Charles at Seventy

by Robert Jobson

  In Romania, where Charles had gone without his wife, he was on top form. It is a regular haunt for the prince, who is enchanted by the spirituality of the place and the unique history and traditional culture that live on in the countryside. He is a regular visitor to the country privately and even owns two homes in Transylvania, in central Romania, renowned for medieval towns, mountainous borders and castles, such as Bran Castle, a Gothic fortress associated with the legend of Dracula, which he lets out. He has long been fascinated by their ancient customs and he condemned the then ruling dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian president, in a speech of 1 May 1989 for the ‘wholesale destruction of the country’s culture and human heritage’. He noted comedically later in a private letter, ‘[I] hope you receive this before some frightful undercover agent stabs me in the left buttock with a poisoned umbrella!’

  Charles himself has appeared in a video being used to promote the country in which he claims distant kinship with Vlad Tepes, the fifteenth-century Wallachian ruler on whom the Irish novelist Bram Stoker based his Dracula. ‘Transylvania is in my blood,’ he jokes in an interview. ‘The genealogy shows I am descended from Vlad the Impaler, so I do have a bit of a stake in the country.’

  He returned there in May 2018 for his annual visit, to recharge his batteries as well as using his time to promote skills and training in rural Transylvania. He met Romanian president Klaus Iohannis and later met Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in the capital, Bucharest, before travelling to the northwest for his retreat at one of his two properties in the deep, sparsely populated countryside, where bears and other wildlife roam freely. He established the Prince of Wales Foundation Romania in 2015, which supports the Eastern European nation’s heritage and rural life, and sustainable development. He also attended the theatre festival in the central city of Sibiu.

  Paul Brummell, British ambassador to Romania, said, ‘The Prince’s official visit in 2017 was a great success. He knows the country so well. That makes a real difference, fostering bilateral relations.’ Within days the then UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson followed up on the prince’s visit with a meeting with Romania’s foreign minister and former director of foreign intelligence, Teodor Melescanu, when they discussed bilateral relations and regional security. There is a sense that after the tabloid headlines of the nineties, focusing on his dysfunctional marriage to Princess Diana, Charles is now being recognised for what he does, not what he did.

  ‘Soft power’ diplomacy is of course nothing new, but Charles does bring his diplomatic touch. Coined by Joseph S. Nye Jr, a Harvard University academic, it describes the ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce, which is seen as ‘hard power’. There is little doubt that Charles – while representing his mother on such tours – carries the clout of a king. Covering this tour at close quarters, one could see that the beguiling allure of the monarchy was indisputable. The brand clearly serves as a key soft-power tool for attracting others to the values and culture of Britain.

  The prince is increasingly seen as pivotal in its use going forward and clearly has increasing authority. When he talks to presidents and prime ministers, they listen. With the Queen no longer expected to go abroad, the status of Charles’s foreign forays has been upgraded, too. They are state visits in all but name. Using the soft power of ‘brand royal’ is what senior sources say is part of a long-term plan.

  In recent years all things royal have helped bolster brand Britain. The 2011 wedding of William and Kate and the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations were huge global media events that drew viewers and crowds in their millions. Public support and media attention were repeated in 2013 with the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child, Prince George. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations generated £10 billion in tourist revenue for the British economy. Global viewing figures for the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony were at 900 million, peaking at the Queen’s James Bond cameo. The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge brought an estimated £2 billion to the UK economy. The balance between politics and a love for country can be neatly solved by a constitutional monarchy. It is a symbol of cooperation among nations, a byword for duty and peace. This whistle-stop royal tour has confirmed Charles as emblematic of Britain. Crucially, for when he becomes king, he has shown on his travels that he has the natural abilities to transcend the grind of political demands and to stand as an active symbol of what is good about our country.

  Importantly, the question of his being an ‘interfering’ king after the so-called black-spider memos to ministers has been resolved too. The term, which he dislikes, refers to the private letters and memos written by the prince to British government ministers and politicians over many years. They are controversial due to the Prince of Wales’s position as the heir to a monarch, who by convention remains politically neutral. These letters were written by hand before being sent to be typed, but after the letters were returned for the prince to sign, often, in flowing black or red ink, he underlined text and added exclamation marks. It was these additions and his distinctive spirally handwriting that gave his letters their nickname. Despite the ‘black spider’ revelations, insiders say the prince knows all the parameters of the top job and will not upset the constitutional apple cart for his own agenda. Like the Queen, he is kept up to date with all government plans. He meets regularly with ministers, which is, of course, within his remit as heir to the throne. He was confused by newspaper reports ahead of US president Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in July 2018 that Charles would ‘rant’ at him, metaphorically thrust a copy of his book on climate change into his hand and demand he act on it. If there is one thing that infuriates the prince it is people who try to double-guess him. He cannot understand why people do that.

  Another of his pet hates, although he has mellowed over years, is the media’s insatiable desire for a photo-op. ‘I’m not very good at being a performing monkey…I’m not prepared to perform whenever they want me to perform,’ he said as far back as 1994. The passage of time and perhaps familiarity with the press corps who loyally cover his engagements has made him less fractious. More often than not these days, with a little shove from Camilla, he obliges lensmen such as the urbane Chris Jackson from Getty Images, ever present and diligent Tim Rooke from Shutterstock and of course the legendary Sun chief photographer Arthur Edwards MBE, almost a decade his senior, who has captured the prince’s image around the world for more than forty years.

  That said, he is not naïve and knows the top job will bring with it unwanted restrictions. Those who know him and have been alongside with him for years know that. Clarence House went as far as officially to deny reports that Charles believes becoming king will be a form of ‘prison’. Claims by the respected writer and author Catherine Mayer quoted an unnamed official saying how Prince Charles is worried that he will not achieve ambitions linked to his interests before ‘the prison shades’ close. Time spoke to fifty of the prince’s friends and associates for the article. I am aware that who said it still believes, despite the denial, that it reflects at least in part how the prince feels.

  A Clarence House spokesman said, ‘This is not the Prince of Wales’s view and should not be attributed to him as he did not say these words. The prince has dutifully supported the Queen all his life and his official duties and charitable work have always run in parallel.’ Mayer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the ‘prison shutters’ quote is ‘part of a longer quote’ and had been ‘taken out of context’ by other news organisations. She said the term ‘prison shades’ referred to concern among those close to the prince that, now he was taking on more of the Queen’s duties, ‘there’s a big impact on what the Prince of Wales actually does already, in terms of time, so the reference was to his dwindling lack of time’. She added, ‘He is absolutely not saying he doesn’t want to be king and nobody in his household is saying that.’

  To suggest such action is to misunderstand the complexity of a man driven by duty with a relentless personal motivation. Up early, he
begins each day by doing a series of exercises, originally designed for Royal Canadian Air Force pilots, to keep his bad back mobile. Once galvanised, it is straight down to work.

  His diary is always packed with scheduled meetings or engagements. When he does have a moment to himself, he fills it with painting watercolours or reading. Indeed, in purely commercial terms, he is lauded as one of Britain’s most successful living artists, selling millions of pounds’ worth of signed lithographs of his paintings, earning £2 million from his artistic output, since 1997. He doesn’t pocket the cash. All of the money he makes from his paintings goes towards his charitable foundation.

  He paints only with watercolours, always in the open air, often on holiday or during a break in his schedule during overseas visits, and usually in one sitting. He does not sell the originals – although he has occasionally given them away as gifts such as to the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al Said, in 1995, who joked that he didn’t know where he would put it amid his collection of ‘Asprey perfection’.

  In a 2013 documentary, Charles discussed why his hobby is important to him. ‘We walk away and shuffle off our mortal coil, but these things live on’ (the ‘these things’ referring to his paintings). He lives the fullest of lives. This is not a man waiting around to be given his next job, whether that job be becoming monarch or not. So, whenever he is asked about becoming king, he has a stock answer: ‘It is in the lap of the gods.’ Becoming king will have its personal sadness too: the passing of his beloved ‘mama’. It is something he has said he prefers not to talk about, and he is certainly in no hurry.

  ‘If it comes, then you have to deal with it,’ he says.

  Asked about his role in public life, the prince has said he has always tried to find his own path: ‘The trouble is, there isn’t a job description, so you have to rather make it up as you go along, which doesn’t always appeal to everybody else.’

  Chapter Seven

  ‘PERNICIOUS LIES’

  ‘By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy. If you get a bad one you’ll become a philosopher.’

  SOCRATES, CLASSICAL ATHENIAN PHILOSOPHER CREDITED

  AS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

  After months of speculation the beautiful biracial bride stepped out of the Rolls-Royce on the stroke of noon revealing a stunning pure white gown – with open bateau/boat neckline – designed by the British designer Clare Waight Keller, the artistic director of the French fashion house Givenchy. For this American actress it was the perfect part and the perfect stage. She knew how to hold herself; she knew how to perform.

  The lines of the dress extended towards the back, where the train flowed in soft round folds cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza. Keller also designed a veil representing the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country united in one spectacular floral composition, five metres long, made from silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza. Perhaps the most striking part was a diamond bandeau tiara, but that was only on loan from the Queen. The devil was in the detail and the new bride had left nothing to chance.

  The bridegroom, Prince Harry, had handpicked several flowers the day before from the couple’s private garden at Kensington Palace to add to the bespoke bridal bouquet designed by florist Philippa Craddock. The spring blooms included forget-me-nots, which were Princess Diana’s favourite flowers and were a nod to his beloved departed mother. The couple specifically chose them to be included in Meghan Markle’s bouquet to honour Diana’s memory.

  The bride’s bouquet was a petite design, pulled together in a gentle, ethereal, relaxed style with delicate blooms including scented sweet peas, lily of the valley, Astilbe, jasmine and Astrantia, and sprigs of myrtle all bound with a naturally dyed, raw silk ribbon. The myrtle sprigs were from stems planted at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, by Queen Victoria in 1845 and from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the Queen’s wedding bouquet of 1947.

  The tradition of carrying myrtle started after Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany. In the same year, Victoria and Prince Albert purchased Osborne House as their family retreat, and a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls, where it continues to thrive.

  Their ten young bridesmaids and pageboys, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte, played their roles to perfection. The excitement of the day became too much for one of the younger ones in the party, who started to wail just before Meghan entered St George’s chapel.

  Harry, like the best man, his older brother, William, was immaculate in the blue doeskin frock-coat uniform of the Blues and Royals, both with the military rank of major (retired). Touchingly, as she approached him, he told Meghan, ‘You look amazing.’

  It had all the hallmarks of the grand finale of a Hollywood love story, only this romantic tale starred a real-life prince with the historic Windsor Castle as its backdrop. The event attracted a television audience of 1.2 billion around the world, too. Imbued with centuries-old tradition, it featured British pomp and pageantry at its finest.

  The service combined tradition with a fresh modernity as well as the bride’s African-American heritage. One of the highlights was Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir performance of Ben E. King’s soul classic ‘Stand By Me’. The gospel choir also performed Etta James’s uplifting version of ‘Amen/This Little Light of Mine’ as the newlyweds left the chapel.

  An American bishop, Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, aged sixty-five, who presides over the Episcopalian Church, passionately addressed attendees, secretly knowing he was sick with prostate cancer when he travelled to the UK. ‘There’s power…power in love,’ said the Bishop, who was invited to speak by Meghan on the advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev. Justin Welby. ‘If you don’t believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to centre around you and your beloved.’ He concluded the passionate address saying he had better wrap up as, ‘We gotta get y’all married.’

  The couple then exchanged vows and rings made by Cleave and Company. In her vows, Meghan, a feminist, noticeably deleted the promise to ‘obey’ her husband, while the prince broke with royal tradition by choosing to wear a wedding ring. His brother, Prince William, chose not to wear a ring, and this has been true of most royal men. Prince Charles, however, wore his wedding ring from his marriage to Diana on the same finger as his signet ring. Meghan’s ring was fashioned from a piece of Welsh gold, gifted by the Queen; Harry’s ring was a platinum band with a textured finish.

  When the Archbishop of Canterbury declared that the couple were married a huge cheer run around the Berkshire town, where an estimated 100,000 people stood beyond the castle walls watching the ceremony unfold on big screens amid a carnival atmosphere.

  The bride’s mother, Doria Ragland – oddly, Meghan’s only invited relative, who had stayed with her daughter overnight before accompanying her to the chapel – looked an isolated, solitary figure. Dressed in a pale-green Oscar de La Renta dress, with a neat hat, an emotional-looking Doria Ragland sat silent and alone on the bride’s side of the chapel for some time. Sensing her awkwardness, the Prince of Wales graciously took her hand as they left to sign the register for the royal wedding of their two children.

  As the register was being signed, nineteen-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – who won the 2016 BBC’s Young Musician of the Year award – performed three pieces by Fauré, Schubert and Maria Theresia von Paradis. He was accompanied by musicians from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

  After the service, the couple – who had been given the title Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, conferred on them by the Queen – kissed in front of cheering well-wishers on the steps of the chapel. A confident, beaming Meghan made the first move. ‘Shall we kiss?’ she asked. ‘Yes,’ her prince and now husband replied.

&nb
sp; Walter Bagehot had written that ‘A princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact, and, as such, it rivets mankind’ when describing a previous royal wedding in the same chapel, that of the future King Edward VII to Princess Alexandra of Denmark. This amazing spectacle was not only Harry and Meghan’s wedding: it was embraced by a nation; it was a modern, inclusive, uplighting wedding; it was about hope, love and the future.

  There were so many touching moments that day. One stood out and changed stilted perceptions. When Charles, immaculate in his grey Anderson & Sheppard morning suit and buttonhole from the garden of his Highgrove estate, smiled at Meghan and gently placed her arm under his as she approached the quire in St George’s Chapel. He was delighted to be able to welcome her into his family after she’d asked him to stand in for her father, Thomas Markle, whose ill health prevented his attendance. Those watching couldn’t help but be enchanted by Charles’s poise at a moment that could have been awkward.

  Then, in an equally heartwarming moment, Harry whispered words that seemed scarcely to register. Almost shaking with tension, Prince Harry turned to his father, who had accompanied his glamorous bride down the aisle, and said, ‘Thanks, Pa.’ It was a sign of love between father and son.

  It had not all been plain sailing in the tense weeks leading up to the wedding. In fact the stress had, on occasions, got to both bride and groom, so much so that both Harry and Meghan had had regular appointments with the acupuncturist to the stars, the ‘divertingly handsome’ Ross Barr, in the lead-up to the wedding. Barr, whose treatments deal with anything from infertility to hair loss and relationship problems, has been regularly treating the couple since Meghan moved to London.

  If the treatments were meant to have reduced stress, they failed to have a lasting impact on Harry, who in the build-up to the wedding was, according to an inside source, ‘petulant and short-tempered’ with members of staff. He insisted, on occasions, raising his voice: ‘What Meghan wants, she gets.’ At times sources close to the Queen said he was ‘downright rude’. Once his tiresome behaviour reached the Queen’s ears, she asked to see him privately and put him firmly in his place.