The Prince of Wales has once more waded controversially into the debate over modern architecture by telling the Qatari owners of the Chelsea Barracks residential development in west London to scrap plans for a Lord Rogers-designed scheme in favour of something more traditional.

In a letter to the head of Qatari Diar, the sovereign wealth-backed developer that owns the site, Prince Charles described the scheme as “unsympathetic” and “unsuitable”, instead recommending plans by an architect who had overseen work in the neighbouring Royal Hospital.