The Ambanis’ Antilia in Mumbai (Fotocorp)

London, June 22: K.P. Singh of DLF, builder of malls, has been invited to advise Prince Charles over a meal on how to preserve historic buildings, Buckingham Palace confirmed today.

Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal too have been sent invites, today’s Sunday Times reported although the palace spokesperson was unable to confirm the full guest list.

The newspaper said the Prince of Wales was “appealing to Asian billionaires to help him protect the environment, preserve historic buildings and support the young unemployed throughout the Indian subcontinent”.

Neither the website of “Mall King” Singh’s real estate company nor that of Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited had much light to throw on what they have done to preserve heritage buildings in India. But if Ambani does come, it would be worth being a fly on the wall to catch his exchange with Charles on the subject of urban architecture.

What will the prince make of Antilia, Ambani’s new palace in Altamount Road in Mumbai — a 27-storey glass-fronted building with parking for 168 cars, three helipads, a theatre and a staff of 600?

The prince is hostile to high-rise development in city centres. For example, he wants tall buildings in London banished to the Docklands in east London where they will not look out of place alongside the 800-foot-tall Canary Wharf.

In a typical speech, Charles had highlighted how Berlin authorities had imposed restrictions on the heights of new buildings. This policy, he said, “can help to achieve a far more coherent sense of harmony and civic self-confidence than the alternative ‘free-for-all’ that will leave London and our other cities with a pockmarked skyline.”

Highlighting his famous “monstrous carbuncle” comment made in May 1984 about a proposed extension to the National Gallery, the prince said: “Not just one carbuncle, ladies and gentlemen, on the face of a much loved old friend, but a positive rash of them that will disfigure precious views and disinherit future generations of Londoners.”

Many cutting-edge British architects, who believe Charles is stuck in the past, would probably approve of Ambani’s Antilia and also the malls that DLF is building across India.

Charles, of course, takes a different view and would not want Calcutta, for example, changed beyond recognition by modern high-rise constructions or flyovers.

News reports, however, say the Tatas are committed to developing the heritage circuit around Varanasi. According to the group’s website, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has prepared a plan for the conservation and restoration of the Ajanta Caves in a project joined by the Geological Survey of India.

The ArcelorMittal site says the company “is playing a role” in a project to preserve Mont Saint Michel, “a jewel of French architecture and Unesco heritage”.

Among others who have accepted Charles’s invitation are the actress and social activist Shabana Azmi, Bollywood director Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Naina Lal Kidwai, the first Indian woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School and currently the CEO of HSBC in India, the palace spokesperson said.

Although the Sunday Times referred to “a series of working lunches and formal dinners at Clarence House and Kensington Palace next month”, the palace spokeswoman clarified that the Indians had been invited to a specific meeting by Charles. She said: “India has been close to his heart for many years.”

Charles, introduced to India by his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, is a familiar figure at Indian functions in Britain.

The prince wants to talk to his Indian guests about how they might be able to help the various causes he supports under the umbrella of “The Prince’s Charities”, including the recently established British Asian Trust.

The latter’s mission statement says: “The British Asian Trust will work with smaller organisations and communities to help themselves. It will act as an investment vehicle to ensure the best use of philanthropic funds; its fundraising will be driven by events linked to fashion, music and sport.”

According to his spokeswoman, the prince is aiming for a two-way process. He also wants to assess what his charities can do in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The visit by the Indian dignitaries to the UK “will be very much a working trip”, the spokeswoman stressed.

In a speech on architectural heritage, the Prince had said: “For some unaccountable reason, we seem to be determined to vandalise these few remaining sites which retain the kind of human scale and timeless character that so attract people to them and which increase in value as time goes by.”