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 'Charles: The Heart of a King' claims that the 66-year-old
prince's passion for embracing sometimes unusual causes has
prompted disquiet at Buckingham Palace, where Elizabeth, 88, is
set to overtake Queen Victoria in September as Britain's longest
reigning monarch.
When his turn finally comes to ascend the throne, Charles plans
a new model of kingship that would create a smaller monarchy and
open up royal residences to the public, according to the
biography.
"In the corridors and back rooms and private apartments of
Buckingham Palace there is mounting anxiety as the Queen’s reign
enters what an insider calls ‘its inevitable twilight’,”
according to Catherine Mayer, the author of the biography, which
has been serialized in the Times newspaper.
"In defining his role as heir apparent, the prince has signaled
a redefinition of the monarchy. Some courtiers — and the
sovereign herself — fear that neither the Crown nor its subjects
will tolerate the shock of the new."
Charles's father, the Duke of Edinburgh, is among his harshest
critics, the book claims, and believes the prince to be guilty
of "selfish behavior" in putting his "cerebral passions" before
his royal duties.
Charles himself is quoted by the author as saying: "I only take
on the most difficult challenges... I want to raise aspirations
and re-create hope from hopelessness and health from
deprivation."
A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the
book, but a spokeswoman for the Prince of Wales released a
detailed statement, saying Mayer had not been given exclusive
access to the prince and emphasizing that her book was not an
official biography.
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In a rare comment on the kind of king Charles would be, the
spokeswoman said:
"He is often described as being ahead of his time. The evidence for
this has been well documented and includes leading the work on
corporate social responsibility, from as early as the 1980's,
demonstrating the benefits of organic farming, as well as finding
ways to help young people who are not in employment."
"Speculation about The Prince of Wales's future role as King has
been around for decades but it is not something we have commented on
and nor will we do so now," she said.
The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth and groomed from birth to one day
be king, Charles has taken on the responsibilities of public life
but found himself for years eclipsed by Princess Diana, his first
wife who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
In 2005 Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who will one day sit
alongside him as queen according to the current assumption in
Buckingham Palace, Mayer wrote.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Sophie Walker)
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