Long may he wait

Prince Charles has become the world's longest serving wannabe king - 59 years and 74 days in his wait to be Britain's king. The wait hasn’t made him any more attractive as a head of state.

As much as I detest having a British monarch as the constitutional head of my country I’m reluctant to push the issue when Australia has so many more pressing issues to deal with. Though I do expect it will happen under a Rudd government.

I met Charles many years ago, Di was on the other side of the hall where they had divided the task of meeting the provincial yeomanry. It wasn’t an enlightening occasion, the couple might have been well paid for the task, but it still must be like torture greeting mobs of slavering royal fans.

I wasn’t, by the way, but never shrink from an opportunity. The body language of the royal couple was somewhere between pure boredom and inner rage. The latter of course driven by the fact that Di was ordered to leave her new born kid back in the Palace and the couple really didn’t much enjoy each others company. No more than they enjoyed the company of their subjects, I expect.

The last time Charles visited Australia, a couple of years ago, it coincided with a visit from our very own Princess Mary of Denmark. The aging wannabe was pretty much ignored when he had to compete against the gorgeous Mary.

I expect if Australia was forced to retain a foreign monarch as head of state the choice would quickly switch to Denmark. But Mary knows that wouldn’t work either, better to remain loved than fall into that trap.