Charles still looking ahead at 60

[Niels Bohr 72]

By Nicholas Witchell

Royal correspondent, BBC News

He has reached the age at which most people retire. Yet Prince Charles is still waiting to undertake the role for which he was born.

Indeed, Charles, who is celebrating his 60th birthday, has been the heir to the throne for so long that he is now the longest-serving monarch-in-waiting in British history - and there is the prospect that it could be many more years before he finally gets the chance to achieve his birthright.

No-one who knows the prince has ever suggested that Charles would wish to hasten the only circumstance which will give rise to his succession.

The Queen will never abdicate. Period. And even if this 82-year-old monarch were to become incapacitated in some way, she would remain on the throne, albeit with the sovereign's powers transferred under the Regency Act of 1937 to Charles.

But he would be Regent, not King.

'Extravagant privileges'

So Charles will only succeed to the throne when his mother dies. And while, plainly, that is not a development he wishes to hasten, he could be forgiven for feeling a degree of frustration at the way his life has played out.

Despite his occasional petulance and the tangled imperfections of his private life, all the evidence of the past 40 years suggests that Charles is a fundamentally decent man who has spent his adult life striving to make a difference for the better in Britain.

He believes he has a duty to use his position as Prince of Wales to bring together people of wealth and influence to focus on some of the major issues which face us

He could, as he said on the BBC television documentary "Charles at 60: The Passionate Prince", have sat back and done very little other than enjoy the immense privileges and almost unlimited pleasures to which a Prince of Wales is privy.

Without question, Charles does at times revel in the privileges - to a sometimes extravagant degree - and he has had his share of the pleasures, but he has also devoted a considerable amount of time and thought to trying to prove that he is worthy of the special position in life that he gained purely by his birth.

The Prince's Trust was his idea and, in the 32 years of its existence, it has helped more than 500,000 disadvantaged young people to improve their lives.

That alone would entitle him to credit. But Charles has involved himself in very much more than the Prince's Trust.

He has spoken out about the environment (with undoubted prescience), inter-faith relations, GM foods, architecture, education, holistic medicine, and much more.

Some of his interventions have earned him rebukes from politicians and others who have grown tired of his frequent expressions of concern, either in speeches or in the so-called black-spider letters written in his sprawling long-hand.

Certainly his outspoken position on the danger, as he sees it, of GM crops, and his sympathy for Tibet over what has been done to it by the "appalling old waxworks" who lead China, have caused genuine concern within government that this is a prince who lacks the self-restraint and discretion that might reasonably be expected of someone in his position.

Lobbying and campaigning

Charles, of course, sees it differently. As he said in the BBC documentary, he regards his interventions not as "meddling" but as "mobilising".

He believes he has a duty to use his position as Prince of Wales to bring together people of wealth and influence to focus on some of the major issues which face us. This is a role which he describes as his "convening power".

And despite the reservations which some feel about his activities, Charles' officials say he is not going to quieten down.

He still wants to make a difference and he is going to continue, as they put it, to use his position to "enthuse, inspire and warn" to the best of his ability.

There is, though, one very particular danger of the route down which Charles has felt compelled to go for the past 40 years.

Eventually people might realise that some of the things I've been trying to do aren't all that mad

Prince Charles After so much lobbying and campaigning on the issues which matter to him, will he be able to stop when he becomes King?

That has been the so-far unanswered question. But in the BBC documentary, we gained our first insight into how Charles himself approaches this issue.

He was asked whether, as King, he would still "champion big themes".

His answer was instructive and is worth recording in full.

Charles said: "I don't know. I don't know - probably not in the same way.

"But I like to think perhaps that after all this, eventually people might realise that some of the things I've been trying to do aren't all that mad and that I might have some 'convening power' that could be put to use."

Charles appeared to be saying that, as King, invitations could well be going out from Buckingham Palace (or Windsor Castle) to attend what might be described as "The King's Conference" on, say, the future of the rainforests, the merits of GM crops, or even the plight of Tibet.

It may yet be many years before he gets there, and when he does his reign may be comparatively short, but on the basis of what he said in this week's BBC documentary, Charles' reign may be one of unusual interest.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7728139.stm

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

He's a crook.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Is Chuck still eligible to be king?

Last I checked, "Crazy Henry rules" (rules written by Henry VIII) state that claim to English/British throne is forfeit if claimant marries a divorcée--which Camilla is.

[Gemmie 142]

He's eligible.

I've had enough of hearing all about Charles turning 60 every time I turn on the TV though.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The talk has always been that Charles would be skipped in favour of William.

Charles has had a few scandals attached to his name (and I'm not talking about the divorce). Basically lives beyond his means (had his budget reined in by the Queen) and was implicated in a scam (along with one of his aides) where he would take gifts given to him by visiting dignatories or received on foreign trips and sell them off for private profit.

Then again Prince Philip is blatantly racist and he's the Queen's husband...

Edited November 14, 2008 by Paul Daniels

[Gemmie 142]

Yeah but they were talking about that on This Morning and they said he's never going to pass it onto William and isn't even ABLE to, so he's going to be King..

[Emancipation 2]

I don't feel sorry for the guy one bit.. Long live the Queen

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Prince Edward is (a lot) worse than Charles I think... Good thing he's far down on the list...

Edward is the George W. Bush of the Royal Family.

[SteveLaura 0]

Yeah but they were talking about that on This Morning and they said he's never going to pass it onto William and isn't even ABLE to, so he's going to be King..

Why not? Surely he could be 'King for a day' and then abdicate? We've had abdications in the past.

I don't feel sorry for the guy one bit.. Long live the Queen

I'm not in favour of the monarchy, but I do admire Charles.

[Gemmie 142]

I meant he isn't allowed to decide he doesn't want to be King and just pass it onto William instead. He's probably allowed to abdicate though.

[SteveLaura 0]

I meant he isn't allowed to decide he doesn't want to be King and just pass it onto William instead. He's probably allowed to abdicate though.

Oh. I think he cares more about the future of the monarchy than his own desire to be King. If the Queen lives as long as her Mum, then it would be better for royalty in general if he handed it over to his son asap.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Is Chuck still eligible to be king?

Last I checked, "Crazy Henry rules" (rules written by Henry VIII) state that claim to English/British throne is forfeit if claimant marries a divorcée--which Camilla is.

But apparently a king divorcing his wife or executing her is okie-dokey

[Ban Hammer 14,573]

I'm not in favour of the monarchy, but I do admire Charles.

why thank you!

[SteveLaura 0]

The Prince's Trust once offered to buy me a sleeping bag - long, not particularly interesting story. I have given the P of W a pass ever since.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I'm not in favour of the monarchy, but I do admire Charles.

why thank you!