Why Charles could become a real problem as monarch – Paxo
JEREMY Paxman says the Prince of Wales could prove a ‘big problem’ once he is King – if he ‘continues to behave as Prince Charles’. The former Newsnight presenter, however, dismisses the idea of replacing the monarchy with a president – such as Tony Blair.
He declared himself a royalist because it is ‘ better than any alternatives’.
‘We’d have ended up with a President Blair or something awful like that,’ he added. ‘I have had to come out as a monarchist now because I am one.
‘I’m very happy to have a public discussion about it. People say to me “but what about Prince Charles?”. My answer is it’s going to be a big problem when we get Prince Charles – if he behaves as Prince Charles.
‘But I don’t think he will – the role is different. We shan’t have his views on talking to trees or whatever inflicted upon us when he’s monarch but when he’s the Prince of Wales he can do what he likes.’
Paxman, 67, was speaking at the Buxton International Festival in Derbyshire. He told how spiritual figures – rather than politicians – have been his most interesting interviewees because they were prepared to answer ‘the why’ to life’s big questions, whereas politi- cians stuck to ‘the when, where and how’.
‘All of us have to think about why we’re here – not whether there’s an extra penny on income tax or not,’ he said.
He declined to take aim at any current politicians – apart from US President Donald Trump, some of whose views he said were ridiculous – but he attacked some past figures for ‘making it up as they go along’ and being ‘prepared to say anything as long as they grind an axe’ in interviews.
Paxman said politicians have less power than they like to think because they are constrained by voters’ reluctance to countenance any changes to the NHS, even though it is ‘unfixable in its current format’, and to the pressures from being part of organisations such as the EU, the UN and Nato.
But he blamed the generation who grew up in the 1960s for the current levels of distrust in politicians.
Paxman said: ‘The 1960s encouraged everybody to disbelieve everyone over 30. It has left us with an abiding distrust of institutions and authority figures. I’m not sure that’s terribly healthy.’
‘He can do what he likes’