Prince of Wales reaches new milestone in a lifetime in which he has become known as both meddler and visionary

“At last!” the actor playing the prince mutters to the camera in the BBC’s inventive, and divisive, drama King Charles III, evoking the perception that the longest serving Prince of Wales was desperate for the crown.

He turns 70 next week, but Prince Charles is yet to begin the job for which he has spent a lifetime preparing. Even he sees humour in this. At a banquet for former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in a discussion about how the two had reached conventional retirement age, Charles said: “I do hope yours is going to be a bit more realistic than mine!” There was a pause, an arching of the princely eyebrow, and … cue, uproarious laughter.

“He has had the longest preparation anyone could possibly have and we will all be the beneficiaries of it,” Lord Sacks told the Guardian. “But hopefully not too soon because we wish the Queen a long life.”

Those around Charles detect no sign of any “at last” sentiment. It is not that he does, or does not, aspire to be king. Charles sees the role of sovereign as something one is, not something one does. Like those before him, one occupies that space – for however long or short a time.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince of Wales with the Queen and his growing family at Buckingham Palace. Photograph: James Devaney/FilmMagic

Heirs, high aims and hard work

At 70, he has secured the succession, through “No 1 son” and “No 2 son”, as he jokingly calls the dukes of Cambridge and Sussex. He is a grandfather. He is, once again, a husband.

Through his philanthropic work he already has an assured legacy, though some believe he, perhaps, aspires higher. “Saving the world?” joked one, who has studied at close quarters a prince who has said he constantly seeks to heal things, whether they be “the soil, the landscape or the soul”.

So, there is no let up. He is an early riser. Breakfast, alas, does not proffer a choice of seven eggs boiled to varying consistencies, as once claimed, and which has entered the annals as an example of a pampered prince. The story appears to have originated from an incident when his Highgrove cook had to re-time her egg boiling as Charles’s hunting party was running late.

At his desk by 8.45am, he works through letters in his box of correspondence until 10am if he has diary engagements, or until lunchtime if not. Lunchtime is a misnomer. He does not eat lunch. Instead, if at one of his many homes – and the Duchy of Cornwall provides a lavish lifestyle by any standards – he will enjoy a walk so brisk aides rarely keep up.

He returns to his desk until 5pm, with a break for tea, then more work carries him through to 8pm and a good dinner, with regular meat-free days. Firing off up to 10 postprandial memos keeps him occupied until midnight. He is known to fall asleep at his desk, waking up with notes stuck to his face. Written in black ink, sometimes annotated in red, and liberally seasoned with underlinings and exclamation marks, there is, it is said, passion on the page.

The Guardian’s successful long-running legal action to publicly disclose some of this content revealed the zeal with which he promotes his causes. But, as his biographer Catherine Mayer noted in Charles: Heart of a King: “Only a small number of spidery memos have crawled into the public domain, a fraction of his voluminous output.” He, as do other senior royals, enjoys stringent protection under Freedom of Information legislation.

Everywhere Charles goes, his box goes too. Containing correspondence, he delves in when time allows, even while strapped into a cramped seat on a five-propeller plane. A notepad goes everywhere too, for scribblings as thoughts occur – be it about acute oak decline, Grenfell Tower or AI. Those notes then appear in the in trays of busy aides and ad hoc advisers.

“I don’t know many people who, after dinner, go back to their desks,” said Patrick Holden, an organic farmer, activist, founder of Sustainable Food Trust, and long-standing friend of the prince. “He’s incredibly disciplined. I have almost never travelled with him when he hasn’t been, within minutes of the journey commencing, at his box and his letters. We are so lucky to have an heir to the throne who is so deeply concerned about environmental and sustainability issues.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince of Wales speaking at Our Ocean conference in Malta. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Meddler or motivator?

Known as a meddler, or as Charles prefers, a motivator and “convenor of power”, his opinions are well known on subjects including climate change, alternative medicine, GM, architecture and sustainable agriculture.

His speeches, over five decades, run to two thick volumes. His “black spider memos”, dispatched to ministers, business leaders, and others of influence, have heightened concerns about him being an “activist king”.

Charles feels duty-bound to pass on concerns raised to him, it is said, but laughs at the idea he could write a letter and have policies changed on the hoof. “Frequently I’ve written letters to people that pay no attention at all,” he has said.

Others, however, appear to have paid a great deal of attention, including, it has been claimed, the Qataris over Chelsea Barracks. The architect Lord Rogers, who was subsequently sacked from the multibillion-pound housing project proposed for the site after a “prince-to-prince” intervention in 2009, has claimed Charles “single-handedly destroyed this project”.

“He’s not a lobbyist: not the nature of the man,” said Holden. “Of course, we know he’s got views. You can have a view, but you can act impartially. And you can be impeccable in the way you deal with situations where it could be perceived to be a conflict. And I think he’s an impeccable person in that respect. And I don’t think he crosses the line.”

Charles’s greatest frustration is when people think he cannot, or will not, differentiate between the roles of sovereign and Prince of Wales. Supporters draw on the analogy of a lawyer stepping up to become a judge: it requires an entirely different way of approaching the same set of circumstances. Asked if he would remain outspoken, Charles said this week in a BBC documentary: “I’m not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.”

Yet others appreciate why there might be such concern. “I would think that Downing Street is very happy that these recent years, and current months, of Brexit, will be processed through the Queen rather than a more interventionist Prince Charles,” concludes the author and historian Robert Lacey. Geoffrey Robertson QC, a leading constitutional lawyer, once warned that in the case of an “activist king”, democratic transparency would require the publication of a transcript of weekly audiences with prime ministers under the Freedom of Information Act.

“I think he would be a safe king now, but I don’t think perhaps, that could have been said 20 years ago,” said Lacey.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall on a visit to Poundbury. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Charity begins at one’s home

In early September, in the Tapestry Room at Dumfries House, the Palladian mansion Charles saved through a consortium in 2007 for £45m, the Great Grand Steward – one of Charles’s many titles – is resplendent in kilt, hose and sporran. Tapping his foot in time to a brace of bagpipers, he chats to his black tie dinner guests; a mixture of benefactors and charity bosses. They also include a select group of journalists, invited to view the latest of Charles’s charitable ventures. Those endeavours first began 42 years ago with the Prince’s Trust, which has since helped more than 900,000 young people train for careers and find work.

Its Flemish tapestries and priceless Chippendale collection impeccably restored at considerable expense, its walls a mosaic of portraits and landscapes, Dumfries House nestles in a 2,000-acre estate on the outskirts of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, an old mining town.

Paying visitors can tour the house, while the grounds are free to roam. Now the beating heart of the Prince’s Foundation, Charles has created workshops in traditional arts and crafts; educational facilities for schools; a rare breeds farm; a walled vegetable garden and the first royal maze in 300 years. A newly restored open-air swimming pool and town hall (saved from demolition when bought for £1) in New Cumnock,are part of the project which now employs more than 200 local people.

Like Poundbury, his traditionalist town near Dorchester, it reflects the aesthetic ideals of a prince who spares no expense surrounding himself with beauty. Its regenerative ambitions are admirable even though, as with some other of his projects, they could be seen as small-scale, expensive solutions to much larger problems.

Such dinners are hosted by Charles, as a thank you to generous donors to his charities, even though, occasionally, they throw up “cash for access” and “rent-a-royal” claims. In 2016, it emerged that wealthy businessmen had been asked to pay up to £100,000 each to his charitable foundation before their invitations were confirmed to gala dinners at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Clarence House was forced to issue a rapid clarification, pointing out the invites had been “erroneously” sent out by a “third party” without officials’ knowledge.

You cannot buy the Prince of Wales, but he will thank you for your money in some style.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Prince of Wales speaks at the United Nations Climate Summit in 2015. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

Perils of princely pronouncements

Some believe, and there is evidence the prince inclines to this view himself, that whatever he does, he is criticised. “Potty this and potty that, loony this and loony that,” he once grumbled in frustration and bewilderment.

His significant birthday has led to further biographies, adding yet more layers of alleged pottiness in their portrayals of a pampered prince living in a hermetically sealed world. His travelling toilet seat is a case in point. His sister Princess Anne once gave him the lavatorial aide as a Christmas present, in the Windsor spirit of giving each other frivolous gifts. On unwrapping it, Charles may indeed have playfully pledged to “take it with me everywhere I go”. But there is scant evidence he meant this literally.

According to one biographer, when staying as a guest with friends, he has taken with him such items as his bed, bedside table, Scottish landscapes to adorn the walls and his own food.

There is ample photographic evidence that he travels with his own cushion, due to a bad back, and he has been known on occasion to bring his own orthopaedic mattress. Often, when attending receptions, he brings his own pre-mixed martini, said to be for security reasons.

Does the constant drip of criticism affect him? “I think he feels it because he’s quite a sensitive man, but he’s also got a lot of courage, and fortitude, said Holden, a friend for more than three decades.

The paper-thin skin, which earned him the nickname “Prince of Wails”, does appear to be thickening with age. He’s almost bullish now, with those close to him believing he uses criticism as a driver.

Yet his public pronouncements have consequences. In 1984, when he attacked a proposed extension of the National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend”, the fallout was significant. “It was very wounding and not justified. It closed down debate and was destructive of individual careers,” Sunand Prasad, a former president of the Royal Institute for British Architects (Riba), has said.

There appears to have been some rapprochement. The current Riba president, Ben Derbyshire, welcomes the prince’s “steadfast support championing community architecture, sustainable development and self-build – all critical issues for a better built environment”.

“I’ve personally worked with his Prince’s Trust and his foundation for architecture and the Islamic arts, seeing that contribution first-hand,” added Derbyshire.

Sacks regards Charles’s many speeches on faith, including on better understanding between Islam and the west, which he first made in 1992, as an example of a man “who deeply, deeply values faith, and understands how much it means to different communities”.

His supporters proclaim him “visionary”, having warned about plastic waste in 1970 and championed organic farming before it became more mainstream. Beyond David Attenborough, no one else has had the national and international platform for so long on such issues, they argue.

“He’s been miles ahead of the curve,” said Holden. “He’s intuitive. He’s a deep thinker. He’s one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met.”

But Charles’s enthusiasm for homeopathy and alternative medicines has been less well-received, with concerns that royal championing could prove harmful. “Does the Prince advocate untested and dangerous alternative medical therapies?” reads one loaded FAQ on the prince’s official website. “Not at all” is the answer, which adds that Charles is a “keen advocate of integrated healthcare” but only if protected by a “sound regulatory environment” and the support of the NHS.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall married in 2005. Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

What the future holds

Charles admits he “made it up as he went along” throughout his years as Prince of Wales. “He set off, in royal terms, with quite radical and ambitious goals, which I think he has achieved,” said Lacey.

“Abdication” and “regency” are, apparently, not in the current Windsor lexicon. Yet, as the Queen’s pace inevitably slows – she carried out 296 royal engagements in 2017 to Charles’s 546 – and with his father’s retirement, Charles’s workload has increased.

His official overseas visits – most recently to the Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria – are quasi-state visits. With the Duchess of Cornwall, he attended the state opening of parliament. He was the Queen’s consort during the recent state visit by Dutch royals. He consults more than ever with William, keenly aware that the two will help shape the monarchy for future decades.

Persistent commentary over whether he should succeed as the head of the Commonwealth was in effect silenced when the Queen in April declared it her “sincere wish”. Two days later, Commonwealth leaders declared it their wish too. It was “unanimous”, said the prime minister, Theresa May. An alternative view of leaders “backed into a corner” was offered by Graham Smith of the campaign group Republic.

Lacey believes Charles has as “incredibly distinguished record” as Prince of Wales, but risks tarnishing it should he declare Camilla be known as queen on his accession, rather than Princess Consort, as announced when they married.

Clarence House has made no further comment on Camilla’s intended title since. But Lacey believes the issue could cause “an enormous controversy that will overshadow his accession and, to some degree, the passing of the Queen”.

“We’ve had a Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for decades. What’s the problem with a King and Duchess of Cornwall or Rothesay or some other special title devised to honour Camilla, short of queen?” Lacey said. “I think people would actually respond very positively to that.”

He said if Charles insisted on the title of queen for Camilla, “he will be reviving all the troubles, all the negative side, every mistake he has made; it will be embodied there beside him, with a crown on top of her head”.