Is he interested in Islam? Yes, he is. He will, if he becomes King, be the Head of a Commonwealth that contains around 200 million Muslims. He will also be King directly over millions of Muslim citizens of the Commonwealth Realms. He is interested in their faith, just as he is interested in Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism, and other faiths as well, despite being a Christian himself.
He despises terrorism and extremism in all its forms - but the man he was closest to, outside of his immediate family, his Godfather and mentor until adulthood, was brutally assassinated along with two children and an 83 year old woman by terrorists who called themselves Roman Catholics. In his lifetime, he has also seen crimes committed in parts of the Commonwealth by terrorists who call themselves Hindus, and terrorists who have claimed to be serving a variety of religious causes. He makes a distinction between those who follow a religion peacefully, and those who use it as an excuse for murder.
Should he have married Camilla? If he had done so in the 1970s, it would have involved him failing to do his duty. It also would have, incidentally, placed the burden of being Heir to the Throne on his brother, Andrew, who was still a child. He chose to put his country above his personal desires, and he chose not to saddle his brother with a task he would not face himself.
When he married Diana, they were in love - but, yes, that didn’t last. That wasn’t just his fault and it was a tragedy for all involved, but he - and she - entered that marriage intending to make it work.
Charles will take the throne if he is still capable of doing so when the time comes, because, again, he will not force that duty onto his son, William, any sooner than it is necessary. His own life has constantly been one where he has been expected to put duty above all else, including his own happiness, and he won’t force that on anybody else if he can avoid it. And there’s no ‘choosing’ in it - the law doesn’t allow for choice. He will become King the instant his mother dies. He could choose then to abdicate in favour of his son - and at some stage in the future, if he was so infirm, and William was ready, perhaps he might do so.
You don’t have to like him. Nobody has to like him, anymore than they have to like anybody else. But it would be nice if people criticised him and disliked him based on who he is, and what he does, rather than what the media says he is and what he’s done.
They’ll show every single time he visits a Mosque - they don’t show most of the, far more common occasions, when he visits military bases to see serving soldiers. They’ll publicise every single speech when he mentions the word ‘Islam’ - but they’ll hardly ever publicise those speeches where he speaks to veteran’s groups.
And because of his role, he is not even supposed to defend himself against their bias. The crown cannot seek to silence a free press after all. Well, I’m under no such restriction.
The man I know is a man who has spent his entire life utterly dedicated to one task - to serve his country and the Commonwealth in a role he was never asked if he wanted, but was simply told it was his duty to undertake. If he’d had his own choice, he’d have tried to be an artist, or an actor, or perhaps an architect. Instead he chose duty.
Well thank you for showing him in a different light. Seems sad not to be able to live your life as you want. I wish happiness on his sons. Maybe they will get the life he wasn’t able too. However I truly do not think he or Diana were really in love, she may have been but he needed sons & Camilla was older. I just pray there are no acts of terrorism to ruin this day.
Your posts are always a joy to read.
why a Monarch? Why does a country need a Queen or King in the modern world? Why should the people of England pay for the lavish lifestyles of the Royal families? I just don’t understand the snobbish attitude of the Queen especially in regards to Dianna and even some nasty comments towards Kate and her family. After Dianna died the queen was supposed to have been shocked at the affection so many people had for Dianna. Why? The British people were disgusted the way the Queen acted during the days after Dianna’s death. Since Charles was older and decided to do his duty he should have been better with his young naive bride and kept himself out of the bed of Camellia. If he was strong enough to marry someone he had to then he should have been man enough not to sleep with another man’s wife. None of this would matter, all this bad behavior except for the snobbishness and the reeking of elitism from the Royal family. Let us hope William one day will stand on his own.