Episode 18: A Royal Romanian Affair: Why Charles III Treasures Transylvania

The idyllic Romanian landscape attracted King Charles

The then Prince of Wales first came to Transylvania in the late 1990s on an official visit.  It’s the only time he’s come on business.  He fell so much under the spell of the place that he bought a house here, in one of the wooden villages, settled, many centuries ago, by Saxons from Germany.  Then he acquired another property, which he has turned into a comfortable, folksy lodge.  He makes a private visit every year, if he can.  

Clive and John discuss King Charles III and his passion for this outpost of the former Soviet Union.  What has hooked him?  The sense of prelapsarian idyll, the vitality of local crafts, the unselfconscious devotion to traditional building methods, or the existence of species-rich wildflower meadows of a kind that barely exist in the UK, unless specially planted by conservationists? Or the thought that the Carpathian Forest is home to more brown bears than anywhere else in Europe?  Or the fairytale character of villages like Viscri and Zalanpatak – looking like England did around 1800 - in both of which he owns homes?

All those things, no doubt.  But locals don’t want roads which break the springs of your car.  Nor do they always see the charm of draughty, wooden houses, which need constant attention, preferring concrete villas with all the modern amenities.  Is the idyll inevitably on a collision course with the 21st century?  If so, which will win?