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LONDON: When Prince Charles, who turns 70 next week, will become king on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, he will have waited longer than any of his predecessors to rule a 1,000-year-old royal family years.
Some monarchists fear and Republicans hope that he will be a poor king. His admirers believe that his wisdom, seriousness, and conservation and environmental concerns will earn him the public support he deserves.
His wife, Princes Diana, died as an acrimonious end and the persistent hostility of some to his second wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, cover everything.
"You are accused of being controversial simply because you are trying to draw attention to things that are not necessarily part of the conventional point of view," said Charles in an interview with the magazine. GQ in September.
"My problem is that I find that there is too much to do or fight on behalf of."
Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Earl of Chester, Lord of the Islands, and Prince and Grand Commissioner of Scotland was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948.
He was four when his grandfather George VI died and his mother took the throne at the age of 25. The following year, Charles observes with his grandmother and aunt, the late Princess Margaret, the crown of Elizabeth crowned Queen.
He despised his distant Scottish school, Gordonstoun, also attended by his father, but was the first royal heir to graduate after studying at the University of Cambridge.
Charles was named Prince of Wales at a grand ceremony in 1969. But at age 92, his mother remains healthy and does not plan to abdicate. His wait continues.
For his critics, and even for some monarchists who think he's going to cause a disaster at Windsor House, this is not a bad thing.
"Frankly, we are very lucky that he was not king, because, while the queen was the most exemplary monarch and kept much of the monarchy in people's esteem, I think that Charles would undermine it, "said Tom Bower, author of" Rebel Prince ", unauthorized biography.
Such unflattering biographies describe Charles as an arrogant and weak man, who likes the attributes of luxury – he has his own royal harpist – is intolerant to criticism and adores strange theories.
Charles refused to be interviewed for this article.
"HE IS COMPLICATED"
Charles's supporters say it's an easy career, with every action and every statement being controlled by an often unsympathetic medium.
"When you are in his very exposed public position, loyalty and disloyalty are quite complex situations," said a former senior assistant who worked with the prince for many years.
He added that his detractors simply chose to look into Charles' characteristics in a bad light.
"There are a whole lot of things that are just not true," said the former assistant, who requested anonymity, to Reuters. "Bower spoke only to people who have a grievance."
So what does he really look like?
"He is complicated. I have rarely met people as curious about the world as he is and eager to know what is happening and why. More than anything, he has this motivation, he works incredibly hard, "said the ex-aide.
Simon Lewis, the Queen's Secretary of Communications from 1998 to 2001, described Charles as being full of enthusiasm, committed, with a "wicked sense of humor".
"If you're a public figure … if you put your head above the parapet, then you get criticism," Lewis told Reuters.
Friends and enemies talk about his dedication to duty. The prince's workday begins at breakfast – he does not eat breakfast – and ends around midnight, every day. The former assistant said he received a call from Charles regarding the work on Christmas Day.
In private, Charles is passionate about arts, culture, theater, literature, opera and pop. He is also a big fan of Leonard Cohen.
More happy in his garden, he loves Shakespeare, painted in watercolor and wrote children's books. It can be fun but also angry and demanding, said former collaborator.
LUXURY LIFE?
Official figures show that his recent tours overseas were the most expensive taken by the royal family.
"He is … resolved to adopt a very, very hyper luxurious lifestyle, flying in a private jet, using the royal train," said Bower, whose book is based on interviews with 120 people, many of whom worked for the royals.
Charles rejects such claims.
"Oh, do not believe all this shit," he told an Australian radio station in April when he was asked if it was true that he was traveling with his own toilet seat, as Bower has described.
But he can always present a royal show: if he entertains, the food, the wine and the service are magnificent.
"He thinks it's good for the Prince of Wales and I think people would be disappointed if that was not the case," said the former collaborator.
Interfere
It is not just his way of life that makes the shadow of a doubt.
His campaign for causes such as the environment and climate change has led to accusations of interference in business that British royals should avoid.
However, Charles said that it would be "criminally negligent" not to use his position to help others and that his role allowed him to express strong opinions. This would be impossible for a monarch who, under the unwritten constitution of Great Britain, must remain apolitical.
"There are a lot of things I've been trying to focus on all these years that I think deserve attention, but everyone else has done it, but maybe a few years later, they start to realize that what I was trying to say was not just as ridiculous as they thought, "said Charles in an interview with his son Harry, in 2017.
His supporters claim that his causes – helping disadvantaged youth, for example, to find work and interfaith dialogue – are often presumptuous and preoccupy his compatriots.
He acknowledges that he challenged the orthodox views. He has long opposed an irreproachable economic model that has polluted the world's oceans with plastic, a preoccupation that is now dominant.
But from other points of view, such as his support for complementary medicine, still attract contempt.
In 2013, it was revealed that he had held 36 meetings with government ministers over three years. Two years later, the British Supreme Court ruled that dozens of letters he was addressing to ministers – dubbed the "black spider memos" because of his handwriting released.
Topics covered included rural housing, food in hospitals and the fate of Patagonian toothfish.
DIANE
However, the question that most fascinates the public remains the divorce of Charles with Diana, his untimely death in a car accident in Paris in 1997 and his subsequent marriage in 2005 with Camilla. Some blame Camilla for the failure of her first marriage.
Opinion polls indicate that Charles's reputation has never fully recovered from the damage done in the 1990s. A survey conducted in January 2018 found that 9% of respondents chose Charles from their favorite royal families.
The same poll found that 54% had a favorable opinion of the prince, against 24% unfavorable. His mother and sons William and Harry are favorably regarded by more than 80% of Britons.
In a 1995 television interview, Diana hinted that Charles did not want to be king and that he was not made for such a "suffocating" role. Not so, say those who worked with him.
"Charles, the Prince of Wales, will probably be the best prepared monarch in history and I think he'll be a very good king," Lewis said.
Although Charles is reluctant to become a monarch, it will mean the death of his mother. Behind the scenes, well-prepared plans for the occasion – codenamed Operation London Bridge – are ready.
Until then, his unique life of heir will continue.
"People rightly speak of privilege and money, palaces and Bentley," said the former Prince's aide. "It's a privilege, but it carries a heavy burden. I would never wish this life to anyone.
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