In defence of Charles
Sir: As a former full-time member of the Prince of Wales’s office, and a part-time equerry for 20 years, I can identify with some of HRH’s interests, just like Geoffrey Wheatcroft (‘How to save the monarchy’, 9 April). In my case we share a passion for churches and other historic buildings. I also share some of Mr Wheatcroft’s frustrations — the chaos of the prince’s office has at times driven me to distraction. As the product of a Yorkshire grammar school, I have never considered myself part of any ‘Highgrove set’: the prince calls me ‘Matthew’, and I call him ‘Sir’.
But Mr Wheatcroft is wrong to assert that the prince’s passionate interest in diverse and sometimes controversial topics should somehow debar him from becoming our next king. What the prince manages to do time and time again is identify issues of enormous long-term importance and of great concern to many of our fellow citizens which the democratic process fails to address.
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