Take a first look at the front cover of The Prince of Wales's Country Life and find out what's inside

Country Life is absolutely delighted to reveal the front cover of the November 11 issue, guest edited by HRH The Prince of Wales. At almost 300 pages from cover to cover, it is the largest Royal Edit to date and is the culmination of nearly a year’s work.

‘It began with a meeting at the Windsor Estate Office, when The Prince set out exactly what he wanted from the features, whether it was about responsible land management, the experiences of women in the military, and more. He was very clear about how he wanted his issue to look, right from the start,’ says Paula Minchin, Managing and Features Editor at Country Life, who helped coordinate the issue with Editor-in-Chief Mark Hedges. ‘He struck me and Mark as being very direct and on it from the get-go and he has been throughout. When we went through the page proofs at Windsor Castle in October, it took about two hours because he read everything word-for-word and had made handwritten notes about what he wanted to change.’

In this colourful and highly revealing commemorative edition, The Prince of Wales will reveal his favourite view, his favourite things and his favourite painting, alongside a glimpse into the gardens at The King’s home at Highgrove and how to build sustainable homes out of hemp for the Duchy of Cornwall. As a former serviceman who is committed to improving the experiences of women in the armed forces, His Royal Highness also commissioned Octavia Pollock to write an impactful article exploring the injustices servicewomen have faced in the past and what is being done to make them feel more ‘safe, respected and valued’ in future.

‘Prince William’s edition champions a lot of causes close to his heart,’ Minchin says. ‘Yet it also offers a real insight into his life: he likes wild swimming, he likes his dogs, he likes walking and he loves being out in the countryside with his children.’

‘Compiling such an eclectic and wide-ranging issue has been a true test of all of our skills on this magazine,’ Minchin continues. ‘As a team, we do this every week: we all love our jobs and we love talking to people, finding out more about them and accurately reflecting who they are through the pages of this British institution that has been published every week since 1897. However, these souvenir guest-edit editions are always a monumental challenge because we’re reflecting someone’s whole life in one issue. It takes everything that the entire team has got,’ she notes.

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