Camilla and His Royal Thighness
PRINCE Charles has spoken of his frustration at the years it has taken the world to be convinced of the dangers of climate change and other environmental disasters like plastic pollution.
The heir to the throne has spent decades issuing dire warnings about the future of the planet, but has often been dismissed as a crank.
In an interview in Vanity Fair magazine, he said: “One of my duties has been to find solutions to vast challenges we face over accelerating climate change.
“However, it seems to take forever to alert people to the scale of the challenge.
“Over 40 years ago I remember making a speech about the problems of plastic and other waste, but at that stage nobody was really interested and I was considered oldfashioned, out of touch and ‘anti-science’.”
He admitted that “putting his head above the parapet” had put him in a situation that was “not the most pleasant”.
Smiling
But he insisted: “I don’t really see any value in saying, ‘I told you so’.”
The interview, to mark his upcoming 70th birthday on November 17 is accompanied by photographs of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall.
In one, Charles and Camilla share a tender moment in the Garden Room at Clarence House, their official London residence.
The smiling couple sit close while Camilla, 71, rests a hand on her husband’s thigh.
Their photographer Alexi Lubomirski also took the official engagement and wedding photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Last night the royal couple arrived in the Gambia, a former British colony where climate change and deforestation have been blamed for regular droughts.
The visit, the first stop on a nine-day tour of West Africa, sets the seal on The Gambia’s return to the Commonwealth this year.
It comes two years after the election of President Adama Barrow ended the 22-year dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh.
The former president, now in exile, pulled his country out in 2013 after criticism of his human rights record.
Charles, who will replace the Queen as the next head of the Commonwealth when he accedes to the throne, and Camilla were greeted by President Barrow, 53, when they landed in the capital Banjul.
They watched a traditional display of Gambian music and dance and were presented with a calabash fruit containing kola tree nuts, a gift for honoured guests.
See the full feature in the December issue of Vanity Fair out tomorrow