Boris Johnson has disclosed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor once pressed him to tear down Battersea Power Station during his tenure as London mayor.The former Prime Minister, recounted being summoned to Buckingham Palace for tea with the then UK trade envoy, who presented various schemes for attracting wealthy overseas investors to the capital.”Look at Battersea Power Station, he said. It was an eyesore, a ruin. It was blocking development of a huge and potentially lucrative site at Vauxhall,” Mr Johnson wrote.The disgraced former prince reportedly dismissed the Grade I listed landmark and suggested freeing up the valuable Thames-side location for development.”Why don’t we just knock it down?” Mr Mountbatten-Windsor asked, according to Mr Johnson’s account.When Mr Johnson raised objections that the power station represented an architectural masterpiece with redevelopment potential, the former prince remained sceptical, seemingly responding: “It’ll never happen.”Beyond his demolition proposal, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor also claimed to lobby for improvements to Heathrow Airport’s facilities for wealthy travellers, claiming his associates faced “terrible queues at immigration” and that “not enough of them were allowed to use the VIP suite”.The former prince supposedly complained that his contacts were “utterly fed up with the traffic”, which he believed was “damaging London’s reputation”.His solution involved adjusting signal timings across the capital: “What about rephasing the traffic lights so as to give more time on green for everyone heading off for the weekend?”Mr Johnson characterised these proposals as envisioning “billionaires being waved through Heathrow and through a series of green and deferential traffic lights”.The former prime minister also revealed that during a later visit to Windsor while serving as PM, he counselled Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to adopt a more modest public approach.”He had to understand how people felt about things, ever since that disastrous interview on Newsnight,” Mr Johnson explained.The ex-PM suggested the former prince needed to rebuild his standing with the public and proposed an unconventional path forward.”Why not open a pub in the country, and run it with his ex-wife Fergie? She seemed to have the right sort of breezy personality,” Mr Johnson recalled advising in the Mail. LATEST ROYAL NEWSCharity founder receives MBE medal from two monarchs in unusual situationPrincess of Wales forced to follow royal protocol as future Queen declines fan’s requestPrince Harry refuses to address situation with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during trip to JordanHe even offered a name for the hypothetical establishment: “You could call it the Duke of York.”During the same Windsor meeting, Mr Johnson had to inform Mr Mountbatten-Windsor that he could not attend a significant royal occasion to spare the Queen embarrassment.Mr Johnson argued that despite his fall from grace, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor may have inadvertently served the nation’s interests, describing him as potentially “the best thing to have happened to the Royal family for years”.The former PM contended that the scandal had failed to advance republican sentiment “one inch” and suggested that the former prince’s “ghastly pratfalls” may have actually bolstered public affection for the monarchy.”By the sheer scale of his disgrace, he has paradoxically intensified the dignity of the crown,” Mr Johnson wrote.As for Battersea Power Station, the landmark Mr Mountbatten-Windsor wanted razed proved him wrong. Designed by George Gilbert Scott with construction commencing in 1929, the building was decommissioned in 1983 and fell into disrepair.Redevelopment commenced during Mr Johnson’s mayoral tenure, and the site reopened in 2022 featuring retail, commercial and residential spaces.GB News has approached Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s representatives for comment.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter GB News Read More