Charles sees the perils ahead
I AM NOT surprised Prince Charles looked glum as he contemplated the Imperial State Crown last Tuesday. I expect that, like most people in his generation (which is also mine) he feels a strong sense of foreboding over what is to come.
His mother, in her eloquent and moving words about ‘the fullness of time’, has given us all permission to talk openly about the approaching end of her reign, made even more of a reality by her decision to stay away from the State Opening of Parliament.
I do not fully join in the universal praise for the Queen’s handling of her tricky role.
I think that she has made needless concessions to the multiculturalism which has helped to break up the country. I think she has unwisely got too close to political controversy, as in her endorsement of the Belfast Agreement to give in to the IRA.
But I am sure that her mere presence on the throne has helped keep the country from toppling off the rails many times. She has allowed us to think that there is some ultimate authority which keeps bad men from getting too much power.
But do the new generation of politicians, or the new generations which worship football players and rock stars, share this reverence or understand it? I doubt it. The whole terrible Diana episode showed that another completely different Britain had come into being since the Coronation. I cannot forget the way that the applause for Earl Spencer’s rather nasty speech in Westminster Abbey began outside the church and was then taken up by the Establishment within, which lacked the courage to stay silent. That sums them up.
Queen Elizabeth represented a sort of majesty which has largely vanished from our country. Charles cannot have that even if he wants to, which I doubt he does. We are approaching a moment of great danger. I just hope there will be someone around who knows how to cope with it.