Review: We Are Most Amused

The Prince of Wales has spent more than 30 years pursuing his own agenda – but he gets little pleasure from it. As he prepares for his 60th birthday tomorrow, he has said that he enjoys only “bits” of his job, but does it because he feels that he must.

He also disclosed that he will have to drop most of his campaigning when he becomes King, although he hopes that his sons will take up some of his causes on his behalf.

This insight into the impulses and aspirations of the heir to the throne – now the oldest Prince of Wales in history – came in a fly-on-the-wall documentary on the Prince shown on BBC One last night, A Passionate Prince.

Asked whether he enjoyed his job, he replied: “Well I don’t know. Bits of it. It is something that I feel I must do – to help as many other people as I possibly can in this country.”

For a “passionate Prince” – and one who has risked ridicule for decades as he pursued an environmental and alternative agenda long before it became part of mainstream thinking – it was a remarkably passionless answer. It was also reminiscent of his reply when, on becoming engaged to Diana Spencer, he was asked if he was in love, and said: “Whatever that means”.

His attempt to answer some of the great challenges of his life, including whether he will continue campaigning after he ascends the throne, came in a setpiece interview at the heart of the documentary, a portrayal of the Prince in his 60th year and his devotion to the causes that he has made his own, including climate change, community architecture, sustainable farming and youth deprivation.

What, he was asked, will happen to his charities when he is no longer the Prince? “You are asking a hypothetical question because I have no idea,” he told Robert Hardman, the interviewer. “These things have to be dealt with when they are dealt with. It would be nice if some things are taken on by my sons, but it depends on their interests.”

Would he continue campaigning on his big themes – raising issues, bringing people together, using what he calls his “convening power” – once he is King?

“Probably not in the same way,” he said. “I would like to think that perhaps after all this people might realise that some of the things I’ve been trying to do are not all mad and I still have some convening power that can be brought to good use.”

As viewers watched him grapple with questions he has never fully answered, he and the Duchess were enjoying the light relief of a comedy gala in aid of the Prince’s Trust, We Are Most Amused. The show, at the New Wimbledon Theatre, starred Robin Williams – who this month has returned to the British stage for the first time in 27 years – Rowan Atkinson and Bill Bailey. Introduced by John Cleese and Phillip Schofield, the gala also featured Joan Rivers, Michael McIntyre and Omid Djalili, and guest appearances by Chris Tarrant and Fern Britton.

If the Prince feels that too often his efforts go unappreciated – “If you want a quieter life, lock me up!” he joked to one audience in the film (which, incidentally, lasted 90 minutes without a single mention of Diana, Princess of Wales, or even any significant contribution by the Duchess of Cornwall) – then at least on the eve of his birthday he received some kind words for his efforts from his mother.

Visiting the Prince’s Trust headquarters in London, the Queen described how “enormously proud” she was of her son’s contribution to the charity he set up more than 30 years ago. “Countless lives have been transformed by the Prince’s Trust, to which the Prince of Wales has brought vision and conviction,” she said.

60th celebrations

— After last night’s comedy gala, the Prince of Wales’s 60th birthday celebrations proper begin tonight with a reception held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, where there will be a concert for 400 guests including crowned heads of Europe, politicians and celebrities. Afterwards there will be a dinner forthe Royal Family, their overseas cousins and friends.

— Rod Stewart will sing at a second party, at Highgrove on Saturday night. About 100 guests have been invited, including celebrity friends such as Meera Syal, Jilly Cooper and Edward Fox. Kate Middleton and Chelsy Davy, girlfriends of Princes William and Harry, will also be there.

— In between parties, the Prince, who combines a reputation for extravagance with an unwavering sense of duty, will spend his actual birthday working. He will attend a Prince’s Trust event in the East End of London and then make a speech at a concert for children at the Royal Opera House organised by The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.

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