The prolific royal biographer Ingrid Seward tells Maureen Patonabout her latest book, which looks at the influence Charles III’s mother, wives and female relatives have had on him throughout his life
The Queen’s legacy
He played the waiting game longer than any heir in history. When Prince Charles finally acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022, after 70 years and 214 days, it was a role he had been preparing for all his life. And psychologically, according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, it has also been the making of this very sensitive, sometimes thin-skinned man.
‘To be heir to the throne is not a position; it is a predicament,’ wailed the petulant 18th-century Prince of Wales (later George IV) played by Rupert Everett in the 1994 film The Madness of King George, written by Alan Bennett.
A certain tetchiness still seems to be unavoidable for a royal heir, as well as a ‘spare’, as they try to carve out a meaningful place for themselves within the frustrating restrictions of their roles. For an heir, it must be rather like being the understudy for the star of the show.
Yet the young Charles wasted no time in making himself relevant, most notably with five decades of environmental campaigning that began with a speech about the dangers of plastic pollution, as well as setting up The Prince’s Trust in 1976. This scheme went even further than his father’s innovative Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in preparing young people for the challenges of adult life.
Of course, he has had his share of peevish moments along the way, as noted by Jonathan Dimbleby in his 1994 authorised biography The Prince of Wales. ‘But underneath it all Charles has this really kind and gentle nature, which I think we are seeing more of now that he’s King and is finally in charge of his own destiny,’ says Seward, the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and the author of 19 books about the monarchy.
The latest, My Mother and I: The Inside Story of the King and Our Late Queen, has a relationship-based theme that looks at exactly what – and who – shaped the personality of the world’s most famous king-in-waiting.
‘I’ve always liked Charles the most of all the royals,’ says Seward. ‘He likes older women, he’s very wise and charming and has a twinkle in his eye.’ She is the same age as the 75-year old King – who as a baby was delivered by the Seward’s godfather, Sir John Peel, the late Queen’s surgeon-gynaecologist.
