Author slates ‘rebel’ prince

– Prince Charles, pictured, the “rebel” heir to the British throne, will face a battle to win over Britons and could even put the monarchy at risk if he does not temper his strong views when he becomes king, a biographer says.

Charles, who turns 70 next week, will be the oldest monarch to be crowned when he finally succeeds his 92-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Tom Bower, whose unauthorised biography of Charles, Rebel Prince, was published this year, said the prince was intelligent, kind and sensitive, but also selfish, ungrateful and a lover of luxury whose stubborn streak could risk the institution itself.

“I think Charles will try his hardest to be a good king,” Bower, who describes himself as a committed monarchist, said.

“The question will be how he behaves...

“He has a view of the world and he wants to impose his view of that world, so in every way he doesn’t want to conform to expectations, so that makes him a rebel,” Bower said.

Critical portraits of the prince are not new. Since the 1990s, his lifestyle and views on issues like climate change, religion, alternative medicine and architecture have often had unfavourable treatment.

Former aides say many of the stories in Bower’s book are simply not true.

“I can understand why critics will write ... negatively, but all they’re doing is taking a facet of him,” said one former close aide of many years. “It’s not such a contradiction that people have these polar views because somewhere in the middle is the real man.” –