Jonathan Dimbleby, author of The Prince of Wales: A Biography, spoke about meeting King Charles for the first time and what he sees in him now.
When Mr Dimbleby first met Charles, back in the early 1990s, he “looked sceptically at him,” but once he got to know him, he grew “fond of him.”
That was in 1994, and now 30 years later, he believes “the fundamental quality of the man has not changed.”
Dimbleby appeared on the recent episode of Royally Obsessed and talked about Charles then and now.
He and co-hosts, Rachel Bowie and Roberta Fiorito, go back to the beginning and then speed up to the current day, starting with that first meeting and ending with Queen Camilla and her role in the King’s life.
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Dimbleby lists off Charles’ strengths: “The fundamental quality of the man has not changed. His beliefs. His attitudes. His ability to communicate with people. His warmth. His sense of obligation and duty have not changed.”
He says of his core: “The essential person has not changed. And that is something I hugely like and respect.”
Going into their meeting, Dimbleby was kind of on the fence, saying, “I had nothing against him, but nothing particularly strong in his favor, except that I liked some of the things that he had said about, amongst other things, the environment.”
But, from there, his feelings changed: “I came to like him, to grow very fond of him and to respect him, deeply. And, I do.”
When Dimbleby met Charles in the 1990s, he was struggling in his personal life. It was Dimbleby who Charles confided in about having an extramarital affair, which appeared in the 1994 documentary Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role.
He talks about Charles’ struggles: “I think, that in that time, in which was in some ways, was very difficult in his personal life, which I believe everyone is aware, given it had a huge access of close attention, often of a very prurient kind, he has since then found extraordinary happiness with his Queen Camila.”
And he’s overcome them: “That has made a very great difference to his way of seeing the world, she brings him down to earth, she is warm, outgoing, and any doubts that he might have had, he can share with her, and that was a great strength of reassurance, a partner, a real partner, for life.”
