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News

TRH open the new Highgrove Shop in Tetbury

17th March 2008

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall opened the new Highgrove Shop in Tetbury today.

All profits from the shop will go to The Prince's Charities Foundation which benefits many worthwhile good causes.

The champagne and fudge proved popular on the first day of the shop which is just two miles from The Prince’s home in Gloucestershire.

More than 700 items either sourced from Home Farm on his estate or selected by The Prince personally, were unveiled to an audience of local dignitaries and those who helped make the shop a reality.

Rosie Craig, serving at the opening, said: "The champagne, Lebanese soaps, fudge and chocolates are selling well already. The champagne is the same used at all his own functions. It is very, very good."

Local joiner Geoff Harris, 46, who helped fit out the building, bought some champagne and fudge.

He said: "The champagne is very reasonably priced. I've also gone for the fudge. As my firm did all the joinery here, The Prince asked me if the wood came from a sustainable source - it does."

Among the other goods on sale are vegetables grown on the estate, including Charlotte potatoes and Happil strawberries.

Highgrove honey, made by royal bees which forage on clover, wild berries and dandelions, is available to buy.

Lebanese soaps from the world's oldest factory are also stocked in the shop.  The Prince discovered them on a foreign tour.

The most expensive item on sale today was a limited edition print of a painting by The Prince of Wales himself.

One of just 100 lithographs, a picture of the Pepperpot Pavilion at Highgrove is for sale.

As with all the products on sale, the proceeds will go to The Prince’s Charities Foundation.

Guest Pat Hodges, representing the Chamber of Commerce, said: "It is a rather nice painting, and I am sure it is worth it. Camilla was very nice - she asked me if she could get a job here for Christmas!"

Josie Creed, part of the store's buying team, said: "All the products can be traced back to Highgrove, and reflect his interests.

"The biscuits are a great example - they are grown on Home Farm, then milled at Shipton Mill, down the road, and baked at a bakery funded by profits from the Prince's Trust."

Other items on sale are tea-cosies, gardening gloves, nesting boxes, a pair of tractor bookends, crab-apple jelly and apple chutney.

Their Royal Highnesses thanked the project's key supporters while they were inside the shop.

Product development consultant Sally Ireland said: "We don't want this just to be a tourist shop. We want people to use these things in their homes.

"I want them to actually put the tea-cosies on their teapots. The aim was to make all the products both beautiful and useful."

Tetbury Mayor Stephen Hirst said the local economy would thrive because of the added royal presence in the heart of the shopping centre.

Mr Hirst said: "Tetbury has gained a fantastic new asset. It will do great things for this town."

Click here to read a feature on the Highgrove Shop.