As heir to the British throne Prince Charles is more accustomed to holidaying aboard luxury yachts in exotic locations than typical British bed and breakfast accommodation. This week, however, he experienced a rather different type of break when he spent two nights as the guest of Joe and Hazel Relph in their £25-a-night Lake District farmhouse.
The Prince of Wales’s visit fulfilled a promise made last September when he first visited the couple’s modest Yew Tree Farm in Borrowdale during a tour of Cumbrian smallholdings affected by the foot and mouth outbreak. The area was one of the worst hit in the country and the Relphs were forced to kill 320 of their sheep.
Impressed by the fact that the pair had set up a coffee shop and bed and breakfast operation, and were also selling farm produce at the gate of their property, Charles was determined to return. As he explained to his hosts over tea on the first morning of his visit: “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.”
Mrs Relph, 44, said of the Prince’s September vow to do all he could to help: “People always say that, but he obviously meant it. He had a quick look round last September and he seemed to like what he saw.”
The visit, during which Charles spent his days striding the fells in driving rain, seems to have been a success, and the Prince later enthused over his experience. “It’s a marvellous cosy place, very special, and they are doing a wonderful operation here,” he says. “The food is splendid.” According to an aide, Mrs Relphs’s rhubarb crumble made a particular impression. “He is still going on about the crumble,” said the aide.
Charles’s choice of getaway was prompted by his desire to help rural communities get back on their feet after the foot and mouth crisis last year. A farmer himself, the Prince has been working on a high-profile publicity exercise to remind the world that the foot and mouth epidemic is over. On Thursday the National Farmers’ Union said they were delighted with 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,” said a spokesman.