Prince Charles’ Diaries are Old News

The Kensington Review banished the British Royal Family from its pages for months because the House of Windsor is full of exceedingly dull individuals. However, His Royal Highness, Charles Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and a bunch of other stuff that really sounds impressive, is suing Associated Newspapers for printing his diaries about a trip to China 9 years ago. Free speech issues make him marginally relevant.

First of all, diary keeping is egotistical and narcissistic in the extreme. Moreover, in this day and age, anyone who writes down anything must presume it will be taken out of context and spread across the internet in a matter of a few hours. And as His Eminence Cardinal Richelieu said, “If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.”

However, he managed to crank out 3,000 words on his trip to China, which was rather wittily called “The Great Chinese Takeaway,” since at the time Mrs. Thatcher was handing over Hong Kong to the Communist regime in Beijing without so much as a vote by the people there. In the report, he referred to the Chinese gerontocracy as “appalling old waxworks,” (which they are), and he complained about flying Club Class since government ministers like Robin Cook and dignitaries like Ted Heath had the first class seats. “It took me some time to realise that this was not first class (!) although it puzzled me as to why the seat seemed so uncomfortable. Such is the end of Empire, I sighed to myself.” In short, he could simply have sent a postcard, “Dear Mummy, China’s Bloody Awful. Wish you were here. Charles.”

Clearly, the only reason the British tabloids ran the piece is the name of the author. For his part, HRH didn’t seem to think it was quite fair to have his private thoughts smeared over the front page of papers he doesn’t read, and he is suing for copyright infringement. However, HRH needs to accept that he isn’t a private citizen and never was. He may not want to give up the throne, the civil list money and Clarence House but that would be the price of being Mr. Windsor. As Mark Warby QC, lawyer for the Mail on Sunday,” said, “This case is about politics, political opinion and the role of the heir to the throne in relation to these issues.” HRH says that when he’s king, he will put up his pen and keep his opinions to himself. This would appear to be an ideal time to practice reigning.

Prince Charles is something of a crackpot and an intellectual gadfly, yet to be fair, it’s a surprise he’s as well adjusted as he is given the script life handed him. Indeed, he has makings of a fine MP in the tradition of Cyril Smith and the others who truly worked their constituencies without worrying about the greasy pole. The pity is that the Prince of Wales is a different sort of job, and one from which he doesn’t seem inclined to quit.

The Danish flag appears here as a protest against the violence being done to the free press of that country and elsewhere by those offended by some cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, peace be unto him. A perceived insult is not an excuse for intimidation and violence, even in the name of the Creator. One cannot insult God, only small-minded men who falsely claim to speak for Him. © Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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