Prince Charles Becomes King Of Britain, But Will He Tow The Royal Line Like Elizabeth II?

Filling the shoes of a much loved Queen will not be easy for Charles who was officially proclaimed King on Saturday. Being the oldest man in the history of the British royal family to assume office,  with the unpopular 75-year-old Camilla as his Queen Consort can evoke little enthusiasm among ordinary people. His mother Queen Elizabeth was a fresh-faced 26-year-old when she was crowned. There was a spontaneous outpouring of love for the new queen and her dashing husband. A staid elderly couple taking office can hardly evoke the same emotion.

The public see Camilla as a home breaker, the woman responsible for wrecking Charles' marriage with the much loved Diana.  All through his marriage with the dazzling Diana Spenser, Charles continued his dalliance with Camilla, whom he eventually married in 2005. At one point Charles and Camilla’s unpopularity was such that many hoped that the throne should skip a generation to allow prince William, the eldest son of Charles and Diana, and his wife Catherine to succeed the queen.  Loyalists of the people’s princesses, and there are plenty of them find it hard to accept the `other woman as their queen consort. The same animosity is not reserved for Charles, the man who cheated on his wife and should bear equal responsibility.  

Charles has worked hard to rehabilitate his image since the tragic death of Diana in a road accident in Paris. His role as a loving father to William and Harry since Diana’s death has been duly noted and appreciated by the British people.

His long period as  King in- waiting has prepared him well for his job. And in many issues including climate change and the environment Charles is way ahead of his times. . As a young man of 21, in 1970,  the then prince of Wales had pointed out the dangers of climate change. This was much before global warming was on the agenda of governments. “We are faced at this moment with the horrifying effects of pollution in all its cancerous forms. There is the growing menace of oil pollution at sea, which almost destroys beaches and certainly destroys tens of thousands of seabirds,” he said while addressing a gathering in Wales. “There is chemical pollution discharged into rivers from factories and chemical plants, which clogs up the rivers with toxic substances and adds to the filth in the seas. There is air pollution from smoke and fumes discharged by factories and from gases pumped out by endless cars and aeroplanes.”

The tabloids jeered at his environmental ``rants’’ and dubbed him as ``dotty’’ someone who talked to his plants. He has used his public speeches to advocate for forest, soil, ocean and biodiversity conservation.  Green activists are thrilled that the world has, at last, has a  king who is passionate about the environment. They hope he can use his office to discreetly push for green reforms. However, as King he will have to be much more careful not to overstep constitutional propriety.

"Long before environment became an issue Charles was [King] Charles has demonstrated a very long-lasting and extremely deep knowledge of the impact of human activities on the environment,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change in London. “In many ways, he has been ahead of politicians in his appreciation and concern for the issue.”

The move among Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean where calls for a breakaway from Britain are rising, will gather momentum with the passing away of the Queen. And there is growing demand here for reparation payments and an apology for slavery.  Charles himself noted the "appalling atrocity of slavery” while speaking in Barbados last year as it changed to a republic.

Charles has also spoken out strongly for religious tolerance and against Islamophobia. His approach is said to have helped to keep down potential backlash against Muslims after the terror attacks in Britain in 2005.

Charles and Camilla are not the favourites of the tabloid press and will likely have a tough passage. Apart from the lurid coverage of his affair with Camilla while still married to Diana, the Mail on Sunday had published extracts of his diary which contained his comments about the Chinese Communist leadership while representing the Queen at the handing over of Hong Kong to China in 1997. He described Chinese officials as ``appalling waxworks’’, then President Jiang Zemin’s speech as "propaganda’’ and noted “We had to watch the Chinese soldiers goose-step onto the stage and haul down the Union Jack and raise the ultimate flag.” Charles sued the newspaper for violating his privacy.

The new king is a man of strong opinion on several issues. But as king he has to make sure that he does not air them. His first address to the British people after his mother’s death ticked all the right buttons. What happens in future is not known, but the elderly king will try to put his stamp on the monarchy.