Funny isn't it, how people still get excited
about the royals? The commemorative
supplements, the acres of "analysis"
supporting the claim that William is as
"caring" as his mother and as "keen to
assume" his public role as his father was
once reluctant, the inches of cap-doffing
editorial - it all strikes the wrong note at a
time when the people care at least as
much about Jamie Oliver's wedding as
they do about the achievements of this
"thoroughly modern Prince".
How are we meant to respond to the news
that William is a member of Pop, the
"elite" Eton society? Proud that he has
made it? Worried that he might be
neglecting his homework in favour of more
rewarding duties such as spot fining new
boys for turning up late to chapel? These
parental responses would once have
seemed quite in order. William, after all, is
the nation's son and, although we have
had little say in the details of his
education, we still need reassurance that
our boy has a "mature awareness" of his
calling, a "sensible" reluctance to go to
parties where drugs may be being taken
and a thoroughly modern passion for IT.
That picture of him on the computer is the
kind of thing you might dispatch to
convince some distant aunt that the trust
fund was being spent wisely. Ditto the
end-of-term report in Saturday's Telegraph
magazine in which ex-teacher Allison
Pearson commends the prince's laid back
approach to his "unique historical burden".
Beginning with a quote from Hamlet ("His
will is not his own/For he himself is
subject to his birth/He may not as
unvalued persons do/Carve for himself")
Pearson considers how young Wills might
cope with the fundamental dilemma of
royalty - namely how to do your duty
without sacrificing your humanity. Given
that Charles's answer to this question was
to worry himself sick and then punish
himself for being crap by making the
wrong decisions, it seems likely that
Pearson is right to suggest that Wills
might be better equipped to face his
hereditary destiny. Pointing to the
countless ways in which the prince is
better adjusted than his father - he hugs,
he cooks, he supports Aston Villa - she
applauds his down-to-earth reluctance to
be moulded by his role.
This is one way of putting it. Another is to
see the prince's present view of his office
as proof that he is two steps ahead of the
people who consider him the monarchy's
first instinctive moderniser. In their
estimation, his casual just-call-me-Wills
approach reflects his thoroughly modern
refusal to be bound by out-of-date
conventions. But they fail to recognise
that his status as heir apparent could very
well fall into that category. Admitting in
the "in-depth interview" that he "doesn't
like the attention" is not a good start for
someone being groomed to be the King.
Nor is his repeated assertion that he
"hadn't really thought about" what royal
duties will mean a sign that he's preserved
a healthy balance. Rather it suggests that
he isn't interested in the one thing that
sets him apart from your average James
or Henry. What might be interpreted as
normal teenage embarrassment at the
questions about his future, could also be
read straight. Perhaps he really hasn't
thought about it - in which case either he's
thicker than his GCSE grades suggest or
he knows something we don't.
My money's on the latter conclusion.
Some where at the back of his mind,
William is aware, as we are not, of a very
good reason why he doesn't need to think
about these issues. He knows, as we
don't, that it doesn't matter a toss how he
feels about being king because it isn't
going to happen. Very far from being the
calm before the storm, these carefree
days of soccer and paella are a blueprint
for the rest of his existence.
The alternative scenario - that Wills will be
made king in several decades' time - is
impossible to envisage. Far safer, I think,
to assume that the monarchy is Queen
Elizabeth and that even if Charles ever
makes it to a coronation, he will be the
last of his breed to be crowned.
Modernity will see to it that princes and
princesses will go the way of domes and
division bells - as with the reform of
parliament, the demise of the British
monarchy will happen by tiny increments.
There will be no storming of palaces - the
republic already exists in the hearts and
minds of a public professing indifference
to Prince William.
Likable as the young prince seems, the
truth is that he lacks an "it" factor. Apart
from his mother's eyes, Wills has not
been blessed with iconic attributes. He's
too well-rounded to be glamorous and too
good looking to be taken seriously.
Somehow, instead of merging
harmoniously, the qualities of each of his
parents seem to cancel each other out.
Neither superstar nor dutiful toiler, Wills is
more Prince Andrew than Prince Hamlet -
worried by nothing more than the
schedule for the next day's entertainment.
His readiness to answer those Smash
Hits-style questions in the interview reveal
a man more comfortable with "what's your
favourite colour?" demi-celebrity than
"what do you think about Kenya?" public
office - an attitude, we must assume, that
will do him no harm as he canters through
life unimpeded by the spectre of
accession.
Unlike his poor pathetic father, Wills will
not be called upon by God to do anything
more strenuous than gad about at parties
and open his home to OK!. That's why he
seems so unphased. It has nothing to do
with being well adjusted and everything to
do with growing up without responsibility
for anything.
~*~
Camilla and Charles step out(BBC News)
Prince Charles's "companion" Camilla Parker
Bowles has appeared at his side at a
semi-official engagement.
The couple are hosting a gala dinner in London
in honour of the Prince's Foundation - one of
his charities.
They arrived at the headquarters of foundation
in a newly-restored warehouse in Shoreditch,
east London, in the same car.
In front of around 100 photographers they
walked the short distance down a red carpet
into the building.
Mrs Parker Bowles, wearing a pale pink
embroidered full-length Versace evening gown,
smiled broadly.
They did not pose for photographers, despite
their shouted pleas.
The move comes after
Mrs Parker Bowles met
the Queen for the first
time in years at a lunch
for the ex-Greek King
Constantine just two
weeks ago.
Their first public
appearance was 18
months ago at the Ritz
Hotel in London at the
50th birthday party of
Camilla's sister,
Annabel Elliott.
Guests at the dinner included dress designer
Donatella Versace, model Elle Macpherson,
racing driver David Coulthard and his fiancee
Heidi Wichlinski, actress Lauren Bacall, Sir
Richard Branson and Lady Branson and US
comedienne Joan Rivers.
Shortly after 2300 BST the Prince and Mrs
Parker Bowles left the event, walking out
together just after King Constantine and
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
They got into their green Bentley again
without pausing or posing for photographers.
Relaxed
They had been entertained after dinner by
Australian singer Tina Arena, who is currently
starring in the West End Notre Dame de Paris.
Guests at the dinner said Mrs Parker Bowles
had looked relaxed throughout the evening.
The BBC's royal correspondent Jennie Bond
says there is no doubt the appearance is
another move in the campaign to gain public
acceptance for Mrs Parker Bowles.
The Prince's Foundation in the UK was set up a
year ago as an umbrella group for all the
architectural and environmental causes he
sponsors.
Its aim is to improve the quality of life in towns
and cities through urban design and
regeneration.