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Prince Charles is 70 on Wednesday and is still the heir to the throne – a role he has filled since his childhood.
There is no shortage of things to do and shows little signs of slowing down – he is rich, extremely active in matters of great importance to him and is preparing to welcome his fourth grandson to the world when Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex will give birth to another child. spring.
His fate, however, is to be king, a position that he will automatically assume upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 92 years old.
When this happens, Charles will be bound by the constitutional obligation that the monarch will refrain from influencing policies. Until then, Charles is free to push for action to tackle climate change, support organic agriculture and fight against GM crops as he pleases.
He is doing all this by intervening more and more for the Queen and overseeing Prince's Trust, an ambitious charitable organization he founded 42 years ago and which has helped hundreds of thousands of British young people.
Is the birthday cake cluttered with candles the sign that it's time for the elegantly grizzled prince to take his ease? Not your life, said Charles's wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
"I do not think he thinks he's 70," she wrote in a birthday tribute in The Telegraph Magazine. "I think it's just a number for him.There's no way he's slowing down.You have to be joking.I do not stop saying that the number of 70 is increasing a bit, it is not very old but it is old, you have to slow down a bit. "
The royal family is going through a slow and discreet transition. The 97-year-old patriarch, Prince Philip, has officially retired from public life, although he sometimes makes appearances in support of the Queen.
For her part, the Queen still has a busy schedule, but she does not fly long-haul flights to the most remote areas of the Commonwealth, which has 53 countries. This year, she took the unusual step of lobbying the Commonwealth countries to make it clear that Charles would be the next leader of the group, a position that is not hereditary.
The support for Charles was unanimous, reflecting not only appreciation of the Queen's work over the decades, but also the belief that Charles was strongly committed to the Commonwealth.
Charles has also played a more visible role as the Queen's representative at some important national events, including at Remembrance Day celebrations in honor of British fallen soldiers. He placed the queen's crown at the cenotaph's memorial while she watched from a balcony.
But his travels abroad and his speeches at home generate very little interest as the press focuses on the younger and more photogenic royals and their cute offspring.
In a way, Charles is sandwiched between generations, caught between his mother, a symbol of dignity and continuity that has reigned since 1952, and his two immensely popular sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who have come to symbolize the future of the most famous monarchy in the world.
William and Harry also remember a lot to their mother, the late Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 after a confused divorce with Charles, which tarnished his reputation for a while with the British public.
They are William and Harry – as well as their wives Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan – who appear on the cover of glossy magazines, and not on the future Charles-70. It is the young members of the royal family who are seen as glamorous modernizers with a common touch, while Charles is sometimes perceived as a severe, preacher and distant man.
Camilla says the audience does not understand how "incredibly nice" and funny Charles is, and William and Harry – taking part in a rare interview for the BBC on the occasion of his father's birthday – Praise the way he used his undefined position as a Prince of Wales to defend many important causes, such as protecting the environment.
But Harry – who was made to love the British public in part with his mischievous smile and sunny outlook – urged his father to reduce somewhat the sadness that often accompanies Charles' statements.
"I encourage him to stay optimistic because I think it can be very easy to become discouraged and negative," Harry said. "But if all goes well with his children and grandchildren, and a few other grandchildren to come, he can get some energy from the family and then continue to assume his leadership role."
He also had this advice: do not work so hard and dine earlier.
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