05.26.2012 12:00 AM

In today’s Sun: His Royalness


His Royal Highness The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Order of Australia, Companion of the Queen’s Service Order, Member of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council and Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, gave a small diplomatic smile.

For a guy with that many titles, and as many official duties as the official heir to the throne apparently has, Prince Charles — as he is more often known — isn’t unused to awkward introductions.

It’s a Tuesday morning in the Distillery District in Toronto. Perched on a smallish stage beside his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles (the Duchess of Cornwall), and Dalton McGuinty (the premier of Ontario), Charles looks like he wants to burst out laughing, but keeps his cool. A local TV host — with big hair and a bigger personality — was speaking, overly long, and telling jokes that were falling flat. Charles remained the picture of restraint and politeness.

10 Comments

  1. palmerston says:

    That truly is a fab photo attached to the article, one that speaks a thousand words.

  2. sj says:

    I have no sympthy for Charles. If he doesn’t like his life, he can quit. Or he can decide to do something helpful like his sister who has been credited with securing London the Games. He is a selfish, morally-weak man, who now gets to travel the world with his former mistress at taxpayers’ expense. I have been a strong supporter of the concept of the constitutional monarchy all my life, but he is unfit to head this great country.

    • Jim Hanna says:

      Having met him, briefly, once, (not on this trip) and having been right in front of HRH when that photo was taken; I disagree. He has had his faults, as have we all, no doubt. But he has his charities as does his siblings and children; many of which were highlighted on this visit. It is very, very easy to project whatever we want, good and bad, on him, but he was decades ahead of some issues (genetically modified food, for one) and I will never forget what he said to my children. We could do worse; a lot worse.

  3. Pat says:

    I said the same thing to my wife a couple of days ago – it must suck to not be able to go anywhere without it becoming an official function. Royals may live pampered lives, but they pay for it by having no freedom. They aren’t like celebrities, who can go anywhere they want, whenever they want. They aren’t like normal people, who can do the same (if their budget allows). It’s a weird sort of prison to be born into…

  4. Nic Coivert says:

    He lives the life of a sanitary napkin I suppose…staunchly supporting the non-issue…

  5. Derek Pearce says:

    sj: no one was asking for sympathy in this article, not WK, not Charles. The only “ouch” line I would say is the “subsidizes housing” line, which, ouch, is actually bang on. Other than that, if anyone can show me a constitutional path to an elected head of state that won’t break up the F-ing country in the process, please proceed. Oh? Not possible? Then let’s continue on and keep the GD country together until a) we can find a way to eliminate the monarchy without splitting the country, Or, B) we don’t care if the country splits and loses 30% of our population/ and/or our meager but noticeable general international heft/ or, C) : have a GD mess of a Bosnia in Quebec on our hands. It’s not a very noble argument— and believe me, when I’m with my friends in a dinner situation I appeal to all the “noble” reasons to keep the monarchy, but really, it’s C that keeps me from touching it. I am a Monarchist, as crazy and anachronistic as it is. But deciding in our system how to have an elected head of state makes me rather want a GIANT split of our country intsead. IE, into 3 or 4 different sovereign countries. Let Albsaskmon be the crazy Saudi Arabia of North America and of course indy Quebec (minus West Montreal) go their own way, and the rest of us will find a way to be Switzerland.

  6. Joe says:

    I could not care less for the Royal family or the monarchy. It is old and irrelevant.

  7. Iris Mclean says:

    The whole concept of being born into a position of privilege, responsibility or power seems pretty outdated.

  8. Edward Blake says:

    In her 1904 novel ‘The Imperialist’ Sara Jeanette Duncan described the Canadian “sentiment of affection for the reigning house” as “an anachronism of the heart.” When the title character runs as a Liberal in a by-election, he’s ultimately rejected by the local riding association for being insufficiently attentive and understanding of Canadian needs.

    The point here is that while it’s all well and good to have that ‘sentiment of affection’ for the House of Windsor, it’s a feeling that’s unrelated to current political conditions in this country. Better to focus, like that riding association did, on finding Liberals who look to our own interests first.

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