THE TELEGRAPH: As the Prince of Wales prepares to celebrate his 60th birthday, Andrew Pierce examines the hopes and fears of the longest-serving heir to the throne
The Queen's son and heir passes yet another milestone in his life this week when he becomes the first Prince of Wales to reach the age of 60 without becoming monarch.
It was in January, when he passed 59 years and 74 days, that Prince Charles reached the same age as his great-great-grandfather Edward VII when he finally ascended the throne on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Prince Charles is well aware that his 60th birthday on Friday will merely underline in the eyes of the public the fact that he is the longest-serving king‑in-waiting in British history.
There will be only two private celebrations, in contrast to the month of lavish parties at Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Hampton Court and Highgrove when he turned 50.
The Queen is hosting a concert and dinner at Buckingham Palace with 75 members of the British and European royal families on Thursday. On Friday, his birthday, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will meet inner-city youngsters to highlight the work of the Prince's Trust, one of the great successes of this complex man's long service to public life. On Saturday it is the Duchess of Cornwall who will host a private party at Highgrove for 200 close friends. Rod Stewart will provide the cabaret. The relatively subdued tone of the week – it coincides with the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War – will reflect the ambiguous mood of the Queen's eldest son.
The world's most famous prince, who has a fabulously privileged lifestyle, is prone to deep bouts of brooding. His 60th birthday will reinforce the mood of introspection. The Prince of Wales knows that with each subsequent birthday the pressure will grow in some quarters for the Royal family to skip a generation when anointing the next monarch.
Although he was born to be head of state and is still fired by a determination to hear the traditional, sonorous proclamation, "The Queen is dead, long live the King", in his blacker moods his fear is that the proclamation, "Long live the King" will be for William V, not Charles III. (In fact, some in his circle have urged him to be George VII, in honour of the Queen's father, because of the unfortunate historical associations with monarchs called Charles.)
The Prince of Wales is a deeply spiritual man who is often engrossed in books on religion. He falls to his knees before bed each night in silent prayer. He spends much of his private time in his walking boots on the moors at his beloved Birkhall in Scotland. Officials are often summoned to join him. "It's more like a 10-mile hike. We can be out there for hours," said one.
During the treks, he agonises out loud about the future of the planet, rainforests, the fate of small farmers, the threat posed by genetically modified food, the rise of the big corporations, the decline of the Church of England, and continuing deprivation in the inner cities. "He really cares. He always has," said the official. "He does not just moan about it. He gets on and tries to do something about it. He wants to change things. He could have been a different Prince of Wales but he has chosen to wear his conscience on his sleeve and take on causes, even though he knows people sometimes mock him." Prince Charles May Never Be King >>> By Andrew Pierce | November 10, 2008
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