Prince Charles Will Never be ‘Remote and Silent’ Like Queen Elizabeth, Biography Claims

Prince Charles was painted in a somewhat unflattering light in an upcoming biography, which states Queen Elizabeth II is concerned about the possibility of her son ascending the British royal throne.
Prince Charles Will Never be ‘Remote and Silent’ Like Queen Elizabeth, Biography Claims
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attends the Welsh Guards regimental remembrance Sunday lunch on November 9, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie - WPA Pool /Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
2/2/2015
Updated:
2/4/2015

Prince Charles was painted in a somewhat unflattering light in an upcoming biography, which states Queen Elizabeth II is concerned about the possibility of her son ascending the British royal throne.

The biography, titled “Charles: The Heart of a King” and written by journalist Catherine Mayer, claims the prince’s Clarence House was a tense environment.

Mayer on Monday stipulated that her biography isn’t official. “Prince Charles biography is unauthorized and makes no over-claims about access,” she wrote on Twitter after journalists who cover the royal family said her account wasn’t exactly true. The royal family also issued a statement to media outlets that said she didn’t have access to the prince.

“One former householder refers to Clarence House as Wolf Hall, in reference to the treacherous and opportunistic world depicted by Hilary Mantel in her fictionalised account of the rise of Thomas Cromwell under [medieval King] Henry VIII,” she wrote, according to the Times of London. Charles, she said, has a hard time taking criticism.

“Rivalries between different factions reached such a pitch that they led to the collapse of a multimillion-pound deal to house his charities under one roof,” says The Times on the book’s account. It further says Clarence House is “riven by backstabbing, infighting, and turf wars.” 

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales visit the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) on October 31, 2014 in Cartagena, Colombia. (Photo by Arthur Edwards - Pool /Getty Images)
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales visit the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) on October 31, 2014 in Cartagena, Colombia. (Photo by Arthur Edwards - Pool /Getty Images)

Mayer notes that Charles will try to campaign for issues that he believes in--a departure from his mother. She added that officials and royal family members--including Queen Elizabeth--should be prepared for the “shock of the new.”

According to Mayer, Charles said he wants “to raise aspirations and recreate hope from hopelessness and health from deprivation.” As a result, he will never be “remote and silent” like his mother.

“I only take on the most difficult challenges. Because I want to raise ­aspirations and re-create hope from hopelessness and health from deprivation,” he also told Mayer.  “It’s everybody else’s grandchildren I’ve been bothering about. But the trouble is if you take that long a view, people don’t always know what you’re on about.”

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (2nd L) and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in this file photo. (Andrew Winning/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (2nd L) and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in this file photo. (Andrew Winning/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Charles has come to the conclusion that while king, “he will not be able to campaign from the throne room as he has campaigned from its antechamber, but if he no longer speaks up quite so often, or intervenes quite so vigorously, he'll have his weekly audiences with the prime minister instead.”

“Whether he uses those audiences to lobby for additional reforms of the monarchy and health-giving transparencies will depend on his ability to emulate his mother, not by being like her, but by keeping Planet Windsor in close orbit to earth,” reads the Times piece.

But royal family reporters have disputed Mayer’s account. Citing royal aides, NBC reporter Robert Jobson wrote on Twitter that the “queen has total confidence in Charles.” 

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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