General News for The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall 1: Feb 2015-Sep 2022

[Ish]

Very much doubt Charles is on here or in the least bit interested in what we think

Even so, I expect he would agree that he has a bit to go before meeting the same level of duty as his mother. Of course, not easy having to wait (and continue to wait) in the wings. But still, to carry out more engagements than your mother and father who are both is in their early to mid nineties after all is hardly an achievement. Well, to me anyway.

To what ridiculous standard should he be meeting then?

Charles has been a very active royal for years - far more active than any other member of the BRF, excluding his sister. He has represented the Queen on numerous occasions in all forms. He has attended the Opening of Parliament every year since 2013, this year escorting the Queen in place of his father. He has represented the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. He has been reported to receive his own copies of the red boxes daily. Last year he did 530 engagements; Anne was the only other British Royal to top 500 (she did 509). The next most active royal was Edward, with only 359 engagements.

In what way is Charles deserving of criticism for a lack of duty?

 

[Osipi]

Those are just the things he does in support of crown and country for the "Firm". As Ish has pointed out, he's been extremely involved with what he does. Now, mind you, that's his royal duties. That's all that is really required of him as the heir apparent. But... wait! There's more! Since leaving the Navy in 1976, he's been very active in his own charities and patronages. I was going to list them but I don't have the rest of the day to type them out. This link will show his personal interests.

https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/the-prince-of-wales/the-princes-charities

He's always on the go doing something and takes brisk walks to relax. This man has redefined the role of The Prince of Wales and has done an exemplary job of it too. To me that's a huge achievement.

 

[Ish]

I'd add too that in addition to the Prince's Trust, Charles has also been extremely involved in the Duchy of Cornwall and undertaken a number of initiatives there: http://duchyofcornwall.org/initiatives/

 

[Osipi]

No wonder that one year on Charles' birthday, Camilla quipped that she'd have to hold up a sign saying "Happy Birthday, Darling" as he went flying by her off to something he needed to do.

I've paraphrased what Camilla said. I believe though it was on a tour they were doing in India at the time a few years ago. Lets face it. The man is involved. Very involved.

But wait! There's MORE! This man also has quite a few books that he's authored to his credit. On top of that, he's also quite adept at painting with watercolors and is a very successful gardener and landscaper.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/249898.Charles_Prince_of_Wales

When does the man ever sleep???

 

[cepe]

If number of events are high on your list of commitment than Charles is normally nnumber 1 - over 370 so far this yr ( only competition from the terrific Princess Royal) EDIT - it is 370 not 270 - sorry

If personally raising money for charities ( something HMq does not do) then av of £6-8 MILLION a yr shows a high level of commitment

Establishing the Princes Trust which has supported 1000's of young people to set up their business. Unique at the time and he was warned it would fail (HA! Wrong)

Environmental issues and build environment have a great champion in PoW and he has inspired his sons.

Over 500 charities, diversity of interest, representing the Government, supporting the military, representing the Queen and taking on more of her responsibilities; running Duchy of Cornwall; oversight of Duchy of Lancaster; running sandringham and balmoral.

He has done more to take the BRF out of the Edwardian era than anyone, including HMQ.

I dont give a monkeys whether people like him or not, but he has done more than ANY member of the BRF to help people and the environment around the world

 

[Ish]

Cepe - I didn't realize that Charles had taken over the running of Lancaster, Sandringham, and Balmoral. Or perhaps I forgot...

Do you know when this happened, and in the case of Lancaster if it's improved the income of the Duchy? I remember reading years ago that Cornwall had been handled better (by Charles) than Lancaster (by the Queen) in terms of profitability. Or am I completely making this up?

 

[cepe]

Cepe - I didn't realize that Charles had taken over the running of Lancaster, Sandringham, and Balmoral. Or perhaps I forgot...

Do you know when this happened, and in the case of Lancaster if it's improved the income of the Duchy? I remember reading years ago that Cornwall had been handled better (by Charles) than Lancaster (by the Queen) in terms of profitability. Or am I completely making this up?

Charles meets with the Duchy of Lancaster Board, and then they report to HMQ. I cant give you a date as I've only spotted this in the last 2 yrs. the profitability of D of Lancaster has improved!

He took over Sandringham and Balmoral around the same times scale (2-3 yrs) and I think this is part of the handover. It might have been earlier but I wasnt monitoring then.

This is speculation but when he becomes King, thats when William will take over Sandringham and Balmoral.

Sorry cant be more specific - which is bad cos I do like specifics myself

 

[cepe]

Tomorrow, I can look up the Duchy of Lancs most recent meeting if that helps

 

[Ish]

Is that available on the internet? Unless it's something like the Times, I'd love to have a link.

 

[Rudolph]

He had a meeting earlier this year in February

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/february-7-z7mbt93s3

 

[cepe]

And, memory only, HMQ had her mtg c. month or so later.

EDIT

Thank you Rudolph, saved me a job tomorrow!

 

[O-H Anglophile]

Is it not his full time role, also for years? What else would he be doing?

He has a bit to go before gaining the same respect workwise as the Queen.

Other people have pointed out the many things Charles is involved in--I'm not sure what else he could be doing to "gain respect workwise." I've heard lots of criticisms of Charles but I've not heard this one before.

Since you don't think he does enough, what else should he be doing?

 

[muriel]

SOurce: Court Cirular:-

CHarles arrived from and returned to Scotland.

CAmbridges arrived on Sunday from, and returned on Monday to Norfolk(RAF Marham)

Thank you.

Clearly Charles did not stay long in Corfu with the PBs!

 

[Countessmeout]

Actually, the centenary of a major event like WW1 should have been attended by the Queen herself. as it was attended e.g. by the presidents of France, Germany and Austria, and by the King of the Belgians. Since the Queen doesn't often leave the UK this days, she should have sent the PoW as her deputy. It greatly surprised me that William attended instead, but, if I recall it correctly, the reason was that, on that very same day, Charles attended a Commonwealth remembrance service in the UK, which again fits into the pattern of Charles taking up official Commonwealth business rather than William.

As far as the recent visits to France and Germany are concerned, those were not "tours", but rather official visits (only a notch below a state visit then). Generally, in other monarchies, official visits of that kind are made either by the sovereign or the crown prince / crown princess, and not by the second in line.

Perhaps because in other countries the second in line are children

The U.K. is unique where both the heir to the throne and his heir are both adults and can attend such events. That is not the case in any other monarchy. And the queen sends various members of her family on such trips, not just tours, not simply her heir. Again something unique to the uk. In continental families, the roles of younger siblings are limited in their roles.

The queen sends various people to represent her, even cousins. But she clearly makes sure to send her son to events that call for the head of the commonwealth or just Great Britain.

The war memorial didn't call for the queen. Simply the governmebt, May was there, and a senior royal. Philippe and Mathilde attend as their is a high school student and his siblings have minimal roles.

 

[Dman]

Lord, when last have seen Charles dressed down in shorts?
Prince Charles and Camilla on Greek tycoon's superyacht | Daily Mail Online

 

[Lumutqueen]

When was the last time we saw them on holiday, abroad?! Lovely break for them. Charles might have gone straight from Belgium.

 

[Spheno]

When was the last time we saw them on holiday, abroad?! Lovely break for them. Charles might have gone straight from Belgium.

No, prince Charles returned in Scotland

SOurce: Court Cirular:-

CHarles arrived from and returned to Scotland.

CAmbridges arrived on Sunday from, and returned on Monday to Norfolk(RAF Marham)

 

[DeeT]

Just a question, how accurate is the Court Circular? Is it kept up to date with all of the official engagements?

 

[Ish]

The Court Circular is what determines whether or not an engagement is official - if it's not in the CC, it's not official.

The CC online is notorious for not being accurately maintained, but it is published in the Times weekly (I believe).

 

[Iluvbertie]

The CC is the official record of what is and isn't an official engagement and is approved daily by the monarch of the day.

It was established in the reign of George III to account for his, and his family's activities. There was some criticism that they didn't seem to be doing much so he arranged for The Times to publish the list each day and that has continued ever since.

The Times, and I believe at least two other papers - The Telegraph and one in Scotland - publish in their print editions the CC on weekdays but not public holidays or weekends.

The online CC was very good until the updated the website last year and now it regularly misses weeks at a time (this year, for instance, there are at least 240 engagements not recorded in the online CC that are in the print editions - based on the 'missing days' on the online CC. I would like to add that last year they missed a week in July that they finally put up in late November so who knows - with the summer holidays someone may even take the time to put up the missing days from February, May, June and July this year).

Then again

 

[cepe]

Just a question, how accurate is the Court Circular? Is it kept up to date with all of the official engagements?

The Court Circular is accurate and is published in the Times daily except on Sundays. Any activities for Sat and Sun are published on Monday.

What is not accurate is the maintenance of the CC on the royal website.

If the CC says Charles flew from Wick airport to Belgium and back, then he did.

 

[DeeT]

Thanks for all of the explanations. I've occasionally looked at the CC on the Royal website and thought sometimes it seemed not up-to-date, however I wondered if perhaps I hadn't searched correctly.

 

[Blog Real]

Charles and Camilla's superyacht summer holiday
Prince Charles and Camilla on Greek tycoon's superyacht | Daily Mail Online

 

[DanyT]

There were pictures of Charles and Camilla in Corfu last week. Does this mean Charles flew to Scotland from Corfu, then to Belgium, then back to Scotland, then back to Corfu? How odd

 

[Ish]

Yes.

It's not actually odd - BRF policy is that they don't mix personal vacations with official trips - they can't fly from an official trip to a vacation, or vis versa. By adding Scotland into the mix, Charles is going from vacation (Corfu) home (Scotland), then from home to an official trip (Belgium); from there he goes back home again, before going on vacation.

Last fall Harry made the misstep of sidetracking to Toronto on his way home from the Caribbean, which received a lot of criticism from the press (both because it violated official policy and because KP had said previously that Harry would not be doing that).

 

[DeeT]

It does seem strange though, as it seems to support wasting time, money and contributing adversely to the environment just for a potentially outdated policy. The policy supports 'downtime' during an official engagement, but not downtime after.

 

[Spheno]

There were pictures of Charles and Camilla in Corfu last week. Does this mean Charles flew to Scotland from Corfu, then to Belgium, then back to Scotland, then back to Corfu? How odd

It's old pictures. Prince Charles returned in Scotland and had few engagements there. Corfu trip was short.

 

[DanyT]

It's old pictures. Prince Charles returned in Scotland and had few engagements there. Corfu trip was short.

That's what I thought. It makes more sense for the yacht pictures to be from last week.

 

[Ish]

It does seem strange though, as it seems to support wasting time, money and contributing adversely to the environment just for a potentially outdated policy. The policy supports 'downtime' during an official engagement, but not downtime after.

I don't disagree with it being silly and a bit frivolous, but there's a logic to it that makes it not entirely outdated.

Flying to Belgium means he's on the Crown's time and the Crown's dollar (or pound).

Flying to Corfu means he's on his time and his dollar.

In flying from Corfu to Scotland, then Scotland to Belgium, he's ensuring that there is a separation of expenses. It might ultimately all come out of the same pocket, but it's about appearances.

The issue isn't whether or not members of the BRF are allowed to go on vacation, or have "downtime", but rather that there is a clear separation between official work and vacation.

I'd add too that the downtime on official trips is somewhat different - a member of the BRF taking a day "off" while on a weeklong trip overseas is seen as acceptable because they're on a long trip. You don't typically see days off on trips that are shorter.

 

[cepe]

There were pictures of Charles and Camilla in Corfu last week. Does this mean Charles flew to Scotland from Corfu, then to Belgium, then back to Scotland, then back to Corfu? How odd

HE has carried out engagements in Scotland this week. I suspect that he's still in Scotland.