The File on Charlie

A Prince But Not a Star
Educating Charlie
Pocketing It Like an Oligarch
Living Like a Prince
A Highness in Low Places
A Prince of Dubious Deals
In the Post
Knows What He Dislikes
Doctor Windsor
A Man of Religions
Windsor at Work


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Charlie Is No Darling

Windsor at Work

"What is wrong with everyone nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities? …………… without ever putting in the necessary work or having natural ability."
Charlie Windsor

Charlie can give the impression of being a hard grafting feller. Being the prince of a principality must be demanding. But in addition to that he has the responsibilities of duking both Cornwall and Rothesay. What's more, the uniforms he sometimes wears suggest that Charlie is a senior officer in the army, navy and the air force! And all the medals on his chest might make you think that he has seen some heavy duty combat, perhaps defending the faith in Northern Ireland and Iraq.

His service in both the navy and air force do make him a little unusual. But his highest real rank was captain of a coastal minesweeper way back in 1976. So he was not exactly in the thick of battle. And he has never served in the army. The medals, according to the BBC, are “awards for serving in a particular time or place, being a member of a high-ranking order or medals from other countries”. Yes, other countries! Countries in which he has not lived and in the military of which he has never served.

If you earned a medal in the service of your country, risking life and limb, you might think that this was taking the mickey.

The sad truth is that Charlie is so lazy that according to a former Windsor butler his servants squeeze toothpaste onto his toothbrush and pick up clothes he flings onto the floor. One servant had to hold the bottle while Charlie gave a sample of urine. At the Commonwealth Games in 2010 an aide pushed down a folding seat for Charles so that he could sit down without unnecessary effort.

So perhaps Windsor is better at employing others than at working himself. But that seems not to be so. And we should probably not be surprised that a man who has never had to apply for a job and does not intend to, has not been a defender of equal opportunities in the workplace.

In 2000 an employment found that an employee of Windsor’s charity The Prince's Trust had been unfairly dismissed. Trust managers made an "unreserved apology" to Darren Beckford who had worked for them for twelve months. Mr. Beckford had alleged that he was picked upon and shunned by other employees because he is Black.

#450112934 / gettyimages.com

With no real job Charlie has to impersonate an army officer

In December 2001 an allegation by a former personal secretary to Charlie that she had been forced from her job was not upheld by an employment tribunal in Bristol, near Mr. Windsor's Highgrove Estate. Elizabeth Burgess, the complainant, told the tribunal that one of Windsor's valets had said "What the hell would you know? You are just a fucking nigger typist." Ms Burgess, who had worked at the estate for ten years, said that "they wanted a white face at Highgrove and I was not that face." She believed that her complaint about the valet was not acted on because Windsor "adored" him.

The royal estate was dominated by "the old school tie" and disrespect for Black people was common, she said. The tribunal ruled that allegations related to events five years ago could not be taken into account.

A scheme to prepare unemployed young people for work run by the Prince's Trust was found by the Adult Learning Inspectorate in 2004 to be failing to provide useful workplace skills. The inspectors described the training as "inadequate" and "unsatisfactory."

Mr. Windsor has written that an educational system that promoted aspirational attitudes was to be considered flawed and "the result of social utopianism which believes humanity can be genetically and socially engineered to contradict the lessons of history." The memo was written after personal assistant Elaine Day suggested that staff such as she might be trained as private secretaries. Ms. Day was claiming unfair dismissal and sexual harassment by Windsor's assistant personal secretary.

In 2007 a Channel 4 documentary it was alleged that Mr. Windsor had tried to silence a critic by putting his employment as a university professor in jeopardy.  In 2009 The Evening Standard reported that "sources closes to" architect Richard Rogers had said that Windsor's interference in the Chelsea Barracks development had put 5,000 jobs at risk.

But to be fair to Charlie it must be said that he does seem to acknowledge his own inadequacy and to understand that being his mother's son may not make him fit to hold the nation’s highest public office.

In a confidential memo produced during an employment tribunal hearing he asked "What is wrong with everyone nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities? …………… without ever putting in the necessary work or having natural ability."

Who could he have been thinking of?

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