BBC Antiques Roadshow furniture expert John Bly is in a battle royale with the Sir Hugh Roberts and the conservation team engaged by Prince Charles to supervise the conservation of Chippendale furniture at Dumfries House, reported Christopher Wilson of the Daily Mail.
 
Bly says some of the unique and rare Chippendale furniture at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, built by the Adams brothers, has started cracking and shrinking because managers there may have failed to look after the collection properly. He also says he is concerned that the Prince's advisers could employ conservers who would ruin what he calls 'untouched' masterpieces by over-restoring them and making them look like new shop items.
 
He was so concerned that he wrote the conservation team a letter warning that 'damage manifests itself in cracking and distortion of veneer due to timber shrinkage. This has been caused by a lack of circulation of air. We are in summer and the house is currently over-warm and yet, apparently, the windows are now permanently closed. The furniture needs to breathe, as it has been allowed to do throughout the preceding centuries. Of even greater concern is to learn that restorers are being called in to remedy recent damage and restore other items. I hope all of this will be undertaken with the greatest possible restraint, for in these circumstances careful and sympathetic conservation is needed, rather than enthusiastic renovation. What they are doing at that house is misguided, in my view. There's misplaced energy and experience. In my opinion, anyone who allowed the furniture to deteriorate is not the best person to recommend which restorers to use. I would hate it if the Prince's advisers used conservators who thought everything should look as though it's come out of a West End dealer's window. That's just completely wrong. I would be unhappy if I upset the Prince, but I must speak out because he seems not to understand the damage that might be done. I'm deeply disappointed by the response I've had from Clarence House, but I do believe in the power of public persuasion. If enough people get to know what's going on, then maybe we can save this collection.'
 
Sir Hugh Roberts countered, 'Mr Bly's criticisms and concerns are completely unfounded and I strenuously refute them. The furniture and fabric at Dumfries House is being conserved with the greatest care and attention and to the highest possible standard. I am absolutely satisfied, with my experience of 40 years in this field, that the approach we have adopted is rigorous, appropriate and above all cautious. The firms we are using are the very best in their field: both Arlington Conservation (for the mahogany and veneered furniture) and Carvers and Gilders (for the giltwood pieces) have international reputations, and nothing that is being done in any way supports Mr Bly's view that we are damaging the great collection in the house. Quite the contrary; we are protecting and conserving it for future generations to enjoy and if Mr Bly were to come and see the first pieces of furniture we have conserved, which I believe he hasn't, I am confident he would be reassured that these Chippendale masterpieces are in safe hands. As for the ventilation and heating of the houses, it is being managed with the utmost care. Over and above the housekeeping practice of regular ventilation other protective measures such as UV filters, light-reducing films and a system of double blinds have been put in place to minimise any environmental risks to the collection. There is also an electronic environmental monitoring system which allows the curator to analyse any changes and respond accordingly.'
 
Prince Charles stepped into to preserve the Chippendale collection as part of Dumfries House after Johnnie Dumfries, a racing driver, Marquess of Bute, and owner of the house put it on the market with its contents for £43m in 2007. A campaign was launched to save it and donations had reached £12million when Charles weighed in, persuading others to pledge a further £12million. Charles then made up the rest of the total from his charities. The Prince controversially gambled £20million of his charities' cash on buying the Palladian country house in 2007 from the Marquess of Bute - even though he had never set eyes on it. According to the Prince, the house's most notable feature is its 'unrivalled' collection of 'exquisite' 18th Century furniture - much of it specially made by Thomas Chippendale - which has remained almost entirely in its original state.