Prince swaps sympathy for tea at £25-a-night b&b

By Alan Hamilton and Andrew Pierce

T he Prince of Wales spent two nights this week enjoying his first stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

News of his secret stay with Joe and Hazel Relph at their £25-a-night farmhouse in the like District was released minutes after the Prince and his two detectives had headed back to London.

The Prince enthused over his experience as he checked out yesterday. "It's a marvelously cosy place, very special, and they are doing a wonderful operation here. The food is splendid," he said.

The detectives paid the bill for the Prince, who rarely carries cash. “We made sure they were not out of pocket,” an aide said. “He actually loved it and was a big fan of the food. He is still going on about the rhubarb crumble.”

Unlike most B&B bookings, his was no spur-of-the-moment decision. For the first five months the Prince, who is also a farmer, has been working on a high-profile publicity exercise to remind the world that the foot-and-mouth epidemic is over. The Prince was determined to help farmers to get back on their feet, St James's Palace said last night. "The epidemic is over, we are coming into spring and the start of the tourist season, and he wanted to show that the affected areas are back in business," an aide said.

At the height of epidemic the Prince gave £500,000 from his charity funds to help the worst-hit farmers and rural businesses.

Last night the National Farmers' Union expressed delight at the Prince's gesture. “We are all in the business of getting the countryside back to normal; we wish he would stay in B&Bs all the time,” a spokesman said.

The Prince first met the Relphs last September when he visited them at Yew Tree Farm in Rosthwaite, Borrowdale, during a tour of farms in Cumbria, one of the areas of the country worst affected by the epidemic.

The Relphs had to close their farm for six months and slaughter 320 of their flock. The Prince was impressed that they had diversified into B&B, a coffee shop and selling produce at the farm gate.

In the farm’s Flock In coffee shop he met other farmers and heard how their livelihoods were being destroyed by the epidemic, which also frightened tourists away from the countryside in droves.

Several weeks after the visit Mrs Relph had a phone call from St James's Palace, asking to make a booking. The Prince arrived on Tuesday with his detectives and spent the day walking the fells with friends in driving rain.

On the first morning of his visit, the Prince had tea in the dining room of the Relphs. He told them: "When I came in September I was so taken by the house and all the things you do to make it special for visitors, I couldn't resist coming back up."

Mrs Relph told him: "You said you would come back, and you have. We really appreciate it."

He replied: "I particularly wanted to show that this part of the world is open for business."

The Prince paid the standard rate for his double room with en suite bathroom and full English breakfast with local Cumberland sausage.

(The Times, February 2002)