Prince Charles has warned against allowing the
use of new technology to upset the balance of
nature.
The prince, who was addressing the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said that,
alongside meeting mankind's spiritual needs,
there was also a duty to preserve the earth
for future generations.
A long-standing environmental campaigner, the
Prince has previously expressed his views on a
range of issues, including the development of
genetically modified crops, a topic due to be
debated during the kirk's annual gathering.
Speaking as the
Queen's representative,
he told the assembly: "I
think of the intuitive
promptings of the heart
... of our personal and
spiritual needs as
human beings; and
those inner promptings
which define the way
we grow our crops or
raise our livestock, or nurture and care for the
land God has given us, to a wider
understanding of sustainability and of the
sanctity of the environment of which we are
trustees for our children and grandchildren."
The prince, using his Scottish title Duke of
Rothesay and acting as Lord High Commissioner
to the assembly, stressed he had the greatest
respect for the rational mind and the
extraordinary advances in technology.
"But the inherent risk in so much of the way in
which we understand reality today is that we
are in danger of unbalancing our lives and
forgetting the more mysterious, and sacred,
meaning of the workings of the universe.
"And we have come to
overlook the emphasis
on balance which goes
back to the beginnings
of our Judaeo-Christian
tradition, where in the
Genesis story mankind
is charged both to 'till
the earth and to keep
it', that is to contribute
to the creation by our
work, but also to
observe the limits set
on our exploitation of
the natural order."
Earlier, he spoke of his deep affection for
Scotland and said he knew the country
"infinitely better than any other part of the
United Kingdom".
He said: "The sense of honour and pride which
I feel in this unique role as Lord High
Commissioner is the greater because Scotland
has meant so much to me for as long as I can
remember.
"Some of the earliest and most treasured of my
childhood memories are of happy summers
spent in the Highlands.
'Special part of my affections'
"And if I think of my years at school in
Gordonstoun, of my long and regular visits to
Scotland over a large part of my life, and of
the many Scottish people - from all over
Scotland and, not least, in the Western Isles -
whose wisdom and forthrightness have helped
form my own views, I suspect I have come to
know Scotland infinitely better than any other
part of the United Kingdom.
"Scotland is certainly where a very large and
special part of my affections lie.
"Not only for the people of Scotland and the
incomparable beauty of Scotland's scenery,
but also for the glories of Scotland's culture."
Prince Charles
congratulated the kirk's
new moderator, the
Right Reverend Andrew
McLellan, on his
appointment and
wished him
"satisfaction and joy"
during his tenure.
The prince referred to
the Scottish
Parliament, elected 12
months ago, which has
its temporary home in the General Assembly
Hall in Edinburgh, but has had to vacate to
Glasgow for this year's General Assembly.
The Prince said: "It is of great significance for
the life of Scotland that two of its major
historical institutions, the General Assembly
and the Scottish Parliament once again stand
side-by-side - and indeed perhaps almost on
top of each other for the first time in nearly
300 years.
The comments were viewed as part of the
process of redefining the monarchy's links with
a new devolved country.
The prince's office said he recognised how
much Scotland had changed over the last 18
months and how the monarchy should adapt to
fit a new mood.
~*~
Scottish church leaders
advised Charles to leave
Camilla behind (UK Times)
Christopher Morgan, Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE Prince of Wales was warned
not to take Camilla Parker Bowles to Scotland, where he is
officiating in his role of lord high commissioner to the general
assembly of the Church of Scotland this week.
Senior figures in the church made it clear that Parker Bowles
would not be an acceptable visitor to the Palace of
Holyroodhouse. The representations, understood to be
"discreet and gentle", were made to prevent any
embarrassment on either side.
Bill Wallace, parish minister of Wick and a former convenor
of the board of social responsibility of the Church of
Scotland, said that Prince Charles already knew the feelings
of assembly members on the issue.
"A visit by Mrs Parker Bowles to Holyroodhouse would be
very insensitive. It would cause distress to many members of
the assembly. He is well aware of that," he said.
Parker Bowles stayed with Charles at Holyroodhouse last
year, causing controversy among some conservative clerics.
However, Andrew McLellan, the new moderator of the
Church of Scotland, refused to condemn the prince's
relationship with Parker Bowles.
"I am glad that Prince Charles is coming to the general
assembly," he said. "The church of Jesus Christ exists for
people who have not always got their lives right."
As lord high commissioner, an office that dates back to the
16th century, Charles is the Queen's personal representative
in Scotland. His visit, made at the Queen's request, is part of
a long-term plan to ensure the survival of the monarchy north
of the border. Recent opinion polls have indicated the
de-clining popularity of the royal family in the face of
increasing Scottish nationalism.
Yesterday in Edinburgh the prince visited a drug counselling
centre, where he met a recovering heroin addict. Philip
Hodgson, 31, told Charles about the withdrawal symptoms
suffered while coming off the drug, which he said he was
experiencing as they chatted.
Later, at the National Centre for Dance
in Scotland, which is still being built,
Charles ac- cepted an invitation to
dance the merengue, a Latin dance, with
Carol Ann Stephenson, 32, a part-time
dance teacher and hospital
radiographer.
In his address to the opening session of
the assembly, the prince praised the
culture and traditions of Scotland.
"The sense of honour and pride which I
feel in this unique role as lord high
commissioner is the greater because Scotland has meant so
much to me for as long as I can remember," he said. "Some
of the earliest and most treasured of my childhood memories
are of happy summers spent in the Highlands."
He also expressed his own support for devolution. It was "of
great significance for the life of Scotland that two of its major
historical institutions, the general assembly and the Scottish
parliament once again stand side by side", he said.
For the first time, Charles was addressed as Your Grace by
officials of the assembly - the historical form of address once
used for monarchs.
His address also echoed comments he made earlier in the
week when he criticised new genetic technologies.
"I have the greatest respect for the workings of the rational
mind for reason and experimentation as essential elements in
our lives . . . but the risk is that we are in danger of
unbalancing our lives and forgetting the more mysterious and
sacred meanings of the workings of the universe," he said.
~*~
Unseen pictures show Queen
Mother's charm (UK Times)
Nicholas Hellen, Media Editor
PICTURED days before her
engagement to the future George
VI, the young Elizabeth
Bowes-Lyon already radiates the
charm that would captivate a
nation.
In January 1923, as she prepared
to exchange the life of a debutante
for marriage to a prince, Emil
Hoppé, the society photographer,
captured her mood in sessions at
her home in St James's Square and
his studio in west London.
The cache of 16 photographs,
some taken shortly before she
accepted "Bertie's" third marriage
proposal in the woods at Walden
Bury in Hertfordshire, has lain
undisturbed in a London
warehouse since 1947. Now the
photographs are to be made public for the first time by
Hoppé's grandson, Michael.
Hoppé, born in 1878, was one of the pioneers of portrait
photography. He started his career by photographing
customers of his wife's boutique, off Bond Street in central
London.
He became a favourite with society figures and photographed
leading lights from literature and the arts, including Sir
Edward Elgar, A A Milne and H G Wells.
According to his son, Frank, the family became accustomed
to rubbing shoulders with royalty and celebrities at their
father's studio.
"When she was six, my sister, Muriel, spotted Queen
Alexandra, and called out, 'Where's your crown?' The
cheeky remark was received with acclaim."
Hoppé, however, was never fully at ease among his
well-bred clients, and gave up portraiture in the early 1930s
to travel the world. His collection of pictures, which
comprised approximately 10,000 shots, was eventually sold
to the Mansell collection in 1947, where it remained
untouched.
"They were simply parcelled up and forgotten," said Frank
Hoppé, 79, at his home in Launceston, north Cornwall. "My
father went to Australia and never went back to look for
them."
The pictures re-emerged because of the detective work of
Graham Howe, the curator of a picture library in Pasadena,
California. He spent years persuading the owners of the
Mansell collection to open up the warehouse to him, finally
enlisting the help of Hoppé's grandson, Michael, who also
lived in California.
The cache includes pictures of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in July
1914, taken two months before the outbreak of the first
world war.
The later pictures show her after she had been launched into
society in the liberated days after the war. Although she did
not have the glamorous looks of some of her fellow
debutantes, she was described by her friend Mabell,
Countess of Airlie, as "irresistible to men".
In about 1921 there was said to be the possibility of a match
between Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales, the heir to the
throne. She was wooed, though, by his younger brother.
They were married in Westminster Abbey in 1923 and, in
1936, following the abdication of Edward VIII, she became
Queen and remained so until she was widowed in 1952.
More than 75 years since her last picture session with
Hoppé, the Queen Mother has endorsed the publication of
the photographs, and the release of an accompanying record
of her favourite music. Entitled Beloved, it is to be released
by R M G Distribution in mid-June as a memento for her
100th birthday. In a letter to Michael Hoppé, her private
secretary, Alastair Aird, said: "The pictures, which Queen
Elizabeth believes were taken either at her home in St James's
Square or at your grandfather's studio, brought back many
memories." He added that she was "deeply touched".
The Queen Mother's unofficial "Desert Island Discs" reflect
some of the main themes in her life. It includes a minuet by
Luigi Boccherini, one of the first she learned to dance; a waltz
from Gounod's Faust; and Noël Coward's Mad Dogs and
Englishmen.
Schubert's Trout Quintet is included, as a pun on her
fondness for fly fishing; there is Verdi's Chorus of the Hebrew
Slaves; and Amazing Grace, performed by pipers of the
Black Watch, of which she is colonel-in-chief. There are also
works by Gershwin, Mozart and Elgar.