Letter: Monuments fit for a princess

Sir: At the tail-end of last year, you reported that Prince Charles was supporting a bid for lottery funding to build a huge church as the centrepiece to a "Christian village" on a derelict 10-acre site in Battersea. When you published a letter from me suggesting that the money would be better spent building a wonderful modern hostel and de-tox centre on the site, my office was inundated with letters and phone calls from charities, local councils and individuals eager to offer whatever help they could. But at the time, there seemed little hope of turning the idea into reality.

Prince Charles could use his considerable influence to make a project of this scale happen. It could be a fitting and lasting memorial to the Princess of Wales, expressing hope in the future and determination to build a more caring and equal society.

It should be beautifully designed, cheerful, colourful and optimistic. In tackling the problems of homelessness and drug abuse, it would address many of the causes for which Princess Diana was rightly acclaimed. And it would, I believe, strike a special chord with young people and those usually marginalised by society, the core of the Princess's constituency.

Sir TERENCE CONRAN

London SE1