Two intellectual heavyweights of our age spoke on different platforms in London tonight.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) spoke to an audience of the Mandrake at the Adam Street Club and our future monarch Prince Charles addressed a group of architects at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

I didn’t make the guest list for RIBA but I did get to attend Mandrake to hear Phillips talk about his upbringing and early influences. He’s a highly engaging speaker famed for controversy. Unfortunately there wasn’t much tonight as he stuck firmly to his EHRC script that origin should in no way determine destiny.

Phillips skirted topics including the right ring media, the impact of the recession on equality and immigration, women in workforce and Gordon Brown’s recent skirmish with Joanna Lumley.

In his RIBA address to Prince Charles reportedly maintained his attack on flawed building design and called for a return to organic influences. A summary of his speech is available online.