House Rules star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen reveals mixed reviews from Royal family

HE’S the eccentric aristo who’s brought a mad sense of style to Seven’s House Rules. But Laurence Llewlyn-Bowen once got the sort of scathing criticism he’s famous for from Prince Philip.

IT doesn’t take much to get Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen excitable, so you can imagine how thrilled the eccentric House Rules judge was by the birth of a little Royal prince.

Especially given the English-born aristo was born in the same Lindo wing of St Mary’s hospital, where bonny Prince Louis was delivered to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

“Being here and so far away from my own grandson [Albion], I did get a little bit excited,” he tells News Corp.

“Both my daughters were at school with the Duchess. Kate was a lot older but they were all at Marlborough together,” he explains.

“I’ve bumped into Harry quite a lot and Charles and Camilla are neighbours, so they’re forever popping over wanting to borrow more gin,” he jokes.

Jesting aside, LLB - as he is affectionately abbreviated - apparently has a history with the Windsors, and as the designer tells it, with mixed reviews.

“I did some flooring [at Buckingham Palace], years and years ago, before I was famous and Prince Philip hated it.”

Llewellyn-Bowen returns for a new season of Channel 7's renovation show, House Rules. Picture: Richard Dobson

Not known for his ability to sustain harmless small talk, His Royal Highness and his Lordship, LLB were the first to arrive for a design consultation at the Palace.

“He was very irritable because my wife wasn’t there. He only ever seemed to come to life when Jackie was around, so we really didn’t know what to talk about. 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.”

He reportedly got a better response from the Queen herself — and Claire Foy, who plays her on the wildly successful Netflix series, The Crown, who recently nominated him as her celebrity crush.

“[Claire] can’t have got that [crush] right, but interestingly enough, that means she has, yet again, got something in common with Her Majesty,” LLB says, “because we all know Her Majesty fancies me furiously,” he boasts, revealing HM was apparently a fan of his first TV foray on UK makeover show, Changing Rooms.

TV antics ... Llewelyn-Bowen with co-star Handy Andy in 2004 on the UK makeover series, Changing Rooms. Picture: Supplied

Asked if we could expect these anecdotes to play out in season three of the royal drama [with Broadchurch star, Olivia Colman set to replace Foy in the lead role], LLB affirmed, “of course ... it’s The Crown meets Changing Rooms fusion episode. We’re going to rename it Palace Rules,” he jokes.

Poking fun at his fame is something he does often, at the media’s peril.

At Christmas he generously sent this scribe a card, featuring glamour photos of his family, Dynasty-themed, which were first published in UK celebrity glossy, Hello.

At our photo shoot for this cover story, he would explain the prank the family had pulled on the magazine, after his graphic designer son-in-law used the chance to retouch the shots as the opportunity to digitally hide a “rogue toe” in the beachy scene, which was unseen by editors and went to print.

“That was naughty,” he chuckles, “but they ran it, so if you can get a copy there’s a rogue toe in the sand.”

He’s warned them to expect the same antics when the family shares images from his daughter, Cecile’s July wedding.

“We’re doing an all black marquee - she’s going to be the only white thing in there,” he teases. “Super stylish, and just a little bit Game Of Thrones.”

At home ... a snapshot of Llewelyn-Bowen and wife Jackie with his daughters, Hermione and Cecile in scene from their reality TV series, To The Manor Bowen.

It’s this off-the-wall sense of style and humour, and his “bold and bouncy” personality, that has won the 53-year-old a devoted following in Australia, after only one season on Seven’s reality renovation series.

The injection of his eccentric adjudications - including urging viewers to love their homes so much they should “lick the walls” - helped rejuvenate interest in the show, which sees teams compete to renovate each other’s homes every week (a Seven spokeswoman confirmed this year’s prize pool will be revealed on air).

His passion for interiors is tireless, taking him around the world for work and pleasure — with appearances on The Apartment in Singapore; Irish lifestyle series, Showhouse Showdown; House Rules in Australia, while also judging regularly at international industry design awards.

“It’s a bitch of a world out there, Holly,” he says. “It really is very, very cold and very, very scary. So when you shut your front door, you are at home, you are protected in your shrine. It’s the only little bit of your world where you can be totally expressive. So actually,” he urges, “do something that’s about you. Don’t do something that is about display homes, or the latest trends.”

House Rules judges Wendy Moore, Llewelyn-Bowen and Drew Heath, with host Joh Griggs (in pink) ahead of the 2018 season on Channel 7. Picture: Supplied/Seven.

It’s the same adventurous brief he gives contestants, but not all experiments have met with his approval - notably, last season when he attacked one team’s use of a ladder, fixed to the ceiling, from which they strung a bicycle and other assorted household debris.

“Thank you for bringing that up,” he says, sarcastically. “Hundreds of thousands of pounds in Harley Street psychoanalysis got rid of that, Holly, and now you’ve brought it all back.”

“The truly irritating thing about that was it was so unthoughtful,” he says.

“What’s much more worrying this season is that they think these things through. It’s almost impossible not to see spite in it. That they have deliberately done it to make me feel unpleasant. To punish my incredibly over-educated eyeballs by doing something that appalling,” he adds, acting wounded.

Sounds like a reason to watch to me.

* House Rules, 7.30pm, Monday May 7, Seven.

COVER CREDIT: Hats loaned by Neil Grigg Millinery, Paddington.

Originally published as House Rules star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen reveals mixed reviews from Royal family