DON'T KEEP POLITICS OUT OF MONARCHY

James Hanson says Prince William must be

given a thorough political education if he is to be a good king

NOW that Prince William is 18 and the photo-opportunists have had their day, what do we know about our future king? We know that he is handsome and person- able. We know that he was a prefect at Eton, with a nice taste in waistcoats. We know that he skis, cooks a little, plays soc- cer and water polo. We know that he is not a snob and does not want to be known as HRH (yet). We know that he would be the greatest catch for any girl, and therein may lie many pitfalls.

He has already been through more drama and heartache than most people of his age, all played out in the glare of maximum pub- licity. What we don't know is how seriously he is taking his future role as our king. We do know, unfortunately, of the apparent lack of disciplined guidance, so necessary at this age, in that he would not attend his great- grandmother's 100th birthday pageant because he was on holiday.

It is no good trying to attach the blame to his father and the royal advisers, but the fact is that he could have gone on holiday at any time. Instead, he chose to miss one of the great public occasions of his life, one which would have given untold pleasure to the Queen Mother and the public. This is indicative of the apparent lack of aware- ness of responsibility towards his future place in our history.

We hope he combines all the virtues of his grandparents and his great-grandpar- ent. The Queen is highly responsible. The Queen Mother has been responsible for 100 years, so it's time Prince William understood just what responsibility means to him and to us.

We have a carefully painted portrait. The impression we are given is of a better-bal- anced and more impressive young man than we have any right to expect, which gives heart to those of us who care about the monarchy. As we are the great majority in this country, it's good news for our future stability as a nation.

It takes us, though, to the heart of the matter and to things of which we hear little. Who is responsible personally for guiding his future? Prince William is not a pop star nor simply a leading character in the great- est soap opera of our time. He is our future king and, thanks to Mr Blair, we are in a period of unprecedented constitutional upheaval. We are told little of this, perhaps because almost anything done in this area is politically controversial, but let us pray that what has to be done is being done and not simply left to chance.

We have heard nothing about Prince William's constitutional education or about how he is being prepared for what he urgently needs to know in his future public life. We hear that he intends to read histo- ry of art at Edinburgh University. Or St Andrews. Or East Anglia. Or somewhere. But is that enough? Much of the success of the British monarchy can be attributed to the political education of the heirs to the throne.

Look at the preparation, theoretical and practical, of Queen Elizabeth I. Much of it was due to her own intelligence, strength of Character and sheer need to save her own skin when still a teenager, but it was an edu- cation that made her the greatest monarch of her day in what, at the start, were the most unpromising of circumstances. Consider Queen Victoria. For 18 months before she succeeded to the throne she studied Blackstone's Commentaries on English Law. She was made to read all the English newspapers every day and to study history intensively. She also benefited immeasurably from a second, practical education in statecraft at the hands of Lord Melbourne when she became queen. Each of these two great monarchs had to live and work in very different times; but by common consent each was in her own way formidable, and each had an education fit- ting her for what she would have to do. Our own Queen Elizabeth II was pre- pared for her role from her early teens, including a wartime spell in uniform. It is reported that she will take a keen interest in William's constitutional education. Good, but we know little of that. William's situation will not be that of Queen Victo- ria, nor that of his grandmother, but it will be no less hazardous and delicate, both for the monarchy and for the country. And behind the scenes he will need to be as pre- pared and knowledgable as his illustrious predecessors and au courant with today's politics — and that's some task. The sooner he gets on with it, the better. Our constitution is being torn up. The House of Lords has been emasculated and filled with .political placemen: Tony's cronies and tennis partners. We still do not know its eventual shape or role because neither does this government. Because of devolution the Union is under threat, with no solution in sight, and there is the ever-present threat of enforced fed- eralism via eurozone integration, a forced drift towards the loss of our historic sovereignty and rights.

Of course the monarch does not inter- vene directly in such political affairs, but that does not mean that he or she should not operate discreetly behind the scenes. Our present presidential Prime Minister is not the head of state and, despite his ever more infrequent appearances in Parlia- ment and reported laxity in attending royal audiences, he's still obliged to see the Queen regularly and profit from her quiet advice. The monarch represents the whole nation and is above politics. Her or his advice can be helpful when, as now, a government with an over-powerful House of Commons majority — virtually an elected dictatorship — seeks to impose its will on some matters clearly out of line with opinion outside the confines of West- minster and the salons of Islington.

In order for the monarchy to exercise its protective and nation-binding role, the king or queen must be a person of stature, wis- dom and knowledge. I do not doubt that Prince William has intelligence, courage and a willingness to open himself to nation- al scrutiny, which is an encouraging sign, but isn't he still being treated as a teenager and left too much to his own devices? He's 18, a grown-up, when most of us have start- ed to prepare ourselves for our future.

He will need more than courage and intelligence. He will need advice, discipline and a testing education in politics and his- tory, which, dare I say, goes somewhat beyond the study of the history of art. He will need the sort of counsel Victoria received from the wily old Melbourne, and he should be receiving something of that sort right now to prepare him for what lies ahead.

There seems to be a reluctance for this to be made public, but I don't see why. It might be seen as 'political', which, in a broad sense, it is, but the public needs to know. Let us hope it is happening and that someone is advising and tutoring the future King William on his duty, on the rights and liberties of Britons, on the meaning of the United Kingdom, and on the ways of politicians and parliaments here and worldwide. There must be edu- cated substance and hard work behind the waistcoat and the engaging grin for the time when he will be His Majesty.

Lord Hanson is the former chairman of Hanson plc.

'It's not the murder weapon, sir, but it could be the motive.'