King Charles turns tour guide as Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner embark on royal visit to Cornish housing project
10 February 2025, 15:39
The King has taken Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner on a tour of the Cornish housing project he inspired - in a rare joint engagement between the monarch and the nation's political leaders.
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Charles was accompanied by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister during three visits in Nansledan, a 540-acre extension to the seaside town of Newquay.
The King, dressed in a camel coloured coat, spoke to construction workers as the trio toured the site on Monday, with the group visiting houses, a school and an orchard in in the seaside town.
It is understood the royal tour follows discussions surrounding housing in past months between Charles and Sir Keir, in which the Nansledan project was mentioned.
Building new homes sits at the top of the government's priority list, with a looming government target of building around 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
Sir Keir is said to have expressed an interest in seeing the development in person, with Charles offering to personally show him around the developing site.
Both Charles and Sir Keir share an interest in modern housing developments, with Nansledan and Poundbury in Dorset demonstrating the kind of communities the King believes should be created.
The Prime Minister has set up a taskforce to create the next generation of new towns as part of his drive to have 1.5 million new homes built before the next election.
During the first engagement on Monday, the three principals - as they were referred to by staff - visited Newquay Orchard, which employs 45 staff.
They were given a tour by they site's chief executive Charlotte Hill, and saw the cafe, community kitchen and allotments.
Ms Hill said after the visit: "It is not often that we get this opportunity and it is really good for us to be able to demonstrate just what can be done."
She told her visitors how the orchard provides services from career guidance to wellbeing sessions and art events.
At the allotments they spoke to students and volunteers including Rory Bendle, who had met Charles during a previous visit.
Mr Bendle, 29, said: "I was really surprised to see all three of them.
"I met the King when he was Prince Charles. He is a very calm and gentle person. I told him today that my middle name is also Charles and we had a laugh about that.
"I wasn't expecting the Prime Minister to come over and talk to me too.
"He asked me about the orchard. I said it was a field and now it has extended to all this, for the community."
The orchard was designed to help join the Nansledan community to the rest of Newquay, with the Duchy of Cornwall supporting the development of the community building.
Monday's visit is believed to be the first time in recent history that a monarch has been accompanied by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on a joint royal engagement, focusing on a royal-inspired project.
In 1998, Charles as the Prince of Wales took deputy prime minister John Prescott on a tour of his Poundbury development on Duchy land in Dorchester, Dorset, after personally invited him to see the housing project.
