THE Prince of Wales has admitted that he is a “nuisance” in public life but, despite his often controversial views, insists that he has never meddled in party politics.

Prince Charles, speaking in his first full-length television interview for 12 years, makes the admission to Sir Trevor McDonald in a programme to be broadcast this Tuesday.

Since the public exposure of his lobbying of ministers and a court case to defend the confidentiality of his journals, Charles has tried to avoid further controversy.

However, a week after the broadcast he will address the World Health Assembly on integrated health in Geneva. Past speakers have included Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft, the US software giant, and Jimmy Carter, the former US president.

Charles makes it clear in the interview, to be broadcast on ITV1, that he is unapologetic about his campaigns. The interview appears in a documentary to mark the 30th anniversary of the Prince’s Trust.

When asked if he acknowledged that some people believe he has been a nuisance over the past 30 years, he answers: “Oh yes, probably.” He also states his reasons: “I mind deeply about this country and the people here.” McDonald this weekend described the tone of the prince in this section as “unapologetic” and said Charles was adamant that he had not meddled in party politics.

He will continue to be in the public eye next weekend at a trust birthday concert at the Tower of London. He will mark this occasion with his first joint interview with his sons William and Harry. It will be conducted by Ant and Dec, the entertainment hosts.

In his last full-length interview, Charles admitted to Jonathan Dimbleby that he had committed adultery. This time he was interviewed by McDonald in Clarence House for more than two hours. An edited version will appear in the 50-minute documentary.

Charles has made controversial interventions in the past on subjects ranging from the vaccination of animals in the outbreak of foot and mouth disease to nanotechnology, genetically modified foods and a reference to Chinese diplomats as “appalling old waxworks”.

McDonald said the prince had been making speeches about the alienation of young Muslims long before other public figures noticed the problem. In the programme Charles says: “We’ve got a great history of tolerance in this country. I still feel that the three great Abrahamic faiths all come from the same root originally. And it’s crazy to be persisting in this continuing misunderstanding.”

In a section on the London bombings, he speaks about the murder of Earl Mountbatten, his great-uncle, by the IRA in 1979. He describes, as well, how the early impetus for the trust, which aims to help disadvantaged young people, came from the Toxteth riots in Liverpool in 1981.

He also says the guiding philosophy of the trust owed a great deal to his schooling at Gordonstoun: “It tried to encourage people to take the initiative, not to sit around expecting other people to do everything.”

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