Prince Charles will be the ‘best prepared monarch Britain’s ever had’ but will ‘have to keep his mouth shut’ and has ‘a lot of uncomfortable baggage’, royal experts tell ITV documentary
- Royal experts discuss Prince Charles’ future ascent to the throne tonight
- Prince Charles will be ‘best prepared monarch we’ve ever had’, Penny Junor says
- British royal author appears on ITV documentary The Queen: Inside The Crown
- However historian Piers Brendon says the heir to the throne, 71, has the potential to ‘divide opinion rather than unite it’
Prince Charles will be the ‘best prepared monarch we’ve ever had’ but will ‘have to keep his mouth shut’, royal experts have claimed in an insightful new documentary.
Speaking on tonight’s ITV documentary The Queen: Inside The Crown, which airs at 9pm, British historian Piers Brendon said the heir to the throne, 71, has the potential to ‘divide opinion rather than unite it’.
Agreeing, former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter also insisted that the Prince of Wales will have to learn to ‘keep his mouth shut’ upon becoming King, and ditch his ‘outspoken nature on politics, architecture and the environment’.
Yet despite the ‘uncomfortable baggage’ referenced by Piers in the programme, where he referred to Charles’ separation from Princess Diana in 1992, British royal author Penny Junor said attitudes towards the Prince had changed for the better.
Prince Charles (pictured recently) will be the ‘best prepared monarch we’ve ever had’ but will ‘have to keep his mouth shut’ and has a lot of uncomfortable baggage, royal experts have claimed
Prince Charles and Princess Diana at a reception in Ottawa, Canada in June 1983. The royal couple separated in 1992
She claimed: ‘Prince Charles will be King, and he will be the best prepared monarch this country has ever had.
‘I think the nation has changed in its attitude towards Charles. Years ago we wrote him off as a nutter who talked to his plants but today he is in a really good place.
‘He laughs again, he jokes, he’s relaxed and I think that makes him a much better prince, much better father and much better man all round.’
But other royal commentators didn’t share Penny’s faith and even suggested Charles would have to leave his outspoken ways behind him.
The heir to the throne has the potential to ‘divide opinion rather than unite it’, suggested historian Piers Brendon on tonight’s ITV documentary The Queen: Inside The Crown. Pictured: Charles with his wife Camilla earlier this month on VE Day at the Balmoral War Memorial
‘He’s written his spidery letters to ministers, asking the sort of questions we would want answers to,’ said Dickie Arbiter. ‘But he won’t be able to do that when he becomes King because constitutionally, he’ll have to keep his mouth shut.’
The Queen’s former press secretary referred to the letters Prince Charles wrote to government ministers, expressing his views on policy in 2004 and 2005.
They were given the name ‘black spider’ memos because of Prince Charles’ handwriting style.
Prince Charles’ personal life has often dominated headlines, especially the end of his marriage to Princess Diana and his love affair with his now-wife Camilla.
Yet despite the ‘uncomfortable baggage’ referenced by Piers Brendon (pictured left) in the programme, referring to Charles’ separation from Princess Diana in 1992, British royal author Penny Junor (pictured right) said attitudes towards the prince had changed for the better
![Elsewhere in the programme, the Prince of Wales' goddaughter India Hicks (pictured) said: '[Charles] is a man that is utterly utterly dedicated to hard work. He has been brilliant in waiting because my god it's been a long time in waiting.'](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/21/12/28659480-8343833-image-a-13_1590061498274.jpg?resize=634%2C956&ssl=1)
Elsewhere in the programme, the Prince of Wales’ goddaughter India Hicks (pictured) said: ‘[Charles] is a man that is utterly utterly dedicated to hard work. He has been brilliant in waiting because my god it’s been a long time in waiting.’
Piers Brendon said the father-of-two has a ‘lot of uncomfortable baggage’, adding that the Queen – who is the longest reigning monarch in history and the first to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee in February 2017 commemorating 65 years on the throne – ‘never had that’.
‘She emerged absolutely pristine on to the throne. He has had a very rackety past. He could do the crucial thing that a monarch shouldn’t do which is to divide opinion rather than unite it.’
Elsewhere in the programme, the Prince of Wales’ goddaughter India Hicks said: ‘[Charles] is a man that is utterly utterly dedicated to hard work. He has been brilliant in waiting because my god it’s been a long time in waiting.’
The Queen: Inside the Crown is on tonight at 9pm on ITV