The Benedict XVI news 'lists' online today are still predominantly stuck on last week's news - the Vatican's 2009 financial statement ['Vatican in the red three years in a row but donaitons up' appears to be the line], the Vatican names the Pope's delegate to overhaul the Legionaries of Christ, and Prince Charles not attending any of the papal events in September. The most preposterous headline on the latter was "Pope 'too busy' to meet with Charles"! Nonetheless, this blog from The New Statesman seems to be a more informed account.
How Charles wrote himself
out of the Papal visit
Did the Prince sulkily refuse to meet Benedict because he wasn't put on par with his mother?
And if so, what does that tell us about the heir to the throne?
by James Macintyre
10 July 2010 22:27
Prince Charles has caused anger in London and Rome after declining an invitation from the Pope to attend an inter-faith in the UK event allegedly after being denied a one-to-one audience on a par with the Queen, sources have revealed.
Previously, the
Guardian has touched on the fact that the Pope will not meet Charles, and the
Mail on Sunday's take will be that it is a "snub" on behalf of the Pope. What is clear is that -- as it stands -- the Prince of Wales will now play no part in the Papal visit in September. The key question, though, is why.
It is because -- to the dismay of some close to the visit's planning --
he actually turned down an invitation from the Vatican to attend an inter-faith event at St. Mary's University teacher training college in Twickenham on 17 September, despite the Prince's proclaimed interest in inter-faith issues.
The Prince's refusal to attend came after Clarence House apparently sought a private meeting with the Pope of the sort his mother, the Queen, will enjoy when they lunch together at Holyrood House in Edinburgh at the start of the Papal trip.
Sources say that there was no room for Benedict XVI to hold another one to one meeting with a royal and that Clarence House has formally declined the Pope's invitation to the inter-faith event.
When I called Clarence House, a spokeswoman said that the Prince's agenda is only made public two weeks in advance. Intriguingly, Charles's office referred the matter to Buckingham Palace.
The extraordinary behaviour by the heir to the throne will cause speculation that he was more concerned with being seen on the same level as the Queen than meeting the Pope. Relations between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace are notoriously poor.
If it is true, as one source put it, that Charles "threw his toys out the pram" over the Papal visit, then this should be seen in the context of the bizarre self-obsession that appears to govern Clarence House.
Charles has proved time and again that he has a pitiful concept of his role, with his willingness to swing in and out of politics like a hammer in a tea-shop.
Many observers will conclude that, if he wants to be king it is high time he put his duties before himself.