MANDEL: With Charles as king, the magic is gone

content of the article

With sincere apologies to his beloved late mother, King Charles III. be hard to sell.

content of the article

Elizabeth II was my queen. She was the steadfast, elegant, dignified grandmother of our lives, worthy of our respect and admiration, and for many of us, our love. A symbol of leadership and selflessness, she kept silent about politics and never lost sight of her personal weaknesses.

content of the article

Not so her son.

The man-turned-King of Canada has a messy history that’s hard to overlook for some of us with long memories: He’s a divorced adulterer who is the naïve mother of his heir and surrogate with his old flame, and now Queen Consort, Camilla, treated shabbily.

Oh yes, that.

Old story? Maybe, but the deception of it all still burns and says a lot about his character. The ‘fairytale wedding’ was a sham from the start as Charles married a virgin Lady Diana Spencer knowing full well that his heart belonged to the married Camilla Parker-Bowles. Even on his honeymoon, Charles called her. While Diana slept in her Highgrove bedroom, he reportedly snuck off on a midnight romp that left grass stains on his pajamas.

content of the article

As coal-eyed Diana complained to television audiences years later: “There were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowded.”

Diana was hardly a saint, but she was poor Girls never stood a chance against the unfortunate duo. What faithful subject can erase the memory of their phone sex conversation in which married Charles gushed about his wish to be reincarnated as Camilla’s tampon?

So although it’s been a quarter of a century since Diana died in that Paris tunnel at the age of 36, her spirit still lingers – no matter how determined and largely successful the royal courtiers were in making us all forget. The carefully crafted PR campaign for the inclusion has been waged for decades, with the late Queen herself giving her her final seal of approval earlier this year when she told her subjects it was her “sincere desire” that their heir’s second wife be the “Queen.”

content of the article

The adulterer should now be my queen and live happily ever after in the castle promised to Diana? No, that’s one London Bridge too far, thank you.

The controversy doesn’t end here. There were accusations of racism from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their explosive Oprah interview. Charles’ office vehemently denied that he was the “nameless king” who questioned the color of his future grandchildren’s skin.

But what they cannot deny is that there is now a serious rift between father and younger son, although his words yesterday – “I would also like to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives abroad” – could have been an attempt at an olive branch.

content of the article

Is a ailing Charles unqualified to be king? Maybe not. Perhaps his subjects can better identify with a sovereign who is flawed and does not dwell on the unrealistic royal pedestal on which his beloved mother stood.

But I do not think so. The magic of the monarchy lay in its secret – and there is no secret when it comes to this man ascending the throne.

According to Reuters, his critics consider him “weak, vain, disruptive and ill-equipped for the role of sovereign.” He is said to be above politics but is known to often meddle in government affairs as he champions his diverse causes.

In his favor he has had plenty of time to promote many worthy charities and was ahead of the curve on the issues of organic farming and the dangers of climate change.

The new king’s greatest hope is that as sovereign he would have an exemplary mentor and tutor on hand for most of his 73 years. In his first televised address, Charles honored his late mother’s legacy and vowed to follow her example through a lifetime of service of loyalty, respect and love.

I wish him the best of luck, of course. But loyal as a loyal subject? No, he’s not my king at all.

[email protected]