The King was left a little perplexed when he tried to open a puzzle box during a visit to one of London’s architectural treasures.
Charles toured the former home of Victorian artist Lord Leighton, who lavishly decorated parts of his property in a Middle Eastern style and with artefacts collected from his travels in the region.
Parts of the building have been renovated, with an exhibition space and learning centre created and new furniture commissioned from artists supported by Turquoise Mountain, an organisation founded by Charles in 2006 to help revive historic areas around the globe and traditional crafts.
When he was asked to try to open a small wooden box made by Ibrahim Khdoj, a Syrian craftsman helped by Turquoise Mountain, and decorated with a geometric marquetry pattern, he turned it in his hands and laughed as he tried to find the secret catch.
When he was eventually shown how to prise off the lid the King laughed, and later when he was leaving the visitor attraction, he pointed to the box and told a guest: “You’ll never open it – thank god I was shown.”
The centrepiece of Leighton House, in the capital’s exclusive Kensington district, is the Arab Hall which was designed to display the Victorian artist’s priceless collection of more than a thousand medieval Islamic tiles, mostly brought back from Damascus in Syria.
The tiles were the inspiration for a mural running up the length of a large spiral staircase which is part of the new renovations to the tourist attraction.
During his visit Charles saw other works by Turquoise Mountain craftsmen and women, from jewellery and textiles to sumptuous carpets from Afghanistan.
Shoshana Stewart, president of Turquoise Mountain, said: “His Majesty has been a huge supporter of artisans around the world and artisans with Turquoise Mountain and it is about creating a livelihood for people.”
She added: “And the wonderful thing which obviously His Majesty saw before anybody is that this is the way the world is moving and should move.
“Which is that we want to increasingly buy a piece that means something, that comes from a particular tradition, and know about the person who made it.”
