Time for a breath of fresh heir?

JI LIKE Prince Charles. He’s a palpably decent man who’s devoted his life to helping disadvantaged young people. He’s reached a pivotal point though, because time’s a-creepin’ and sadly, each day brings him closer to the throne – sad because he’ll achieve his destiny only after our beloved Queen has finally left the building.

We’ll be heartbroken when that inevitable day dawns, but monarchy brooks no interruption. “The Queen is dead. Long live the King.” The lack of sentiment is brutal but the monarchy is medieval and that’s the way royalty rolls.

There’s no question Charles will be King, but many of his subjects might be thinking he’s too old; they would rather William succeeded his grandmother.

And following Charles’s peculiar BBC climate change interview this week, I’m starting to wonder if they’re right.

Discussing this enormous issue, set to become the world’s hottest political potato over the next decades, Charles came across as sweet but slightly dotty.

When he said he doesn’t eat dairy foods on Mondays, avoids meat and fish on two days a week, and his Aston Martin runs on surplus white wine and whey from cheese-making,

I began to think I was watching a Disney film.

Behold the wise old cottager expounding his ancient herbal medicines to the kingdom. He even described his affection for his Scottish garden as “an old man’s obsession”.

Ironically, Charles’s lifelong preoccupation with the preservation of nature, for which he was once mocked, is now cutting edge. He’s been proved right, but time’s moved on. There is only room for one ancient sage on the British celebrity planet-go-round, and that spot has been nabbed by Sir David Attenborough.

As I said earlier, I like Charles (and I’m the same age) but I fear the blessing of his mother’s longevity means he has missed the boat.

We are at the beginning of a new eco-cycle, a savage global fight for precious resources which won’t be pretty. Don’t we all need to know when our time’s up?

Adorable as Papa Charles is, might our level-headed young Prince and his admirably surefooted wife provide more vigorous leadership?

Is that treason, or just an interesting thought?