Clive Aslet’s King Charles III: 40 Years of Architecture opens with the now-legendary “carbuncle” speech at Hampton Court in 1984, a moment that rocked the architectural world and set the stage for the King’s decades-long engagement with the built environment. Aslet’s narrative moves briskly, tracing Charles’s journey from outspoken prince to a figure who has left a lasting mark on British architecture.

The book revisits the Sainsbury Wing controversy, where Charles’s intervention led to the rejection of ABK’s design for the National Gallery and the selection of Venturi Scott Brown’s more contextual approach. Aslet doesn’t dwell on the old “battle of styles”, but instead highlights how many of the ideas Charles championed, walkable neighbourhoods, sustainable farming, and the value of craft, have over the last 40 years become part of mainstream architectural thinking.

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