What a good speech. I agree with Prince Charles wholeheartedly, I never thought I'd say that! Seriously, I do! What I am wondering is how you de-rationalize life at this stage? To change direction is possible, but to undo what has been done will take generations, if we have that long.

Paul, Carlow, Ireland

I beg to differ with HRH.
The fundamental schism with nature first ocurred when we invented agriculture around 11,000 years ago. Had that not happened our species could have continued as hunter-gatherers alongside the rest of the planet and stayed within the concept of a harmonious 'Eden' forever.

Babel801, London, UK

HRH is right again... All terribly sensible stuff.

thom, london,

Yes, amen to almost everything said in the speech. let us hope, though, that His Highness will practice what he preaches!

Nicholas Jones, Swansea, UK

I dont understand why some people are so negative about Prince Charles. I find him often to be very sympathic, and his personal views intelligent and sensible. Stop bullying the man.

Kara, Paris, France

God, some of you Brits are so bitter you can't admit that the man makes perfect since

John, atlanta, USA

I share every word of Prince Charles´ article. How wise, deep and passionate. I envy you British, for having in him one of your greatest assets. Pity he seems sometimes not to be appreciated as he would deserve.

Katia, Modena, Italy

The Buddha proved that man transcends his body, but then sought to escape Creation. Western Mystics, imbued with the wisdom of the Kabbalah, consider Earth and it's contents as the Fruit of Creation. Our purpose? To align our thoughts with the Creative Intelligence that lies behind everything. LVX.

Chris, London,

The villagers living near me in Izmir long to escape from the daily grind of struggling with 'nature' to a modern box with all mod cons in the city. This is progress and the chance to have a life with slightly less drudgery involved. Of course, there is a flow of expat retired in the other direction

jane, Izmir, Turkey

Now that he has written his little essay perhaps he will now shut up - anyone else writing such self-important claptrap wouldn't be given the space.

Carol , Konstanz, Germany

Ahh... Harmony... Where everyone knows their place, with the King and the Aristocracy on top and the pesty peasants doing their daily chores without "modern technology".. What an idyllic image... - except for those 99% who will be peasants..

Adrian, London, UK

More half-baked philosophy I see.

I should love him to explain what restoring 'Harmony' actually means in practical terms and whether this will include him (and his fellow parasites) refraining from living a life of luxury at the taxpayers' great expense.

Daniel, Belfast,

Yes, instead of only looking at GNP league tables, we could look at environmental league tables.
Maybe Prince Charles could set up a 'County Environmental League tables'? maybe for different things, e.g. renewable energy, sustainable farming, as a start. Per Capita Sustainable.

Hugo van Randwyck, London, UK

Our numbers have already outstripped the ability of the planet to support us. We hear that the race needs 3 planets to sustain present consumption. The Prince doesn't need telling, but most people do; we don't have 3 planets, just the 1. And there are at least 1000 times too many people on it.

Steve, London,

Prince Charles talks a lot of sense here. We may however need some technological fixes and GM crops, but only because we have already pushed things so much further than the planet can naturally sustain.

Charles as King could air views such as these without involving himself in party politics.

Dr Richard Milne, Edinburgh,

Charles fights a straw man called modernism (or logical positivism, really): a harsh, Spock-like, unrealistic stereotype of the application of logic, which lost credibility and went extinct about 50 years ago. He falsely equates it with rationality, and is drawn to mysticism as a result.

_Felix, Nottingham,

'When the last river has dried, the last tree has been cut and the last fish has been fished, people will realize money cannot be eaten.'

Steve Wilson, Halifax, UK

Yes, thoughtful, erudite & full of sound common sense. If it had been published anonymously I wonder what Bob, Peter & John would have said? The West has lost its soul & sense of family/community. China has not gone down that route. Community is still a very strong bond in all housing 'estates.'

Bill, Suzhou, China

"Balance" is not really an inherent quality, it arises as a result of the tension between demand and available resources. However, I take the Prince's point - we impose mechanistic concepts onto organic systems - the land, ourselves - and thereby injure them.

Greg, Northampton, UK

Prince Charles is right.

The reality is disturbing, the world has lost a third of farmable land in the last fifty years while the population has exploded.

How much will be left in another fifty years as the population of the world rapidly multiplies and people fight for dwindling resources?

Emily, dublin, ireland

Mike & Paola, missed the point i am afraid. you may have a mortgage but doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the failure of the system ur obviously up to your neck in. theres no chastising, just an attempt to shift perceptions. life isn't meant to be like this. cogs in a machine that works against you

Harry , London,

Most of the comments so far seem to be attacking the man, his ancestors, or his wealth, rather than the ideas. This is what is truly GCSE-like about this particular blog.

Meurgen, London,

His Majesty says: "Biology shows that in all living things there is a natural tendency towards Harmony". Actually, in all living things there is a natural tendency towards survival, even if at the expense of all others. Funnily enough, modern life often reflects this really well.

Ron, Brisbane, Australia

I suppose when your a family of 4 living on £20000 per year, you don't really have time to worry about "harmony". You're normally worried about how you pay the bills, put food on the table and how secure your job is.

However, His Royal Infallableness would know about these things would he?

Brian Brown, London, UK

Ken, no-one in Britain would be able to do that on 1000 acres, not just 100, as farming has become completely unprofitable. His Royal Highness did however lead the way in organic and more environmentally friendly methods of farming on a larger scale and turn it into a massively successful business!

Tom, London,

What a laugh! Acquisition and consumption of material things was fine for the ancestors eh YRH? Just a shame the proles wanted in on the act too! Divest some of your material wealth and maybe you could write with a bit more authority.

Kieran, London, London

This diatribe comes from the latest scion of a family who devastated the natural resources of the British Isles in order to build the most global and divisive empire in recorded history.

Get out of your garden without your bodyguards and see what nature is really like - then start preaching.

KR, Stockport,

There's no harmony in nature, creatures don't aim to create balance.
They reproduce, exploit, kill, eat and die more selfishly than we do. What other species would save another?
It's survival of the fittest that creates the 'harmony'.
Let us live like animals and we'd all die before 35.

John, London,

So that’s what it looks like from way up there.
Meanwhile back on planet earth it still takes a nomad woman about a year to make a rug large enough to sleep on.

joe, London mostly,

My student son, a country boy, brings city girls home in the hols. But getting them outside in fields and hills is a no no. If there isn't a pavement or something 'made' to tread on then confidence crumbles. We also need to shovel coal and pump water. He now brings tough D of E girls home instead.

Colin, Carmarthen, Wild Wales

can you please the phrases

a) grammar of harmony

b)inner nature

c)organic order of things

the author may be correct in his assertions. but until he communicates them in straightforward, clear language, he will seem as disconnected from reality as the rest of us apparently are from nature.

aaron, oxford,

I hope that Prince Charles can change his position with regard to the constitution as he suggests. There is a lot to do and HRH has the enthusiasm and the ability to do it. An active critical monarch would put a firework under the establishment like nothing else. I look forward to him becoming King.

Colin, Carmarthen, United Kingdom

Modernism? Why not call the horse by its name and admit that is is the Christinan idea of dominion over nature, that has led to our disconnectedness from it.

Margarete Kell, Schweisweiler, Germany

I personally believe that money is the modern curse which divides us from Nature. Money has created the terrible society we see today as governments and businesses are more concerned with profit than with efficiceny or sustainability.

Profit is more important than helping people in this world

Martin, York, U.K.

I guess you can be ideological if everything in life is laid out on a platter for you...interesting academic musings.

richard sullivan, chislehurst, kent

I am disappointed by the Times giving this individual space. Is ANYONE consuming more than the Prince of Wales? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Gina, Guernsey, Channel Islands

I agree with Charlie's analysis of the problem, but don't see much by way of concrete suggestions as to how it can be redressed.

Give him 100 acres of land and let him and Camilla run it as a farm for five years, depending entirely on it for their income.

Then he can write another article.

Ken A. Biss, Espoo, Finland

Sir, English suspicion of The Enlightenment (from Edmund Burke's reaction to the American and French revolutions) determines your perspective. The rest of the world sees nature's constant state of war, whilst science brings us civilisation. (2) You consume more than most. (3) Tradition favours you.

Mark, Chichester, West Sussex, England

If Charles wrote more often it would be good. About specifics, and solutions. He could not list them, in this speech, was wise not to try, but this is a bit abstract. A policy level not a program level speech. Good luck Charles!

Tom O'Farrell, Sarnia, Canada

I believe what Prince Charles is saying is right, and if we dismiss what he says the consequences will be dire.

David, kings lynn, uk

Idealogical and utopian viewpoint from the ivory towers , an essay to impress the undergraduate`s tutor.

As a man on the Clapham omnibus my current concerns are my job, mortgage , energy costs and generally getting through the next day , week or month without suffering further dismay.

mike, London,

Nice article but ,for all his good intentions, it comes from the heir to the throne who lives perhaps THE most privileged of lives. To chastise lesser mortals for their 'consumerism' is rich for a man who consumes plenty and has a minion to squeeze his toothpaste onto the brush and do his shoelaces!

Paola, Milan, Italy

Why is it that people mst focus on the the circumstances on the person who has said this rather than than the substance of what is said.

charles, melbourne,

I don't think the human race is successful or inteligent. We are on a course to self destruction no other species on earth is having this debate.

A kids film i know but has anyone seen Wall-E, not my idea of fun.

Andy, chesterfield, england

Bob, petermckenna and John Collins all miss the point to try to make cheap shots based on a small-minded and ill-thought-out resentment of the monarchy.
This is a well-argued piece about huge challenges that face us all.

Judet, Melbourne, Australia

Superb! At last we have someone who can speak not only with authority, but with experience and widsom.

The problem is that even the ecological movement has seen 'saving the planet' as a means of 'preserving' the status quo, rather than changing our mindset. This, at last, is different.

Richard Thomas, Wells, UK

John Collins from Eastbourne, what a small minded response to what is actually a sound and extremely well written article. Do you not get it?

Alex Hayesmore, London,

Agreed with the sentiment, not the practicality. As a species, homo sapiens is too successful. Our numbers will at some point outstrip the ability of the planet to support us. Modernism and consumerism are the only known ways of sustaining world economies until the "resource crunch" bites.

Dwight Vandryver, Scholar Green, UK

i just dont think you can stop this its already out of control

Tony, melbourne, australia

All this claptrap from a man, and his family, who go out and shoot birds for fun?

John Collins, Eastbourne, East Sussex

A good GCSE general studies essay.

peter mckenna, liverpool,

Charles's belief in "harmony" is fine - provided it goes all the way through society so that extremes of wealth and position are evened out. Monarchy is the ultimate disharmony. Charles, follow through with your ideas and bring about a harmonious republic when you take over.

Bob, London,