World | UK
Prince of Wales a happier man as he approaches 60
As the Prince of Wales prepared to board his charter plane for Tokyo last week, a friend made a telling comment about the heir to the throne's current mindset.
- The Daily Telegraph
- Published: 00:23 November 4, 2008
- Prince Charles visits a cemetery to pay respect to members of the Commonwealth who died during World War II in Jakarta.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Tokyo: As the Prince of Wales prepared to board his charter plane for Tokyo last week, a friend made a telling comment about the heir to the throne's current mindset.
"He now accepts that his work as the Prince of Wales will have a longer legacy than his work as a future king," the source told me.
Every action of Prince Charles's during the first five days of his Far East tour has suggested that these words ring true.
This Sunday, just 12 days short of his 60th birthday, all the evidence from Japan and Brunei indicates that Prince Charles is far more content than he was when he approached his last two "landmark birthdays".
Two decades ago, in the run-up to turning 40, he was deeply unhappy in a soulless marriage and was under pressure from the queen to do his "duty" and walk away from his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, the on-off love of his life.
Ten years ago, he was no less troubled, this time in turmoil as he approached 50 because of the nation's backlash against the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a Paris car crash the previous year.
Yet again, the "coming out" of his relationship with Mrs Parker Bowles had to be put on hold until the nation was willing to accept her.
'Non-negotiable'
Yet he achieved his goal in the end, marrying the woman he long ago pledged was a "non-negotiable" part of his life.
So as the Prince's Airbus A319 touched down at Japan's Haneda Airport last Monday, not only has he three happy years of marriage under his belt, but he is also confident that he has carved a relevant role for himself as the Prince of Wales.
"The Prince is in a really good place right now," another friend said recently, referring to the fact that he had, particularly in recent times, come to terms with the fact that he will almost certainly not be king for many years - and that his eventual reign may be short.
Friends say he accepts that the queen's excellent health and formidable genes mean he is unlikely to be king until his late seventies.
"The prince is a man of faith and he often uses the phrase: 'It's up to God what will happen.'
"But I am sure he doesn't sit there thinking about what sort of king he will be, or planning how he will rule. He is too busy getting on with his work as the Prince of Wales," a source told me.
The prince's decision to concentrate his working life on a handful of key areas where he believes he really can make a difference was all too evident from his four days in Japan last week.
Within 24 hours of arriving in Tokyo, as the Nikkei index hit a 26-year low, Prince Charles was standing in a lecture theatre at the Miraikan Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, telling his Japanese hosts that they had more to fear from soaring global temperatures than from tumbling share prices.
Environmentalist
With a near faultless delivery - he is known as "one-take Charlie" by those who record his video messages - the Prince delivered a 20-minute talk in which he made an impassioned plea for people to tackle the "climate crunch" ahead of the credit crunch. Indeed, he described climate change as, "the biggest challenge our planet has ever seen - literally a battle for survival".
Even though the Prince does the meetings with government representatives and members of foreign royal families with good grace, there's no hiding that where he is most at home is in the countryside and with people who, like him, understand it.
On Thursday, he took the 150mph "bullet train" from Tokyo to Nagano to meet a kindred spirit: the writer and broadcaster C.W. Nicol, a Welshman who has successfully restored one of Japan's mountain forests.
As the Prince and Nicol leant on their respective crook and walking stick, sitting in a wooden shelter in front of an open fire, it looked as though they were lifelong soul-mates rather than two men who had met for the first time just an hour earlier.
Share this article
UK
Afghan regime will fall in 'weeks' if Nato quits now
British kidnap victim pleads for life
School reform sees opposition from Prince Charles
Officer missing as bridge collapses
One in a thousand years' occurrence
Tories threaten to axe quangos
Prehistoric croc remains uncovered
Cameron vows to promote 'good websites'
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Anti-terror force enlisted for Haj
Aerial surveillance to complement normal security operations
-
English to stay as medium of instruction
Lack of funding of scientific research in Arab world criticised
-
Global Village opens with a revamped layout
Four gates will have themes making it easier to find specific pavilions
