Charles has a divine time as he gets into the South Sea spirit
PRINCE CHARLES was yesterday named a high chief in the South Pacific island nation where his father has godlike status.
The honour was bestowed upon the heir to the throne during his colourful seven-day tour of Australia and the South Pacific, which also saw him bemoan nearly turning 70 – and no longer being able to fit into a pair of “budgie smugglers”.
Followers of the Prince Philip Movement on Tanna, an island in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, believe the Duke of Edinburgh is a divine being descended from one of their spirit ancestors.
The religion was established in the 1950s but gained popularity after the Queen and Philip’s visit in 1974.
Accompanied by Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, Charles took part in a series of rituals to become a high chief with the name Mal Menaringmanu, on Vanuatu.
In the tradition of the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs, he donned a grass skirt, planted two trees and took a sip from a cup of special kava, known as Royal Kava.
The drink is reserved for special occasions and was last consumed more than 40 years ago when Philip visited the island.
Delighting the crowds, who had turned out in their thousands with the traditional greeting of halo yufala euriwan – hello everybody – he said: “My visit, while far too brief, has nevertheless allowed me to experience for myself the warmth, generosity and spirit for which the people of Vanuatu are so justly famed. Vanuatu, you are number one.”
Charles later met Jimmy Joseph, from the village of Yaohnanen, on Tanna, where Philip is viewed as a divine being.
Charles shook Mr Joseph’s hand warmly as he was presented with a special gift for Philip – a walking stick.
Mr Joseph said: “I gave him a walking stick for his father made by the hands of the Prince Philip Movement. I told him a lot of people in the movement have now died, but there are some still living.
“The Prince said he would deliver the message personally.”
According to ancient Yaohnanen tales, the son of a mountain spirit travelled over the seas to a distant land. There he married a powerful woman and in time would return to them either spiritually or physically. Some in the village believe Prince Philip is that man.
Philip has exchanged gifts with the islanders, including sending them a signed portrait of himself. They replied with a “nal-nal” club used to sacrifice pigs and Philip, in return, sent a photo of himself posing with the club.
He also sent condolences when the tribe’s leader Chief Jack Naiva died in 2009.
Earlier in Vanuatu, Charles had received a welcome befitting an heir to the throne as he landed on the island at Port Vila.
Greeted by the locals in traditional dress and with painted faces, the prince smiled and waved as he walked across red ceremonial mats – one of the most deeply respected aspects of Vanuatu’s traditions.
After meeting Vanuatu’s president and being given the first of many traditional garlands, it was time for a spot of shopping.
Charles picked up a hat and a bag for his wife Camilla at a handicraft market.
“They make such wonderful gifts, don’t they,” he said, as he snapped them up for 6,000 vatu – £40.
Charles spent a while strolling through the Haos blong Handikraf market, admiring locally-made products such as paintings, wooden sculptures and woven baskets. Sovaki Zacharie, 19, who chatted with the prince at the market, said it was “so special” to have Charles visit the island.
“We’ve only ever seen him in magazines, so to see him in real life makes me so happy,” she said.
Charles also visited Port Vila Central Hospital, which suffered extensive damage when tropical cyclone Pam hit in 2015. He praised the “fantastic” recovery effort funded by the Australian government.
The visit marked day four of Charles’s Australia and South Pacific tour. He was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall on the first three days. Earlier, in Brisbane, he joked that he would never again be able to fit into “budgie smugglers”, as he approaches his 70th birthday.
Speaking at an event which was attended by people celebrating the same milestone this year, the Prince said he knew “only too well” the “strange feeling of disbelief ” at reaching that age.
Confessing that he did not feel like it was long since his parents were 70, Charles told his audience: “I do know only too well – and understand – the strange feeling of disbelief that this is actually happening and that never again, for instance, will it be possible to squeeze into a pair of budgie smugglers.
“I don’t know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but now bits of me keep falling off at regular intervals.
“‘Don’t worry’, they keep telling me, ‘ you have brilliant genes’. But the trouble is I can’t even get into them either!”
Describing Australia as “an example for us all”, the Prince hailed “Aussie values” as a force for good. He said: “Amidst all this, the Aussie character that is so exemplified by the concept of fairness – and ‘fair go’ is what I believe the world needs so desperately and so urgently – a ‘fair go’ for people, our planet and for nature herself.”
Charles will now fly on to Cairns before finishing up in Darwin.
MY GRANDMOTHER is “unlucky” enough to have lived to the magnificent age of 91. Her words, not mine. With life expectancy for men at 79.4 years and 83.1 for women, we are living longer than ever.
It is forecast that by 2045 a quarter of the population will be 65. But if I follow in Granny’s footsteps, what have I to look forward to? From her armchair in front of the care home TV set, she would say “nothing”.
Born in 1926, Granny, like everyone else with that year on their birth certificate (not least the Queen) has achieved and seen great things, including doing their bit for Britain during the Second World War.
Felicity’s ageing journey began when she moved to an over-60s residential complex five years ago. There she maintained some independence until February this year when she fell and broke her leg. Unable to move without the help of nurses, she has been moved into a care home.
Today she sits in her armchair watching television or flicking through the newspaper like all the other white-haired residents. She looks pale and depressed and feels she has become just another old person passing the time until death swoops in, her identity slowly diminishing.
Frustrated at enduring a life of declining freedom, last week she said: “Oh this is horrible. Everyone should be allowed to die at 80.” She is a poster girl for proeuthanasia groups, which is her second favourite topic, death by natural causes being the first.
And Granny is what you would call one of the “lucky ones”. Family visit her daily, her brain is fully functioning and she has money to stay in a private home.
However on Easter Sunday one nurse told my mother only six people had visited that day; money doesn’t buy companionship.
Concerned by what I have seen, I have signed up with the charity Magic Me which hosts Cocktails In Care Homes events. They do exactly what they say on the tin and the message is simple. “Care home residents told us that evenings are the loneliest part of the day, as there are very few visitors or activities,” the website explains. “So in 2010 we began hosting cocktail parties in these homes.”
At my induction evening, with another 20 under-35s, I was given a mirror and a picture of a star and told to draw its reflection on a separate sheet of paper. Simple, you might think. It was impossibly confusing as the pen went in every direction bar the one you wanted. As I looked at all the other perplexed volunteers it was explained that this is how people with dementia or faded memory feel on a daily basis.
It was a reminder that one in six people over the age of 80 in the UK has dementia, a figure that will increase.
Next, we were given advice on how to talk to the elderly – what to say when they repeat themselves, not to always finish their sentences and not to get frustrated if they don’t make sense. They are the sort of simple lessons that could be taught to children at school.
IF YOUNG people had the tools to communicate and understood the importance of inclusivity towards the elderly from a young age, then perhaps the age divisions in society would narrow and families all over the UK would take more interest in helping the aged, leaving them less isolated.
Japan, which predicts one in five of its elderly population will have dementia by 2025, has tack- led the problem head on. In the city of Matsudo, groups of volunteers in orange bibs walk around neighbourhoods distributing leaflets and stickers carrying a barcode to iron on to clothing to help police return those who have wandered from their homes.
Cocktails In Care Homes organisers told me that some residents choose not to partake in the parties but leave their doors open so they can hear the music and have people coming in and out.
Others dress up and wear lipstick for the first time in years, octo- and nonagenarians sing and dance, families join in and lonely residents are reminded that they have not been forgotten.
My father used to wince when I joked that he will be going straight into a care home as soon as senility hits. Now I know it is no laughing matter. With the help of charities such as Magic Me, and better education on communicating with the old, why shouldn’t ageing be glamorous, inclusive, just part of everyday life?
I like to imagine that when her leg is better, Granny will be found sipping mojitos while new friends fill the dance floor.
‘Lonely residents are reminded that they have not been forgotten’