Born to Be King: Prince Charles on Planet Windsor

Meyer's thesis is Charles' life has been a constant drive to create harmony out of the dissonances of his life, reconciling his antique position in a modern worlld; his sense of inadequacy admidst unparalleled privilege; his wealth and influence with his mandate to serve the poor and powerless; his struggle to balance public vs private life; his need to use the media while protecting himself from it. In trying to make sense of Charles' life, Meyer walked that tightrope herself--she set out to evaluate the prince objectively but accepted an enormous amount of help from his establishment. Charles granted her extraordinary access, engaged in many interviews with the author, assisted her in interviewing his personal friends (notably Emma Thompson) and his professional associates. The Prince even was permitted to read and comment upon drafts of the manuscript.In addition to my suspicion of Meyer's objectivity, I approached the book as a Diana partisan and a confirmed meritocrat. I'm not a fan of Charles, never have been. While I'm fascinated by royalty, I'm no monarchist.Of the hundreds of books and articles I've read about the British Royal Family, this is the most balanced. I believe Charles' support and involvement may have softened Meyer's criticism of the prince, but she does criticize him. She explains his sincere good-hearted motives behind his controversial acts and details the harm he's done, exploring his myopathy, his mistakes, his failures. She has a tendency to treat Diana harshly, but remember, I am a Diana partisan and therefore may be extra sensitive to any perceived criticism of her.I come away from the book with a changed view of its subject. I now see him as more human and more sympathetic, a fairly ordinary man who has been trying to find personal happiness and fulfillment by using his bizarre circumstances to improve the lot of others. A noble goal, that, and worthy. He's had some great success. Despite Meyer's "Planet Windsor" device, Charles is no alien. He's just a man, with a man's failings and weaknesses. He's smart, but not as smart as he thinks he is. He's a bit of a hypocrite--while urging us to understand the Islamic world's view of the West he fails to extend the same understanding toward modernism in art and architecture. His embrace of organic farming and his rejection of industrial agriculture necessarily clash with his desire to see the end of hunger and his belief in homeopathy undermines his work in public health. His ideas are often sophisticated, nuanced, but his ability to communicate same is worse than ham-fisted.In the end, I see him as a man worthy of respect, but not trust. Vive la république.

This is a very informative book, especially for Americans who tend to think of him as hopelessly without normal understanding, emotions or any care for poor Diana. It is written by an American who still is an Editor for Time Magazine. The first surprise is how active he is on charities he has created for poor communities, special organizations helping those who cannot work because they lack job skills, to attain those skills. He has espoused the view of climate change long before the world caught up as is the case of organic food. He has revived whole villages by teaching them how to make themselves into tourist attractions. In short, he works hard everyday doing amazing things for the UK.In the case of his personal life, this is an honest book that shows Charles and Diana, I think, for who they were. Two people who were profoundly damaged by family circumstances, but damaged in different ways. Charles, childhood is well known,, his mother becoming Queen when he was tiny, gone for months on end. His father was and is an amazing man himself, but formal and believing in tough love. So he grew up lacking self assurance and craving approval. Diana, was, along with her siblings, abandoned by her mother.....So she craved emotional attention, lots of hugs, and demonstrative affection. His parents did not do public display of emotion. He simply did not know that was expected.The book does not overlook the mistakes of either person, so it is very interesting on a personal level.The book tries and I think succeeds in describing to us who the man is as objectively as possible. It is not an "authorized biography". In the end, though I came away admiring him and feeling for him in the matter of his own blunders in the breakup with Diana. The one very heartening piece that comes out of the book is how he has achieved a terrific relationship with his sons. Their mother's death was a perfect storm for the boys to resent and blame him for her death. But he achieved a miracle in helping them through her death, encouraging them to talk about her to him any time they wanted to and to go and be with her family as well. It worked fantastically well.If you are interested in the British monarchy,, do read this book.

Prince Charles is a man who would in any circumstances prove hard to decode.He is fascinating but flawed as we all are.He is the product of an upbringing set apart, conditioned to be different,born to be king,he actually aims much higher.He has set his sights on nothing less than improving the human condition and devotes much time and effort trying to fix our battered world..This book is based on exclusive interviews with members of Charles's inner circle and on rare access to the Prince himself.This revelatory biography takes you deep into the royal sphere and provides a clear-eyed view of Charles's struggles and his achievements as a philanthropist and activist.The book reminds me of a poem by A.W.Edgar O'Shaughnessy:We are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams,Wandering by lone sea-breakers and sitting by desolate streams,World-losers and world-forsakers,upon whom the pale moon gleams;Yet,we are the movers and shakers,of the world forever,it seems.......