Prince Charles may be one of the world’s most vocal environmentalists, but King Charles III probably won’t be able to speak frankly.
With The passing of Queen Elizabeth II On Thursday marking the end of her 70-year reign, Prince Charles, her first son, immediately ascended the throne and took the name King Charles III, in line with the British Royal Family’s succession.
But with the new regent’s own admission, there’s a world of difference between being a king and a prince. Despite his track record as an outspoken environmentalist, King Charles III implied long before his accession to the throne that even he could not make an active monarch a reality.
In a year 2018 interview Speaking to the BBC, Prince Charles then said that as king he would have to start acting within “constitutional parameters” which would not allow him to be as consistent and vocal as he used to be. .
When asked if he would continue to campaign publicly as monarch, the future king answered bluntly.
“No, it won’t. I’m not that stupid,” he said.
Active Prince
The former Prince of Wales has warned the UK and the world about climate change and loss of biodiversity for most of his lifeand the better part was that at the time, was completely mocked by the public for it, with the British regularly mocking him for hug tree and talk to his tree.
But his warnings proved well-founded, and Charles’ profile has become a prominent voice in the global environmental and sustainability movement. He open an offshore wind farm in Scotland for example. And in 2020, the Prince even launched a special address at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he described how he views the various environmental crises threatening the world.
“Global warming, climate change and the devastating loss of biodiversity are among the greatest threats humanity has ever faced,” said Charles.
In a roundtable with Luck Last year, CEO Alan Murray and other business leaders, Prince Charles explained their vision for a more sustainable global market that could work in harmony with nature, without paying for anything. equal to it.
“Our economy and nature are in fact closely linked. We have ignored nature for too long. We have allowed too much biodiversity, which supports us and our ecosystems, to be destroyed,” he said. Addressing business leaders directly, Prince Charles added that the private sector has a “huge opportunity… to lead the world into a better future”.
Fast-forward a year, and the environmentalist prince is at the helm of a monarchy in a pondering country. keep coal plants running that were scheduled to close this yearand recently sworn in with a new prime minister, who intends to lifting the mining ban and approving more deep-sea oil drilling activities to help alleviate the growing cost of living crisis.
But even if the UK is at a crossroads for its energy future, King Charles III – constrained by royal traditions and expectations – may not be able to give an activist voice. with him to the highest royal chair in the land.
Keeping tradition
In a 2018 interview with the BBC, Prince Charles said he was proud of his campaign history — or as he called it “intervention” — but added that the idea he would continue to campaign for. Public election as king is “meaningless. “
“It is important to remember that there is only room for one sovereign at a time, not two,” he said. “So you can’t be like the monarch if you’re a Prince of Wales or heir.”
“Somehow, the idea that I would continue in the same way, if I were to succeed, makes absolutely no sense because the two — two situations — are completely different.”
The British royal family has traditionally stayed away from policy issues as much as possible, and taken a neutral stance on potentially divisive political issues. Even in 2016, when Britons were in the process of voting on whether the country should remove itself from the European Union, the queen’s spokesman insisted many times that the royal family had no opinion on the referendum.
“This queen doesn’t do politics,” Washington Post journalist Karla Adam Written in 2018. “That’s the key to her staying in power: She rules by not ruling.”
That’s why Rumors swirled In the past, Prince Charles’ outspoken and strong personality has been a frequent cause of concern for the royal family.
But based on his previous comments, King Charles III seems ready to set aside his more open and public style of campaigning, although the present moment seems to have been tailored for new king.
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