查尔斯三世：不抱怨的国王

When Charles became king, British newspapers were asking how much longer the monarchy could last.

Four years on, that question has an answer: he has done better than many expected.

What he was once most famous for was complaining that he did not know what he was supposed to do with his life.

Today that complaint is no longer heard; instead people ask: how is he actually doing?

He took over the throne after his mother's death, and it has now been four years.

His mother reigned for seventy years, far longer than his four.

These four years have not been easy: in 2024 he was diagnosed with cancer, and one of his brothers was arrested.

During these four years, Britain also went through four prime ministers.

At first many people doubted him, and journalists often forgot to change how they addressed him and call him king.

Now the polling firm YouGov gives him a favourability rating of fifty-eight percent.

That number is lower than his son William's seventy-four percent.

As for his other son Harry, it is only twenty-nine percent.

There are actually several reasons why his favourability has risen.

The first is the honeymoon period that everyone is willing to grant a new king.

The second is that he is willing to work; even after the cancer diagnosis he did not really stop.

After less than three months of treatment, he returned to the public eye.

There is another bonus point: in 2025, he took back the remaining royal titles of his brother Andrew.

This year Andrew was arrested over an accusation, and he denies having done anything wrong.

But the most important change is that he no longer complains.

When his mother was queen, her creed was "never complain, never explain".

People used to call him "the complaining prince"; now he has learned that lesson.

Luck helped too: the things he was mocked for early on now look ahead of their time.

For example, his habit of talking to plants, and Poundbury, the small town he built himself.

Now leaders from various countries all want to meet him.

His biographer says that meeting the king is an item on many leaders' life lists.

Charles himself thought about the role of king for many years.

Years ago he edited a Shakespeare anthology.

A line he marked in "Henry V" says that being king is a hard job.

There is one thing a king has that others do not, and that is ceremony.

He probably now understands that line deeply.

This year he spoke at the US Congress, and standing ovations came one after another.

Those are all pure ceremony, but ceremony is sometimes genuinely useful.

Next there is an even trickier topic.

In early November, he will speak at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua.

More than fifty heads of government will be present, and he is expected to talk about slavery.

This history is still sensitive in many Commonwealth countries, and it is hard to talk about.

Four years on, at least he no longer has to ask himself what he should be doing.