The Prince of Wales has said he will stop speaking out on issues when he becomes king, saying he is “not that stupid” to continue what some have termed as “meddling”.
Charles has been criticised in the past for his views on topics such as the environment and architecture, but said he recognises being heir to the throne and head of state are two different roles.
You can watch Charles’ interview here
Interviewed for a BBC documentary about his 70th birthday, the prince acknowledged he would not be “able to do the same things I’ve done as heir” and as monarch would have to operate within “constitutional parameters”.
Speaking in detail about his future role as head of state, he said: “You know, I’ve tried to make sure whatever I’ve done has been non-party political, and I think it’s vital to remember there’s only room for one sovereign at a time, not two.
“So, you can’t be the same as the sovereign if you’re the Prince of Wales or the heir.
“But the idea somehow that I’m going to go on in exactly the same way, if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because the two – the two situations – are completely different.”
Asked whether his public campaigning will go on, he added: “No, it won’t. I’m not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign. So of course I understand entirely how that should operate.”
Asked about what some have termed his “meddling”, Charles defended his actions, which include establishing the Prince’s Trust in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people.
He said: “But I always wonder what meddling is. I mean, I always thought it was motivating, but I’ve always been intrigued, if it’s meddling to worry about the inner cities, as I did 40 years ago, and what was happening or not happening there.
“The conditions in which people were living. If that’s meddling I’m very proud of it.”
The documentary captured the future king in private and public, from feeding vegetable scraps to his chickens and collecting their eggs at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire, to visiting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to highlight climate change, and Caribbean islands devastated by a hurricane.
In the film he says of his role as Prince of Wales: “You have to make of it what you feel is right.
“So, there’s nothing laid down, that’s what makes it so interesting, challenging and of course complicated.”
The Duchess of Cornwall describes in the documentary how Charles was driven by the need to help others, adding: “He would like to save the world.”
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