Following King Charles's diagnosis we have taken a look back at his role as the driving force behind a town that is now firmly part of Dorset's landscape.

The nation's King, Charles III, has played a major part in creating the now-thriving community of Poundbury and regularly travels to Dorset to visit his 'model village'.

The Poundbury skyline, with the distinctive cupolas of Queen Mother Square rising high above all the buildings, is an 'urban extension' many call home and others call a place of work.

And the square, rather appropriately, in recent days has become a place where residents and visitors have come to pay their respects to the Queen, laying flowers at the plinth of the Queen Mother statue, which was loving unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016.

In his years as heir apparent, the then-Prince Charles, this Royal lover of architecture, had a dream of a model village blending a mixture of traditional building styles.

This dream became Poundbury, a fast changing development constantly drawing Charles back to the area.

Some of his visits have been public and others have been private, with one of the King's most recently visiting to see Poundbury's new 'super park', the Great Field Play Area unveiled in May of this year.

He showed that his interest in Poundbury has never waned - workers who laid the foundations of the play park and met Charles said he was 'surprisingly clued up' about the area and was concerned about a water fountain that wasn't working.

The liveliness today of Poundbury - a charmingly haphazard mix of homes, offices and shops - makes it an unrecognisable place from the plot of land selected to turn Prince Charles’s vision into a reality.

Back in 1987 the local planning authority, West Dorset District Council, selected Duchy of Cornwall land to the west of Dorchester for future expansion of the town.

Having written a book on architecture the-then Prince Charles took the opportunity to work with the council to create a model urban extension to Dorchester.

By the following year he had appointed an architect, Leon Krier, to work on 400 acres of land that would become Poundbury.

In 1989 the Prince of Wales himself attended an exhibition in Dorchester which displayed the development masterplan.

Building work started on Poundbury in October 1993 and is continuing today.

The architecture at Poundbury is unashamedly traditional, using a variety of Dorset materials such as stone, slate and render. The architecture draws on the rich heritage of the county.

It is expected that it will be completed by 2025, increasing the population of Dorchester by about one quarter, with an eventual community of approximately 5,800 people.

With some 35 per cent of the housing either affordable housing for rental or shared ownership, it has provided homes for young people who would otherwise have been priced out of the area.

The new heir to the throne Prince William has also made private visits to Poundbury, both with his father and alone, on one occasion admiring the buildings of Buttermarket Square.

While Poundbury is often joking referred to as 'Charlestown' or 'a Royal village', the ties that bind it to the new King of the nation are likely to remain as strong as ever.