CHARLES: I WON’T MEDDLE WHEN I’M KING
I’m not that stupid, he says in TV interview on eve of 70th birthday
PRINCE Charles has ruled out being a ‘meddling monarch’ when he succeeds to the throne.
In a documentary to mark his 70th birthday next week, he tackles head-on the issue of his contentious lobbying.
He vows to stop campaigning on the environment, architecture and homeopathy as king, insisting: ‘I’m not that stupid.’
Speaking for the first – and, aides insist, last – time on a subject that has dogged much of his time as heir to throne he says: ‘I do realise it is a separate exercise being sovereign. So of course I understand entirely how that should operate.
‘I’ve tried to make sure whatever I’ve done has been non-party political, but I think it’s vital to remember there’s only room for one
sovereign at a time, not two. You can’t be the same as the sovereign if you’re the Prince of Wales or the heir. But the idea somehow that I’m going to go on exactly the same way, if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because the two situations are completely different.’
However, the prince is unrepentant about his public campaigning over the past half century. He says archly: ‘I always wonder what meddling is? I mean I always thought it was motivating.
‘But I’ve always been intrigued, if it’s meddling to worry about the inner cities as I did 40 years ago and what was happening or not happening there – the conditions in which people were living. If that’s meddling I’m very proud of it.’
The documentary, Prince, Son and Heir – Charles at 70, which is broadcast on BBC1 tonight, is a fascinating portrait of the king-inwaiting, featuring candid contri-
‘Challenging and complicated’ ‘Living dangerously’
butions from family including his sons William and Harry and wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. It reveals that: Charles is such a workaholic that he often falls asleep at his desk at midnight with a memo stuck to his forehead;
When the Duchess of Sussex found out her father would not be walking her down the aisle, Charles immediately volunteered;
Prince William wishes his father could spend more time with grandchildren George, Charlotte and Louis;
Although born to be king, Charles does not think about his destiny much;
William insists he wants to be his ‘ own man’ as Prince of Wales.
Documentary-maker John Bridcut was given unrivalled access to Charles for a year, watching him at close quarters both at work and in private.
And although a sensitive subject with the prince, the issue of his life-long lobbying was difficult to ignore.
Over the years, the prince has been accused of risking the monarch’s constitutional impartiality by meddling in government policy.
Tales of his so-called ‘black spider memos’, the missives written to ministers calling for action in his distinctive scrawled handwriting, have left many uneasy about his ability to be a neutral monarch.
In the interview the prince confronts the issue directly, pointing out that as the longest-serving heir to the throne in British history – he inherited the role at the age of just four – it was his duty to find a way to live a productive public life.
He compares his role to that of the 14th- century Black Prince, a predecessor as Prince of Wales and commander during the Hundred Years’ War.
Charles says: ‘Each one of my predecessors had to find out how they would do it, a lot of them dropped dead or were killed before they got very far.
‘I mean the Black Prince was the first one and he rushed about doing all the complicated bits and fighting battles while his father sat somewhere else. So you know he was busy winning his spurs, and in a sense that’s still what has to happen.’
Charles says as a young man he was encouraged to ‘get involved’ by political leaders. ‘I remember Jim Callaghan who was prime minister and he invited me to come and spend the whole day at No 10,’ he recalled. ‘I sat in on all his meetings, and the Cabinet meeting and his briefing before going to the House of Commons for Question Time, and then I was sent round all the different ministries to find out what went on. You have to make of it what you feel is right. There’s nothing laid down – that’s what makes it so interesting, challenging and of course complicated.’
When pushed by Mr Bridcut, who points out that people have expressed concern that he won’t be able to resist getting involved, Charles explodes: ‘I’m not that stupid.’
He agrees that he could continue to use his ‘ convening’ power – the ability to bring disparate people and groups together – but only ‘with the agreement of ministers’.
Charles rarely gives interviews of a personal nature. The last one was to presenter Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994 when he admitted adultery.
And he has never confronted how he intends to conduct himself as monarch before, believing it unseemly to refer to anything that involves the death of his mother. But it is understood the prince believes now is the time to lay to rest the suggestion that he will be anything other than constitutionally neutral.
Charles’s mention of his work in the inner cities is a reference to the highly successful Prince’s Trust for disadvantaged youngsters.
He also describes himself as a ‘risk taker’ when it comes to some of his public work, like Dumfries House, the Scottish stately home he saved after taking out a £20million loan and has since turned into a thriving charity hub.
The prince says: ‘I believe in living dangerously.’
Prince, Son and Heir – Charles at 70 is on BBC1 at 9pm tonight.
history’s longest apprenticeship as heir to the throne, Prince Charles emerges from tonight’s BBC documentary to mark his 70th birthday as a hard-working and deeply thoughtful man, with a firm grasp of the constitutional role of the crown. The Queen will be the toughest of acts to follow – and, God willing, she will reign over us for many years yet. But on tonight’s evidence, the monarchy will be in safe hands when her time eventually comes.