May30

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This Week in Freudenfreude: King Charles Shows Prince Harry How It's Done

Most readers presumably know that Prince Harry is on the outs with his father, King Charles III, and his brother, Prince William. Reasonable people can differ on exactly who is to blame for the situation, and in what measure, but there's no denying that in airing his grievances, Harry has taken the sledgehammer approach. For example, publishing a book with 416 pages full of dirty laundry is not exactly a subtle maneuver.

Princes, at least sometimes, can get away with being indecorous. Monarchs, by and large, cannot. As the head of state for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth nations, they are expected to be a model of good behavior for their subjects. They are also expected to stay out of politics; to do otherwise could trigger a constitutional crisis. The recently departed Queen Elizabeth II was very good at all of this.

That said, Elizabeth most certainly had opinions, and Charles definitely has opinions. And British monarchs tend to be pretty good at remaining within the rules, and adhering to the expected standards of behavior, and yet... still getting their opinions out there, sometimes. You could call the techniques they use "subtlety." Or maybe "plausible deniability," or "malicious compliance," or "passive aggression." Whatever it is, it's rather different from the Prince Harry approach, and both Elizabeth and her son are masters of the art.

That brings us to the actual subject of this item, which is the speech that Charles gave to the Canadian Parliament this week. It is not common for monarchs to address that body, but for... some reason, Charles thought the time was right. Here are a few of the things he said:

• "The world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War. Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes."
  
  
• "A confident Canada, which has welcomed new Canadians, including from some of the most tragic global conflict zones, can seize this opportunity by recognizing that all Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away. And that by staying true to Canadian values, Canada can build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians."
  
  
• "The Government will protect Canada's sovereignty by rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will boost Canada's defense industry by joining ReArm Europe, to invest in transatlantic security with Canada's European partners."
  
  
• "The True North is indeed strong and free!"

It should be noted that the speech was written primarily by the staff of PM Mark Carney. But Charles offered some informal input, and it was Charles who decided to visit Canada in the first place, and it was Charles who made sure to emphasize all of the passages we quote above. In the speech, the PM and the King made sure nobody was mentioned by name. But they, and their audience, had a particular name in mind, nonetheless. Again, the King's son could learn a thing or two about the art of subtlety.

Have a good weekend, all! (Z)