Prince Charles full interview with George Stroumboulopoulos | CBC

London England one of the world's great cities modern yet traditional and the place we've come for the first ever Canadian TV interview with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales thank you for joining us today no pleasures doomed unless we've agreed to speak with the Prince about his charities and public service and to show the surprising side of the man behind the title I'm the bane of my office the rubadoux where you are well I was coming up with another idea some of those ideas have been risky and controversial and of course we want to talk about the idea of service and his family I was always brought up to dare to to worry about rural hills and what he hopes to instill in his two sons this is the Prince of Wales so we're in London England and behind me is Clarence house Clarence House is the official London residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall why are we here what we're here for a conversation here's the thing Prince of Wales doesn't do a lot of television interviews and no one can remember him ever doing one for Canadian television this is definitely a Canadian exclusive he's feeling under the weather he found 15 minutes in his schedule to fit us in and we're very grateful for it so we're gonna pop in and have a conversation with the Prince of Wales but first take a look at his story Charley's born who will one day be the 41st monarch of his country since the Norman Conquest the new Prince will be trained right from infancy for his high role on a future state the future king that's the way it's been for him since today he was born in Buckingham Palace sixty-five years ago what kind of community would it be that Prince will reign over some day Prince Charles the Prince of Wales growing up amid the adulation that royalty has always known but also to unprecedented exposure to the public through the eye of newspaper and television cameras heir to the throne of 16 realms including Canada he's one of the most high-profile members of one of the world's oldest monarchies if you around for it you remember the moment Prince and Lady Diana Spencer married in 1981 a staggering 750 million watched it on television aside from the actual service this was the highlight of the the royal family obviously enjoying itself on the balcony likely as large a good-natured gathering as has ever been confirming that the monarchy in Britain is a good deal more than a constitutional convenience but outside all of that royal pomp and pageantry he's forged a new role for himself and it traces back to 1976 that's the year the Prince completed his service in the Royal Navy Britain was in a state of social upheaval high unemployment and in response he launched an organization to support young people it's called the Prince's Trust Prince Charles genuine concern for the future quality of life in Britain is now beyond dispute while his critics say he has no job to do and shows it he devotes much of his energy to a campaign to make the inner cities more attractive places over the last four decades the trust has grown to a point where the princes charities which include a branch in Canada represent the largest multi cause charitable enterprise in Britain he was an early advocate of organic farming he's an outspoken critic of some modern architecture and not surprising he's had to deal with the criticism aimed at him and now is he in the Duchess of Cornwall were set to tour Canada Prince Charles and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall emerging from the plane in Halifax and also for the Duchess of Cornwall it is her first visit to this part of Canada great pleasure to welcome you to the province of Nova Scotia and to Canada and princes 17th Canadian visit I spoke with the Prince of Wales about duty and of course about Canada thank you for joining us today real pleasure delighted thank you um tell me it's the guiding principles of the charities when you first decided to do this what was that you're trying to encode it yeah oh really because I mean having been coming to count over the last 40 years or something I just felt that after all the things I've been doing at this country with setting up organizations and charities to try and deal with issues that I felt needed dealing with or weren't being dealt with that perhaps you know now is the time to try and do similar things in Canada and like all these things it takes years before you've built up I don't experience all the capacity to do something like that and if you're going to do something you have to find kind supporters and generous people and others who may be interested in what what I'm trying to do so that was really the main reason and I thought I might be able to contribute a little bit here and there to Canadian life did you have a SAP principle that you wanted to build everything on well I suppose based on some of the things I say I've been doing here whether it's there in the built environmental community planning or delay with the out youth business enterprise and building young people's self-confidence and self-esteem and giving them opportunities and helping to develop their potential or you know a whole variety of areas and sustainability issues and generally so I I just felt that there might be some relevance in in Canada to some of these issues so I was obviously that around certain principles you know you could have as you know you could have kind of done what you wanted in your life was there a pivotal moment where you thought that this kind of service was the one you wanted I couldn't readily Oh certainly well you could have figured something out I'm sure you know some people know but I think you know I but I was always brought up to there to worry about everybody Hills but as you can imagine a couple of them and Canada Australia New Zealand there's a lot of people I take it all these things seriously the things that you do sensing architecture who would have thought it could be controversial but it was we talk with built cities organic food people used to make jokes at the conversation about it but what all is like what were you feeling at the time when you when you were trying to affect change and we're feeling that kind of attack well have you could imagine idiots it's slightly alarming and bewildering because I thought that I was just trying to point out that there were there were problems that were likely to arise if we went on that way and but but I think what happens is frequently you you you know you challenge conventional wisdom and the conventional approach and so people don't like that very much and all I wanted to share was that I thought we had to look look at these issues in order to prevent being overwhelmed by them at some stage and I just felt also we were getting a bit out of balance in some of these things so the baby was being thrown out with the bathwater and I just felt it needed some things being brought back because of the way in which you know our existence on this earth this is a sort of depended on sometimes more timeless things we still are human beings we still have to face so many of the issues that everybody else is at face then I just felt that there were other ways perhaps of looking at some of these things and well it was on as far as the organic side is concerned it's 30 years again I suppose I've felt that what was happening in the conventional a green dust really was unsustainable over a long term because he didn't actually pay attention to nature didn't pay attention to the health of the soil and I thought was over dependent on chemicals and indeed on very often the prophylactic use of antibiotics in everything you know animal feed and you name it and now indeed we got a huge problem which antimicrobial resistance you know is your book called harmony and it's this idea that the iron rule of ecology is that everything is connected but when you try to reach people and effect change they seem to be resistant to the things that make the most sense so how do you manage to navigate the fact I don't government's included because governments are a really big player in this right I just felt the secret is is not really party political but I mean was when I raised issues around planning and architecture and actually consulting local peoples of nobody had bothered to talk about these things very much and you know the regeneration and reuse of historic buildings and huge complexes all that I thought was a waste of assets but it's extraordinary how you you know you come up against the conventional approach so what I suggested that you could actually create mixed use mixed income communities and not just housing associate housing the states as ghettos really of either rich or poor people and you could mix with affordable housing with private Hurley I was told that the real world is couldn't be done so anybody went away and did it and now it suddenly becomes a bit more the thing coming up we're gonna get to you our conversation with the Prince of Wales and we're going to talk about how he passes on the tradition of public life and service to his kids you welcome back to the program and our exclusive conversation with the Prince of Wales Prince Charles is the heir to the throne of 16 countries including Canada that's a big job what do you do with it well look we all have our own opinions of the monarchy but if that's your life you have to make your choices and for the Prince of Wales to about Duty it's about service ultimately passing those messages along to his sons but for him where did he get his inspiration there's somebody gives you great advice you are given about public service when you were growing up oh yes I have endless people that I I've always rather hadn't exaggerated respectful interest in older people trying to pick up some of the minute wisdom and experience so yes some endless people who I used to ask about things and sat and listened to you pick up a look that way there's something that resonates with you that you kind of keep close to your heart I was right in your in your harmony books is that Gandhi quote that you that you quoted this idea that at first people will laugh at you and then they'll ignore you and then they will fight you and then you win will is possibly would you show off your day but do you think much I mean you built like for decades now this legacy of the charities and trust us all these different areas that you're working in do you counsel your kids and there's grandkids now but what service could be and and when what what can be done in this role yes every day with children it's always really gonna be careful to ever do that but I don't know I just felt that if if they witnessed or sometimes they didn't absorb things by osmosis and I mean they're you know they're terrific both major from their rush about doing every kind of thing so I think they've got also this feeling and that is called duty there's become an old-fashioned word for some reason but that was what I was always brought up to write to understand and even that there is an enormous amount that he's doing there are masses of people need help and encouragement and arrived as one of those people who minds and so when I find things that aren't happening somewhere I I want to do something about it and the bane of my office and everybody were you are well he was coming up with another idea what's it like when someone receives a phone call from you when you want to bring into it oh yes where's he going - that's right the quality of life or something we talk about and all the different areas how do you actually get it to resonate with people well I don't know I I hope some of it does it's always difficult to tell i below interestingly I think of the built environment community planning side because when you involve people and sit down with them and facilitate an opportunity to come together and look at the potential new development it's amazing how it helps focus as a cathartic process to release tensions and people if you do it over two or three days and people have an opportunity to say what they're looking for before you know you are you're actually creating you know it at a rather timeless mall by called it to their traditional arrangement but with a recognizable centered heart and I've always felt that the secret is how to re integrates the human being and nature into the whole design process because for the last whatever is 80 90 years or hundred years we've designed everything with a car at the center I'm not the pedestrian if you change that round for the potential of the center the nature you create a completely different more humane people said walkable environment which could be able to attract could you ever imagine London mean that way though or even in cat litter on us you see and that was how it was designed all the craziest cities rolled aside all that busy so that's why me ironically he had loved the two areas of held their value and rising value even bother they were also bear fans of James's thinking ah because it's the quality of the environment you could walk could it has you know small streets and the interesting thing what I've done is to show that you can do this in today's world and still have all the benefits of modern life and technology terms when you go back to the Middle Ages but but by narrowing the streets and curving it everything else which we've shown how you can do it you could trail the car and people could reclaim the streets including children so you don't need you know false sleeping policeman and you'd have calming points and narrowings and all the stuff they have to retrofit so if you think about it and reintroduce you know the mixed communities you don't have everything zoned so if you live over there that they have to drive miles to work there then you put the factory somewhere else it's a big rethink for people isn't it to get them to go their head were they when they see it on the ground people actually frequently can't believe it's possible so the secret is to provide me with an alternative the conversation with the Prince of Wales continues right after this we'll talk about his relationship with Canada you welcome back to the program and our exclusive interview with the Prince of Wales now we've talked about the princes charities and for decades they've helped thousands of people in a myriad of ways everything from working with at-risk youths to building restoration in China and on the Prince of Wales last tour to Canada he inspired two CEOs with the seeing is believing program to start their own this one is called the Aboriginal youth hiring initiative he is incredibly you know conversing in all of these initiatives that he's engaged in and he does really believe it personally and somebody who represents a controversial at times but very significant personages in the history of Canada and its relationship with Aboriginal people what originally sorted criticized or not respected for has now become absolutely conventional thank you given the certain circumstances politically in Canada I think the relationship with the crown is extremely important for Aboriginal people today let's see a little leaf into the tie what's your relationship like with Canada of yours you figured out that down all the one who could tell yeah oh you don't I don't either but I love cabbage cabbage I always see Canadians everywhere but I mean as you imagine i i i feel great interested he definitely was going on in canada so when we count this time i fed because it gets busier busier because i have horrible organizations that I'm involved with them tried to take it interested fitting it all it is always creative do you know morning travel around the world you see the commonalities between people and how we are the same yes I'm a great believer fort is worth it the unity through diversity but the key is to the courage diversity but you can create it you create the unity through recognizing people's individual couches and I feel good that's the part I think but what I try to do is enable people to feel played their own cultural identity when did you ever Hmong where you felt like you had really found your voice when you started to engage in this world and he's like yeah this is this is what I shouldn't be doing long time ago and I I'm just rubs I used to think about these things were for others because I observed that read and felt about these things talk to people and what I been terribly anxious to do is to capture the wisdom and experience that has we've inherited ever below thousands of years before people who had all that in different ways and skills disappeared because in that IG 6070 of these things are being thrown 'we literally as being no longer relevant in any way so there's that was if attacks had come down between the past that seemed to be crazy because our lives consist of a balance of the blend between the past and the present you can't tells gonna have in the future we have to live in the present so i wanted to capture some of this wisdom of knowledge before which is all gone that's what i try to do and encourage the acquisition of skills he's riveting i have things cab round because i'm in this country in thirty forty years ago we abandoned apprenticeships alle countries didn't germany didn't and for years i've been tried to say look we need to encourage the skills of Uggs young people at this that of the other area which is indeed what i've tried to do with my prince's trust I've seen you meet kids who have benefited from the programs and you know we've interviewed people on our show of talking about in the past how does that make you feel when you see the actual think we're all very proud rabbit i bet several last night we had a reception for by bridges trust and this was the enterprise program which is starting people to their own businesses so I've been doing that since well in the last thirty four thirty five years and we've set up then in ninety thousand businesses but the fun for me is there to meet people we started 30 or 25 years ago who've made literally millions and very often either they sell their company sometimes and then they come back and help give generously to my trust to keep it going a real platter Thank You Sarkozy thank you very time all right well there you have it that is it for the program today thank you so much for sticking around and watching it with this thank you so much to the Prince of Wales as well for being so gracious with his time especially as you could tell as he was feeling under the weather what an absolute treat it was to spend the time with him and to spend it with you have a good night you

Channel: CBC

Views: 330,735

Keywords: CBC, Interview, Canada, Royal Family, Britain, The Queen, visit, George Stroumboulopoulos (TV Personality), Prince Charles

Id: Cns3hlG2RFU

Length: 21min 13sec (1273 seconds)

Published: Fri May 23 2014