Radical Prince

Many will read this book to discover the man behind the ceremonial mask, the tabloid sleaze, and the hostile criticisms. SMN members will read it because it is by David Lorimer. But once they open it, they will continue reading, not for the sake of the subject, or the author, but for the intrinsic importance of the ideas that it contains. Prince Charles is involved in a large number of philanthropic projects. Some receive polite approval; it is the sort of thing the better Royals are expected to do. Some are the object of polite contempt; too much sympathy with the natural world is a bit "cissy". Some are the subject of vehement criticism: the heir to the throne has no right to criticise established modern architects, orthodox medicine or the agrochemical industry. The interests are too vested and too powerful. As this book shows, the Prince's projects are not just scattered attempts to obtain good will. They are the result of a profound world-view held by a wise and sensitive man who has the power to put some of his ideas into practice. Central to Prince Charles' vision is that we are all part of a great chain of being which envelops all life on this planet. Yet as individuals we are often out of harmony with that great unity, as is the whole of our civilisation. His support for alternative medicine follows from this. Holistic medicine is now fashionable and is even mentioned in academic medical schools. Disease is not now always seen as something to be solved with a pill or a scalpel; today the whole person is seen as needing treatment. The medical charities supported by the Prince have much to do with this change. The attitude advocated is not anti-scientific. Orthodox medicine has its hugely successful place within the intellectual categories it sets itself. It is just that human beings are more than a collection of diseased cells. What is here asserted is the value of intuitive perceptions which are not so much irrational as transrational. Very often intuition insists on the very rational insights which narrow intellectual concerns ignore. Hence the Prince's detestation of the worst of modernist architecture. Machines for living do not make proper homes for people. The economics of mass production agriculture ignore the consequent pollution of the water supply and the destruction of the environment. Support for organic farming is not a fad, it is the only long term sustainable way of preserving the planet's food supply. The vision of a great web of being enclosing humanity on this planet not only means a responsible attitude towards the environment; it means that as full human beings we must take a responsible attitude towards each other. Therefore avoiding politics, Prince Charles concentrates on two ends of the social spectrum, the widening the opportunities for young people, especially the underprivileged, and also helping forums to encourage the leaders of commerce and industry to use their power in a more globally responsible manner. All the Prince's projects stem from a deep and sensitive world-view. David Lorimer sets this out so eloquently that it arouses just the momentary suspicion that these are his ideas, and not the Prince's, which are being set out. Wisely he buttresses this exposition with enough direct quotations to prove this not to be the case. It is a world-view which leads naturally to the assumption that all religions spring from the same basic spiritual perceptions, and hence the Prince's wish to be seen as the defender of faith, rather than the Defender of a particular Faith. Prince Charles does not set himself up to be a deep theologian, and he does not pretend to be able to account for the existence of evil and suffering within a wider Reality which he sees as fundamentally good. Why, then, is his vision so heart-warming? Firstly it is based upon intuitive perception which does not contradict reason, but goes beyond its limits. But secondly the Prince's vision leads to practical actions which we know, intuitively, are worthwhile. This is an achievement that some more sophisticated metaphysics do not reach to. What this book contains are a series of practical recipes for putting the 21st century back on the track of civilisation. It is one of the ironies of our time that of all people, it is the heir to the British throne who has inspired it.