W ILL ChA r LES III bE A GOOd k ING ?

bY FOrmEr rOYAL COrrESpONdENT, ChArLES rAE

When Charles was a young boy, he recalled being driven past buckingham palace and seeing crowds coming out to cheer his mother. Even at that young age he worried about his own popularity and said to others in the car “They’ll never come out for me!” his mother’s universal popularity was based on reigning as a calm and steady monarch, hovering above – and detached from – the political turmoil, and on being a good listener who kept her opinions to herself.

Now more than 70 years later our new king Charles III has discovered that the crowds do come out for him. however, he has huge shoes to fill. he faces the challenge of following the most successful sovereign in british history.

When the young princess Elizabeth came to the throne, she was 25 and a young mother. Charles was 73 when he came to the throne last year – the oldest person ever to become sovereign.

Understandably, what most weighs on his mind is that time is short for him to make his mark as monarch, something crucially important to this student of royal history.

Charles has served an amazing apprenticeship of over 70 years to prepare for the one job for which he was born. Above all, he is acutely aware that for him there will be no succession of celebratory jubilees that have so symbolised his mother’s reign.

Charles, as prince of Wales, has continually ensured that his opinions have been heard and at times left his advisors with their heads in their hands.

There is more than a little anxiety in official circles, where it is feared that – despite his protestations to the contrary in recent years – the writer of so many passionate ‘black spider’ letters (so-called because of his scrawled handwriting) to government ministers may find it hard to ensure that he is not seen as a ‘meddling’ monarch.

Charles knows he could never write another letter like that as king. As he said on his 70th birthday about making his views known when he ascends to the throne: ‘I’m not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.’ his greatest challenge – and legacy – will be in maintaining the monarchy’s popularity in his mother’s image, ensuring it is as secure now as when the time comes for him to hand it on to his son, William. hugely popular among the british public growing up, Charles’ popularity took a dive following his turbulent separation and divorce from princess diana. polling by Ipsos mori in 1991 showed 82 per cent of britons thought Charles would make a good king but by 1996, the year of the divorce, he was down to 41 per cent. his popularity also faded with his affair with Camilla parker bowles. Eventually, the pair married and have been for 18 years. during that time, Camilla worked hard to come in from the cold and is now a vital part of his life and the monarchy and largely popular with the public.

The king has been the most fortunate heir to the throne in our history – because he has had the chance to learn from the most successful monarch in our history. If he follows her example, he will scarcely put a foot wrong.

Will he be a good king, in my opinion, it is a resounding YES!