14 March 2024 , 13:05
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Interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen may be best known for his flamboyant style and sense of humour but his jibes about King Charles' 'purple pyjamas' may have been a step too far.
Best known for appearing on BBC’s Changing Rooms and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, the outspoken designer has made no secret of his royal connections over the years but it would seem that lately he’s been shown the cold shoulder by King Charles.
The friends go back years - Laurence’s wife used to plan parties for Princess Diana. The designer even chose the floors for Buckingham Palace but later found out the late Prince Philip wasn't a fan of his work. But the pair haven't spoken since King Charles' Coronation in May 2023.
Prince Charles, Myleene Klass, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Suzi Perry and Gregg Wallace at the Ideal Home Show in 2012 (Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking to the My Dirty Laundry podcast hosted by Rebecca Davison, Laurence said he wasn't gone on Charles’ 'purple pyjamas' he wore to his Coronation in May last year and claims Westminster Abbey now looks like an 'old people's home'.
He said: 'I haven't seen Charles since the coronation. I think he might be cold-shouldering me. I was a bit rude about his purple pyjamas and I'm not sure, I think I've just lost the knighthood,” The Daily Mail reports.
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"But you know I think the purple pyjamas jibe was justified. I am standing by it. They were the wrong shade of purple. Now only I would say that. They were Pantone 739. They need to be Pantone in 742.”
Despite his jibe, Laurence said he thought the crown was amazing and the Coronation itself was lovely before adding: "Let's see what happens around Christmas. If we get the Christmas card, I know I'm back in the fold."
Although he loved the Coronation, the designer said the problem with these types of huge royal events is that Westminster Abbey is very overlit and ‘looks like an old people's home’. "It looks like the cleaners have left the fluorescent lights on and actually, it needs to be beautiful and romantic and kind of candlelit and powerful and timeless and ageless.”
Changing Rooms was made popular by Micaela Sharp, Tibby Singh, Winnie Williams and Laurence Llewelyn-bowenMeanwhile, he once told the Daily Mail, the late Prince Philip wasn’t a fan of his work. 'I did some flooring [at Buckingham Palace], years and years ago, before I was famous and Prince Philip hated it,' Laurence said.
He said that Prince Philip told him he disliked the floors at a design consultation. 'So I just say, 'you probably don't know this, but years ago, I designed these floors.' And he looked down and went 'hmm, never liked them.' That sort of killed the conversation, really.'
Back in 2018, Laurence joked to The Daily Telegraph that his neighbours, Charles and Camilla, were 'forever popping over wanting to borrow more gin.' Tthe family connections go way back as Laurence's wife Jackie used to plan parties for Princess Diana and Laurence's daughters went to the same school as Kate Middleton.