...until Saturday 9th April.

Um, to busy with new pup.

Put your hat away until Saturday, Daisy :D

Margot

I was invited but didnt have a spare window in my diary, what with cleaning the windows and the ironing, Im just to busy.

I think he should retire away quietly with Camilla and leave the throne for William.  Although I have always been a monarchist I have lost faith in Charles now.

I am soooo fed up with our gutter press.  So they've had to make way for the Pope have they?  (I don't mean that nastily !!) I'm at work so haven't heard any news.

I actually feel sorry for Charles and Camilla.  If it had of been up to Charles he would have married Camilla first time round and not Diana!!  Glad that he did marry Diana in some ways though she did care about people and had two great sons, even if one does go off the rails now and then :d

Can't wait until it's all over and done with.  At least Camilla has been fairly decent and doesn't even want to be Queen !! Who can blame her?  If the Queen's anything like her mother anyway William will be the next in line :d

I cant see why they shouldnt marry to be honest, all this polava over the royals not being allowed to marry  a divorcee etc etc. Its rediculous.

Charles will never have the throne, he's too damn old!, so why not leave him be. He's with the woman he has loved for decades. Why cant they just be left alone? I for one am not interested in them.

As for Lady Di, a friend of mine who interviewed her said she was an obnoxious cow, ignorant and couldnt give a stuff. I don't believe for one minute she did the charity work out of pure love. Thats just my thoughts tho.

Why is he too old? Edward VII was 59 when he became king. Prince Charles is 57 ...

well imo he is too old. He wouldnt be there 5 mins really, compared to his mother. Best left to the young lad. It would be nice to see someone a little younger and with looks having ( a tiny) a bit of say over todayds affairs.

There seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that the worlds most important people are to be unattractive, dull and lacking in asthetical appeal. Willam has it all lol, the looks (sort of, if ulike horses but hes hardly unattractive), sounds interesting and doesnt bore me to watch on tv. Everything his father is not really.

I wouldn't condemn a young man to such a restricted life. Let him have a reasonably normal life, and leave the tedium to the oldies!
:)

Its already like that for him, he's been groomed all his young life in preparation. To be honest his life was over the day it began. Any chance he had to get away from it was through his mother, and shes gone. Best he gets the job, gets on with the life he is hanging in the wings waiting for and brings the long awaited breath of fresh air to our monarchy we need.

I agree William should be next in line and if the Queen lives as long as her mum, Charles would be in his late 70s before he inherited the throne and that definitely IS too old.  William on the other hand would be in his early 40s, which is just the right age and enables him to have some "life" before he is King.  Problem solved!

Even if Charles came on the throne at 70 he could conceivably be King for another 30 years if longevity is inherited from his female relatives.

So you think the Queen would be acceptable as monarch in her 90s, but Charles would be 'too old' in his 70s? Can you explain the logic please?

To add my 2 penn'orth ........I couldn't care less :D

I wish they would just be allowed to get on with their lives and be left alone by the damned tabloid gutterpress

The only time i pay any attention to the royals is on christmas day, after lunch watching the Queens speech. And, watching this, i find myself wondering why im wasting my time. Its dull, boring, she drones ooon and ooon.
Now if Harry were to do it, can in one hand, cigarette in another.... Might be worth watching.

If the Queen lives to the same age as her own mum, when she dies Charles will be 79/80 years old when she dies, not just 70.  That is too old for anyone to start a new job, the strain of the coronation alone might be enough to give him a heart attack LOL!  He also might not have the rude health of the Queen Mum and the Queen at that age and longevity is more often the privilege of the females in the family than the males (although I know there are some long-lived men, but we all know it is a fact women on average live longer than men).  As for the Queen doing the job in her 80s and 90s, because she has been doing it since she was about 25, it is all old hat to her and she can just glide along in the job, but starting afresh at that age, possibly with not such good health (being a man after all) might mean he would find it all too much.  The poor pope was only 84 when he died, just 4 years older than Charles would be and he certainly would not have been effective as a "new" pope, but because he was well established in the job by the time he was 80 odd, it seemed to work out.  I understand that the Cardinals are not even allowed to vote for a new pope if they are over 80, but we would have Charles ascend the throne at that age, and with Camilla as "Queen"? Not for me thanks, I would rather have William, or as someone else said Harry would be very entertaining.  That is my logic in the argument I put forward, but it wasn't intended to be a particularly deep and meaningful or flawless pronouncement, just an off the cuff light-hearted humble opinion.

I imagine that if the Queen reaches her mother's age, Prince Charles will already have taken over a lot of the work by then anyway. After all it's unlikely that HM will be 100% fit and healthy one day and drop dead the next!
:)

Well the basis of my argument was that the Queen would be like her mum, live to 101 and be very fit more or less up to the end, even in her late 90s the Queen Mum was still actively "working" and no-one had to take over her duties.  It was only at the very end she slowed down.  Somehow I can't imagine the Queen passing over her duties willingly to Charles, after all she has not done so yet and she is nearly 80 herself.  Obviously she may be forced to if her health declines, but Charles' health may not be great when he is 80 either, so he may have to pass the duties down the line to William.  Perhaps if Charles can't manage an appearance as King, Camilla could represent him, that would be nice.

Can you imagine what would happen if Camilla took on Charlies role?!!! There would be hell on!!!

Safer for William to go straight in me thinks lol.

am i the only one that likes them? i think C & C are great! & id love to see charles as king i hope he gets the chance. i think william is abit wet  & much prefer Harry,(like the rebel thing :) )

I love Harry, everything about him is.... well.... normal. He gets drunk, smokes cannabis, goes to a fancy dress party as a nazi!!! He's just great!!! lol

The rest of them have no good qualities at all. Although i admire her mage for her excellent gift, she's an excellent mimic lol. Other than that i have no interest in them, I don't like them and couldnt care less if the monarchy were overthrown.

So getting drunk, smoking cannabis and dressing up as a nazi is normal is it ?

All I can say is thank goodness I'm weird !....:)

Yes, I think it's safe to say that getting drunk, smoking (whatever) and dressing up in silly clothes has been normal for young people (and many adults!) for many generations!
:)

According to what I've seen on TV and read (not met all of them) then Charles has already taken over a lot of the routine paperwork, performing investitures etc, attending state occasions (such as the Pope's funeral) etc.
:)

Ok, not the smoking cannabis, but hes just normal. Didn't you get drunk when you were young? Didn't you do anythin contovercial, ever?
I admire him for it!

Exactly JG it isn't like becoming King is a sudden change, as the royal obligations are shared by a lot of differnet famiuly members.  It is like in a fmaily business the oen groomed to take over gets a bit more of the responsibility as time goes on so that wehn the boss steps down things move smoothly onward, and the same will be happening with William.  It ias a slower process than the Queen is dead long live the King.

Can you imagine the conversation round the breakfast table going something like this

PC    I went to the last funeral - and I'll be on honeymoon - Dad will have to go!!!

Margot;)

He didn't reign for long though, only 9 years I think

I like Charles and Camilla and I hate the nasty way they are being treated at the moment. I wish them all the best for the future, I think they will be very happy together.

me too!!! plus its obvious shes a much better s**g than di! lolololol

LOLOLOL

Personally, I think Di was the stalker type...lock up yer bunnies and all that!

Ditto, Chloe.
:)

Regarding attending the Pope's funeral, apparently it is etiquette that the Queen only attends family funerals so Charles is not taking over her duties there.  Apparently Charles was furious at having to postpone his wedding for the Pope's funeral, how disrespectful and uncaring is that?

I'd be furious at having to postpone mine to attend the funeral of someone who wasn't even of my religion.

I would be too, J/G. :)

We have a constitutional monarchy, and the monarch is crowned at a religious ceremony, in which s/he promises to govern his/her people until the end of his/her life - rather like the Pope.

The queen has taken this responsibility very seriously and it is highly unlikely that she would ever abdicate - Charles might take over as Prince Regent, but, until his mother's death, I doubt that he would become king.    Don't forget, the queen was a little girl when her father became king because her uncle abdicated - and the Queen Mother was always very bitter about the fact that Edward did abdicate and leave the burden on the shoulders of her husband

The queen has taken this responsibility very seriously and it is highly unlikely that she would ever abdicate - Charles might take over as Prince Regent, but, until his mother's death, I doubt that he would become king.    Don't forget, the queen was a little girl when her father became king because her uncle abdicated - and the Queen Mother was always very bitter about the fact that Edward did abdicate and leave the burden on the shoulders of her husband (George VI) and blamed him for his early death.

As a young man, Charles was not allowed by the Establishment to marry the woman he loved, because she was not an Anglican Virgin    Very cold-bloodly, the Establishment sought out a young Anglican Virgin who could provide the "heir & a spare" - and eventually found a young, star-struck girl in Diana.   Yes, Charles was weak in agreeing to the marriage, but for a while it did look as if things could be ok - but two people, both from dysfunctional families are hardly likely to have the world's most wonderful marriage - add to that the limelight, etc etc etc - is it a surprise that things went wrong?  

So far as we are aware, Charles has always been true to Camilla.  Diana had several lovers, if we can believe all that we read.   I think that Charles and Camilla deserve some happiness now - and I think that she will be a good influence, on bringing him down to earth a bit - his work with the Princes Trust has been life-changing to many young people - he has always been so amazed at the bad start that some youngsters have to overcome, and once away from the "rarified" atmosphere that the Establishment loves, he may turn out to be an exceptional king - when he does become king.

Give William time to learn about life - it isn't about who is the best looking, who gets drunk/stoned/does absolutely stupid things - its about doing things that one doesn't want to do at times when one would rather be doing something else!!

So I'll give them two cheers on Saturday - and good luck to a couple that deserve to settle down into a "comfy couple" :D

Margot

*cough*

Oh boy - have I been lecturing??? :( :(

--- just call it constitutional history :D

Margot

Plus going to a funeral of someone whom I'm sure would be against the wedding in the first place!

I have to admit, I feel like I'm at an AA meeting, as I stand up and announce " I too like Prince Charles"  I always have done.

The only thing that I hate about the monarchy is our gutter press.  They only show what they want and don't show all the good things about them.

I hope that Charles and Camilla have a wonderful life together and to be truthful I don't care less who is the next King.  Although I must admit I'd like our country to keep the monarchy.

I have always liked him in his awkward way, and loved the controversy he sparked off with his speaches on Modern Architecture :D  Also his stance in support of Organic farming.

I wished he had had the gumption to not marry Diana, and think it wrong that he and Camnilla carried on their relationship when both were married to other people.   I could never understand why people have almost deified Diana.  Charles and Di were simply totally unsuited.

I do think that if his sons can accept his relationship and forgive them then let them have a bit of happiness.  they have behaved in quite a dignified manner since Diana's death.

Well said, Margot. I think that so many people are just hypocritical - expecting Prince Charles to be some paragon of virtue - why should he be ? Are they ? He didn't apply for the job - just got lumbered with it :D

Daisy

If Charles becomes King he will become head of the Church of England and to be furious at having to attend the funeral of a revered and respected head of another Christian sect, whom millions of people worldwide (some in this country too) are mourning deeply does show disrespect.  Perhaps having to postpone this wedding is part of his responsibility as future King and representative of our country and he should have done it with dignity and more respect, otherwise perhaps he would be better being just an ordinary citizen, then he would not have to attend the funeral of another church leader as part of his duties as future king of England.  I think it should be borne in mind that the passing of the Pope is a very significant thing to many of Charles's future subjects and their feelings should be respected, even if you cannot agree with them.  To many people in the world the Pope would be considered at least as important, or more important than the Prince of Wales.  He should have postponed the wedding with better grace, or not postponed it at all and just gone ahead on the original day and let people think what they like.  By being so ungracious about it, he has lost the good opinion he would otherwise have gained, so maybe he should not have bothered, as you all say.

Who says he's furious though?

I was in the supermarket today and saw the headlines on the daily papers!  Unless it was just reporters making mischief again and it may all be totally false, in which case I have been mislead about his attitude to the pope's funeral.  I do know we cannot believe all we read in the papers, but it was in more than one.

To be honest, I don't think you * can* believe what is said in the papers about Charles. For some reason, they just love to needle him and wind him up and print pics of his sons private lives against the agreement and then throw a strop when he gets to the end of his tether and moans about a photocall under his breath. They victimise him IMO. He's one of the few royals I actually have time for and I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

We know the papers make things up - these are the same people who question his sons parentage publically!

Depends which papers you read, csmad :) one I read reported a palace aide as quoting the Prince as saying he thought it the absolute right thing to do.

Whether he is furious or not - he IS going to the funeral and he HAS postponed his wedding. Isn't he allowed any feelings ? Would you have preferred him to say 'Whooppee - we've got to postpone our wedding and redo all the arrangements, hope all our guests can still come etc etc' He is human after all and ubder the same stress, no doubt, that all people are just days before their wedding :(

Daisy

I think part of his responsibility in his position is not to show all his negative feelings all the time.  When he is meeting foreign dignitaries, would it be ok for him to say, "Oh god, your wife is fat and ugly"?  That might be his feeling on the matter, but when you are 57, and in a responsible position in life, you do have to learn to control your feelings.  If Harry and the younger members of the family are criticised for their behaviour and remarks, then I think their father should have more self control and show them a good example, as well as showing courtesy and respect for other people.  He can think and say what he likes in private, as I am sure the Queen does, but it seems to be down to Charles and his own dad to behave like this.  I don't think giving vent to your feelings in public like this is a good trait in a middle-aged future king.

When has Charles given vent to his feelings in public?

He made remarks to his sons that were picked up by the very sensitive microphones used by the BBC - who were hoist with their own petard - ITV couldn't control its glee at the remarks about the BBC's Nicholas Whitchall :D

Why is it that the papers can  say "he is furious etc etc etc" we are all supposed to believe them - but when he says "I can't stand that fellow" we are supposed to be shocked

I personally would feel absolutely  p***ed off if my wedding was being changed around - for whatever reason - can you imagine the scene that Diana would be making?   Have we heard a word from Camilla?

I prefer to read the papers, listen to the news, read the backgrounds of the papers ....and then come to my own conclusions!!!   There are a lot of hidden agendas out there!!

Margot