Not Impressed: Calculation is Not Character

More from the Daily Telegraph. Check out this headline: “Charles bows to the Pope with Princely Grace.” And what grace is that? They are giving Prince Charles kudos for postponing his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles, which was scheduled for Friday, in order to attend the Pope’s funeral instead.

Unbelievable. Let’s get this straight. This is a man who, first, married a young woman under false pretenses while in love with another woman. . . a man who, second, continued an adulterous affair with the other woman throughout his marriage. . . a man who, now thirdly, is shacked up with that other woman following her divorce and the death of his wife. (Weird irony: the Brits refer to her as “Mrs.” Parker Bowles. Strange. Just underscores the tawdriness of it all.)

And so now, we’re supposed to congratulate him on, wait, let me get this just right: “his maturity” because he postponed his wedding by one day to attend the Pope’s funeral. Right. Got it.

Here’s my favorite part:

By putting duty ahead of personal fulfilment – something he has so often been accused of not doing in the past – the Prince of Wales has demonstrated that he possesses the maturity of a monarch, rather than the petulance of a spoilt heir to the throne.

His gesture will be much appreciated by Britain’s Catholics and – who knows? – may even help generate a little more public enthusiasm for Saturday’s wedding. How can one fail to be impressed by a couple who have re-scheduled one of the most important days in their lives as a measure of their regard for a hero of the 20th century?

Who can fail to be impressed? Easy. That would be me.