in Scotland when the rain is at its most minimal and temperatures are mild and the midges have flown away, especially from the Western Isles, a group of us pick an area of Scotland, hire a car and tootle around. It's always an opportunity to eat some very good food cooked by new young Scottish chefs in beautiful and extremely comfortable hotels with roaring fires in the drawing room if needed.
One year our perambulations might take us to the dramatic West Coast, a jaunt around The Border country or a romp around the top of Scotland driving the famous 500 road. Another visit took us to Skibbo Castle near Inverness, once the home of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It's now a very private retreat for extremely wealthy Americans, many of them of Scottish descent who want to "do the Scottish thing".
Their wealth has also helped refurbish the Skibbo to a very high standard. There's a golf course, of course, spa and the dilapidated indoor pool has been completely refurbished back to its original Victorian splendour. I was fortunate to stay one night there by special arrangement and it was superb from the magnificent Scottish afternoon tea on arrival to a "wee dram" before and after dinner and the highlight being piped in to dinner. Also memorable were the baths.... you can stretch out full length in vast cast iron versions.
At Dumfries House the Prince has also been very busy over recent years refurbishing the house he rescued with unrivalled drama and suspense complete with the original 18th century Chippendale furniture. When the Prince heard that the furniture was on its way by pantechnicon down the M6 to the London salesroom the driver got the call to stop and turn around and bring the furniture back to the house as The Prince had raised over £45 million to save the house, estate and contents.
Since then even more money has been poured into the house and estate creating numerous local jobs, not only on the estate but by making room for artisans to work and sell their creations.
Following the death of John, the 6th Marquess of Bute, a leading figure in the history of Scottish preservation, his heir, the racing driver Johnny Dumfries focussed his attention on the family's main Scottish seat - the magnificent Bute House on the Isle of Bute on the west coast of Scotland. He soon recognised that one of the houses had to go and tried to sell the rundown and almost abandoned Dumfries House.
When it was announced that the house and the famous Chippendale furniture would be sold a number of people and organisations campaigned to save it and raised some money but the breakthrough came when Prince Charles became involved.
He believed strongly that unless someone was prepared to take a risk this wonderful house and estate would be lost for the nation. He arranged to borrow £20 million immediately to buy the house and contents and the restoration began. Dumfries House is now a major tourist attraction in southern Scotland and a big local employer in a deprived area of the country.
The house and estate are now fully restored and there's now a cooking and gardening school, a restaurant, workshops, an arboretum, stonemasons' yard and many of the outbuildings are now available for holiday lets. The estate, which employs about 100 people, is a must to see if you are in the area.