"Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles" by Tom Bower (2018)


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JoanHarry

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"Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles" by Tom Bower (2018)

This book is set for release on March 22 and the Daily Mail did an excerpt here: Prince Charles's remarkable travel demands are revealed | Daily Mail Online

The excerpt is quite inflammatory and paints Prince Charles as entitled and very out of touch. As the biography comes relatively late in the Queen’s life, I feel that it could affect public perception of the monarchy when Charles becomes king.

I could not find an existing discussion of this and found the Prince Charles and the Press thread to be closed by a moderator.
 
It’s an unauthorised biography, that said it delves into not only Charles and Camilla’s elaborate spending, it also gets into his somewhat dysfunctional relationship with his children, especially William and Catherine’s family.

Supposedly Charles was threatened by Diana’s fame and it seems to have transferred to W&C.

Not much new and Charles has denied many of these allegations in the past. Expect some new and strong rebuttals from Clarence House over the book.
 
What is clear is the vast difference in how Queen Elizabeth is respected and Prince Charles is not. :sad: The merest suggestion of a negative towards the Queen is squashed. Not with Charles. In fact the more elaborate the negative spin the more gleefully embraced by certain quarters. Really strange imo. I put it to Charles not having attended Eton and not having developed a circle of friends from the governing class. Just a wild hunch. I find the willingness to denigrate the man appalling (which Diana cooperated with, and it goes on, and on, and on).
 
Not sure all stories are true, but Charles do live a more lavish lifestyle than his own mother, The Queen. Don’t forget...Charles was pretty much raised and influenced by his grandmother, late Queen Mum. We all know the lavish lifestyle she had.

He live the life that one expect a Prince of Wales to live, IMO.
 
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The Prince of Wales has always been an easy target...
 
Nico said:
The Prince of Wales has always been an easy target...
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Well, if they keep at it when he becomes King Charles it is going to be one ugly time for the public, unless someone calls a halt to it all. :sad: He wasn't an 'easy target' before his marriage to Diana, or am I mistaken?

Anyway, the way it's done is obscene imo. I'm aghast that it continues even to this day. Charles' enemies go deep.
 
Dman said:
Not sure all stories are true, but Charles do live a more lavish lifestyle than his own mother, The Queen. Don’t forget...Charles was pretty much raised and influenced by his grandmother, late Queen Mum. We all know the lavish lifestyle she had.

He live the life that one expect a Prince of Wales to live, IMO.
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He was influenced by hs grandmother but hardly raised by her..
 
Dman said:
Not sure all stories are true, but Charles do live a more lavish lifestyle than his own mother, The Queen. Don’t forget...Charles was pretty much raised and influenced by his grandmother, late Queen Mum. We all know the lavish lifestyle she had.

He live the life that one expect a Prince of Wales to live, IMO.
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Well, that's just a myth.

Some facts:

1. The Queen has many more personal staffers than what Charles has.

2. The Queen lives in her private apartments at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle + at Sandringham and Balmoral for several weeks a year.

3. Charles OTOH lives at Clarence House, Highgrove and Birkhall (guesthouses in comparison to where HM lives).
 
royal rob said:
Yes very believable to me
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No kidding ? :whistling:

In a way nothing is remotely new here. Charles has always been criticized for his lifestyle, real or supposed. It's an angle of attack used for years.
I suppose his detractors will find in this article, as usual, some material for their cruisade against him.
Charles the meddling prince, Charles the aloof prince and of course (a favourite in this forum ) Charles the cheating prince.
This man can't win.

Last year according to some press (and to the joy of some members here), he was supposedly estranged from his own sons. Instead, during the last weeks we saw Charles as a doting father for his "darling boy" Harry, who chose him to be present to the baptism of his future wife, not less.

We see what we want to see. And Charles will be always some kind of vilain in some circles. A the end, if God will (and not the Daily Mail), he will be King. End of the story.
 
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Lady Nimue said:
What is clear is the vast difference in how Queen Elizabeth is respected and Prince Charles is not. :sad: The merest suggestion of a negative towards the Queen is squashed. Not with Charles. In fact the more elaborate the negative spin the more gleefully embraced by certain quarters. Really strange imo. I put it to Charles not having attended Eton and not having developed a circle of friends from the governing class. Just a wild hunch. I find the willingness to denigrate the man appalling (which Diana cooperated with, and it goes on, and on, and on).
Click to expand...

Thank you Lady Nimue for saying this....I couldn’t agree more.
 
Royals do live lavish lives. It’s not a bad thing, IMO. I’ve never looked down on those who have lots of wealth and accustomed to a higher standard of living. Just as long as they do whatever they can to help others and have empathy.

Charles is The Prince of Wales and a higher standard of living comes with his role. None of this makes him look bad.
 
Why does anyone believe this sort of rubbish?

I think is because they want to, regardless of the source. Unknown author writes unauthorised biography and those who don't like Charles fall for it.

And its in the Mail so it must be true

Every royal family has its Fall Guy and it's currently Charles. It was Andrew but he's keeping out of trouble by doing little work and trying to stay on his horse. Charles doesn't deserve it. He has done more than any royal to directly assist young people to have a good start in life. This sort of treatment is unwarranted
 
The story is such garbage, they even admit it in the article.

Prince Charles and Camilla were due to stay for the weekend so they take their furniture with them. Now there is a photo of Charles exiting a helicopter on the lawn and I snigger. A helicopter is faster than a truck and if his furniture went ahead and he had to defer then both he and Camilla would have been bedless and have to sleep somewhere else at home. Yeah right.
 
As it was a Daily Fail article, I didn't open the link and read it. I don't have to because over the years of participating here, reading what I could find on Charles and basically watching him day in and day out as he goes about his work as Prince of Wales, the man I see is a totally different man than those in the rags such as the Daily Fail like to portray.

He does live an expensive lifestyle. Why shouldn't he if he has the funds to support it? He's allowed his idiosyncrasies just like the rest of us mortals are. Perhaps, even, because of his extensive work over the years for the people, he's also allowed them to have their own idiosyncrasies too. The man campaigns seriously for sustainable life and protection of our planet. He's gone from being laughed at to be taken seriously on the matter. He's an accomplished author, gardener and painter and has created things that are beautiful and pleasing but is more known for the evil, nasty, self involved person that others want to paint him as.

He's different. He's definitely not his father and is a more introverted, deep thinking kind of guy. Aren't there a lot of people out there that are just like that? He's at a point in life where everything is falling into place for him and he's happy. He has a stable, happy marriage and family that loves him and one that he loves in return.

I admire the man and no Daily Fail article is going to change my opinion of him. Then again, I don't have a positive opinion on the Daily Fail. :D
 
cepe said:
Why does anyone believe this sort of rubbish?

I think is because they want to, regardless of the source. Unknown author writes unauthorised biography and those who don't like Charles fall for it.

And its in the Mail so it must be true

Every royal family has its Fall Guy and it's currently Charles. It was Andrew but he's keeping out of trouble by doing little work and trying to stay on his horse. Charles doesn't deserve it. He has done more than any royal to directly assist young people to have a good start in life. This sort of treatment is unwarranted
Click to expand...

I have a suspicion the reasons behind this kind of trashing is politically based. :sad: Charles has demonstrated progressive ideas from early on. I think he became outspoken in the mid-80's, not so? I think so. From that point on he has been 'fair game'. (Think of the tapes with Camilla, how does such stuff happen?)

I suspect Charles is 'feared' by the conservative quarter and this is a way of getting people to voluntarily participate in getting his very people-friendly work and progressive ideas driven off the table. People are being played. It's a curious thing when you look at it: he's always being made to look like a jerk, when all the evidence points to someone sensitive, insightful and prescient, in keeping with his generation, in fact. Not to mention a man with considerable intellect.
 
For the sake of clarity, the “Daily Mail article” is actually an excerpt by the author of the unauthorized biography, Tom Bower. Bower has successfully defended himself against libel suits for other unauthorized biographies. I understand and agree with the reluctance to trust anything from the Daily Mail, but this is not an article. It is an excerpt from a book that will be published within the week.

I understand that Prince Charles is human and has idiosyncrasies, like any of us. But the timing of this book at this late stage in the Queen’s life, together with the content, could possibly have an affect on the public perception of the monarchy itself.
 
JoanHarry said:
I understand that Prince Charles is human and has idiosyncrasies, like any of us. But the timing of this book at this late stage in the Queen’s life, together with the content, could possibly have an affect on the public perception of the monarchy itself.
Click to expand...

IMO, the effects of an unauthorized biography that has made it all the way to print in an article in the Daily Fail will only pertain to those of a Daily Fail mentality and not the entire British population. ;)
 
Osipi said:
IMO, the effects of an unauthorized biography that has made it all the way to print in an article in the Daily Fail will only pertain to those of a Daily Fail mentality and not the entire British population. ;)
Click to expand...

We can hope for Charles' sake and everyone's sake. :ermm: This kind of stuff is toxic. But such dark eddies and undercurrents of thinking can breed pretty awful consequences over time in my experience. I think the advent of Meghan Markle into the family will do much to dispel this stuff. As someone mentioned, Charles was present at her baptism/confirmation. A lot of this stuff just does not jive with the character of the man as we know it through his life's actions.

It's interesting that this biography comes on the heels of the far more balanced biography by Sally Bedell Smith: 'Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life', published in November 2017. It looks like this second 'unauthorized' biography is a hit job rapidly assembled to counteract the Smith tome. Speculation of course on my part but I've become aware that a great deal of British royalty stuff is saturated with politics, however much it is touted as being above politics. Charles cannot be controlled. The knives are out. JMO.
 
Lady Nimue said:
Charles cannot be controlled. The knives are out. JMO.
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Charles canot be controlled/?? He most certainly can. As King he will not be free to speak out on anything the way he has been doing as POW....
 
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Thanks for posting this article, Rudolph. *This* is the man I've come to know as The Prince of Wales. I most certainly would believe Arthur Edwards words over Tom Bower's anyday.
 
Denville said:
Charles canot be controlled/?? He most certainly can. As King he will not be free to speak out on anything the way he has been doing as POW....
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No he cannot. ;) By his very history, his charities, all his public actions and speeches, where he stands is an open declaration. He is a challenge to the conservative establishment (curiously very like his Uncle the Duke of Windsor). He may not 'speak' once King, but he has far more powerful modes of expression at his disposal than just speech.
 
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So the author-or his sources- just made everything up?
 
New Prince Charles Book by Tom Bower

Tom Bower, author of investigative studies of subjects like Tony Blair, Richard Branson and the state of English Football, has turned his attentions to Prince Charles and according to reports, the palace isn’t happy as Bower has a reputation for being a little on the negative side.

http://http//www.harpercollins.co.n...power-passion-and-defiance-of-prince-charles/

I dont think this will say anything majorly new but here’s a heads up if anyone’s interested.
 
I've read excerpts from the this book over the weekend and all I can say is that I don't blame Clarence House if they are ticked off.

It paints Charles as almost a cartoon caricature of an out of touch prima donna. Some of the allegations are frankly not believable...such as Charles and Constantine of Greece putting their heads together in the corner at a social gathering whinging about how "we pulled the short straws" in the lottery of life.:ohmy:

Or the one where the PoW, by all accounts said to have exquisite manners, bellowed at a fellow diner at a formal dinner in India not to touch some Italian bread that had been set on the dinner table because "it's mine...all mine!":eek:

I just have to roll my eyes!
 
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I personally find the comment that all bio’s of PC so far have been too adulatory and somehow Bower has come across smoking guns that we missed 20 yrs ago a little hard to swallow. Anthony Holden (one of PC’s bigger critics) has always been very critical of him and Despite best efforts otherwise and the Dimbleby book I still think did more harm than good. I’m sceptical of Bower - I’ve read bits of his book on PM Blair and although I have been critical of Blair in the past, much of Bower’s book was lacking historical context of his govt and ignored positive achievements Blair had such as the Good Friday agreements and improvements to infrastructure and poverty reduction, so how he will handle PCmakes me nervous. I’m still going to read this though, although I think I might regret it as my gut tells me it’s just a rehash of old gossip and mostly ex-employees and disgruntled courtiers with axes to grind.

Here’s some more info on Bower https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bower
 
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