Meddling Charles has earned the crown

Life for today’s younger generation can be very tough. finding a job and a home is not easy, with the result that many are still living in the shadow of their parents well into their 20s and 30s.

They remain perennial children for ever in thrall to the older generation. it can’t be easy.

And then there’s Prince Charles, who turns 70 today.

At an age when most people are looking forward to retirement, he is still living next door to his parents, still waiting to take on the biggest challenge of his life following one of the greatest acts in royal history.

even if he shares his mother’s good health, he will never beat her record as the longest-serving monarch. Nor, i suspect, will he ever occupy the same place in the nation’s heart, certainly not while the ghost of Diana still hovers over him. But that is no reason to dismiss Charles, as so many have done over the years.

indeed, the often overlooked triumph of the Prince of Wales is how much he has managed to achieve despite the constraints placed upon him. How, despite being seemingly locked in permanent royal limbo, he has somehow forged ahead, in his own idiosyncratic way and at his own pace, shaping his legacy before the crown has touched his head.

in fact, one might argue that had the Queen (God forbid) made way sooner, much of what he has achieved might never have happened.

He said as much himself, in a recent BBC documentary marking today’s milestone: when he is King he will stop speaking out on topics he feels strongly about, as he is ‘not that stupid’.

instead, he will operate within ‘constitutional parameters’, avoiding politics and taking a more neutral stance on controversial issues.

it’s clear why he says this: he respects the position of monarch and does not want to undermine it. But in many ways it’s a bit of a shame.

for while Charles ‘unleashed’ hasn’t always met with universal approval among the public and his critics, much of what was considered eccentric and ‘meddling’ about his past behaviour has, with hindsight, turned out to be rather inspired. Or certainly ahead of its time.

As he puts it himself: ‘if it’s meddling to worry about the inner cities as i did 40 years ago, then if that’s meddling i’m proud of it.’

As well he should be. Perhaps if politicians had taken him more seriously all that time ago we wouldn’t be facing this devastating epidemic of violence on our streets.

His outspoken attacks on the ugliness of modern architecture and shoddiness of modern housebuilding; his warnings about climate change, wildlife extinction and rainforest depletion; his concern for the future of farming and the rural environment; his commitment to organic food and humane husbandry; his interest in studying islam in pursuit of cultural harmony; his commitment to improving education standards, training and employment opportunities through the Prince’s Trust.

All of these are issues on which he has spoken out over the decades in the face of fierce opposition and ridicule. And yet, with that dogged determination that has been such an admirable feature of his mother’s character, he has ploughed on, undeterred — if not unscathed — by the naysayers.

True, Charles has come across sometimes as hand-wringing and occasionally petulant. Yet it is undeniable that he has used his immense privilege to highlight important, if not always fashionable, issues — and to try to help re-shape the cultural landscape for the better.

Of course, there will always be those who will never forgive him for what happened with Diana. Their marriage was a disaster and her death a tragedy. But just as a wife should not be defined by her husband, so Charles should not be defined by that unhappy union.

Diana was always cast as the romantic in their relationship, he the cold-hearted pragmatist.

But the fact that he eventually married his true love — Camilla — in the face of sustained hostility has always struck me as one of the great romantic gestures of our time, the mark of a man clearly capable of great passion and even courage. As for his children — William and Harry — what greater expression of Charles’s talents as a father could there be than these two young men who have overcome their mother’s death to build useful, fulfilling lives for themselves.

in pictures released today, we see the three of them, surrounded by the women they love, looking closer than ever.

So, yes, Charles has made mistakes. But who, as they turn 70, has not? A lesser prince might have spent his life in idle luxury, waiting for his birthright, grumbling about his lot. But not Charles. even if he were never to wear the crown, he has proven himself worthy of it.

So here’s to you, Prince Charles. As Churchill said: KBO. Keep bxxxering on, and many happy returns.