The Prince of Wales has given one of his most open interviews in recent years about how he sees monarchy, as part of a BBC documentary to mark his 70th birthday next week.
Every year the Royal Family as a whole carries out over 2,000 official engagements throughout the UK and worldwide, and some of them might be seen, as Prince Charles put it, as “strange activities”.
Referring to one of the ‘lightest’ Royal engagements, which sees the Knights and Ladies of the Garter – the oldest and highest order of chivalry – leading in procession to St George’s Chapel every June, Charles claimed that despite its bizarreness, the event is actually “rather important”.
He explained: “All these strange activities that go on, people dressing up, is actually rather important because it defines the particular boundaries and the way in which the constitution works, because nothing is written down.
“Somehow, you devise this extraordinary system, which allows for a remarkable degree of flexibility.
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“Unlike you know some of the more rigid constitutions.
“So, it has to be defined by tradition.”
But the Prince of Wales also noted “a lot of people have a jolly time poking fun” at the formalities of the Royal calendar and instead of condemning them, he appears to agree with them.
He said: “If it becomes too serious, it is rather depressing.”
The documentary, which airs on BBC One tonight at 9pm, also casts a light on what kind of person Prince Charles really is and how he sees the role of monarch compared to that of being heir to the throne.
When asked how he sees the two roles as being different, the Prince said: “I’ve tried to make sure whatever I’ve done has been non-party political.
“But I think it’s vital to remember there’s only room for one sovereign at a time, not two, so you can’t be the same as the sovereign if you’re the Prince of Wales or the heir.
“But the idea somehow that I’m going to go on in exactly the same way if I have to succeed is complete nonsense, because the two, the two situations are completely different.
“Clearly, I won’t be able to do the same things I’ve done, you know, as heir so of course you operate within the constitutional parameters.”
When the interviewer suggested British people are concerned his behaviour won’t change when he becomes King, Prince Charles answered in a more animated way.
He replied: “No, it won’t. I’m not that stupid, I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.
“So of course, you know I understand entirely how that should operate.”