MAIL Online: The Prince of Wales's 60th birthday has been greeted with polite applause. Most of the country seems to have forgiven him for the tragedy of Diana, recognising that it is no more sensible to apportion blame for the failure of a royal marriage than for any other.
But one headline sounded alarm bells: 'Charles will speak out as king.'
Beneath those words Jonathan Dimbleby, the Prince's friend and biographer, wrote: 'There are discreet moves afoot to redefine the future role of the sovereign so that it would allow King Charles III to speak out on matters of national and international importance.'
Dimbleby went on to suggest that Charles seeks to fill a role not dissimilar to that of recent Irish or German presidents, politically non-partisan, but still activist.
It is unlikely the author and broadcaster would have floated such an idea without authorisation, indeed encouragement, from the heir to the throne. Yet if this is so, and if the Prince persists with such ambitions, his reign is likely to be one of the shortest on record.
Hereditary monarchy is a bizarre survival. Most nations disposed of their kings and queens, often amid bloody revolutions, during the great international upheavals of the 19th and 20th centuries.
In Britain, most hereditary peers have been expelled from the House of Lords, meaning that the Crown stands isolated as the only constitutional institution in which possession passes from generation to generation, simply in accordance with who happens to be born the son of whom.
In our quirky British way, the arrangement suits us pretty well. Only a small minority of republicans seriously wants to change the system, to risk finding ourselves instead with a president Thatcher or Blair - or for that matter David Beckham or Jamie Oliver.
Yet it seems mistaken thus to assume that our monarchy is so secure that a new incumbent could take liberties at the controls with the erratic enthusiasm which has characterised the Prince of Wales's career.
The Queen's huge success - and such her reign has surely been - is based upon the exercise of lifelong, steely self-discipline. Never once has she allowed herself to express an opinion about any aspect of her people's governance or affairs.
We can guess what she thinks about all sorts of things. She is almost certainly a conservative with a small 'c'. But we do not know this. And how grateful we should be that it is so.
Never has she provided any political or social faction with evidence to claim her as its own. She is Queen of all the British people, because she has given no one cause to think of her as a critic or foe. >>> Max Hastings | November 18, 2008
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