Imagine being given a job for life from birth. It’s a starring role, one with a lot of deference involved, no money worries, a number of different residences and someone on hand always ready to do your bidding. You need never be alone, you need never be frightened of the usual concerns we mere mortals have. You will not need to worry about leaving this life unloved or indebted. You will be cared for until the end.
The only proviso is that there are some rules you’ll need to abide by. They will not be too onerous and you’ll be brought up knowing what they are from an early age (being rebellious will only cause you distress). There’s an interesting dress code at certain times of the year and you’ll need to get used to be observed when you’re out and about. You can’t be seen to be rude, at least not in public. And you’ll spend quite a time being seen in public and by the public. How would you feel about that?
It might be quite a relief. There’d be no need to worry about learning, exams, qualifications and, possibly worst of all, decisions about a future career. It’s all planned for you.
If one looks at from a Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs perspective, then it’s looking positive. If you go from the bottom up, you’re not having to worry about your needs being met when it comes to staying alive, keeping warm, sheltered and clothed.
Moving up the hierarchy, you’ll be protected and kept safe. You’ll have a great number of people wanting to love you and be loved by you which means you should have a strong sense of connection with the world and your place in it.
From that, if you’re a well-balanced soul and not too tiresome to those around you, your self-esteem should be strong. You’ll have status, you’ll be respected and you’ll have a reasonable amount of freedom – more than most people have during their working lives. It may seem sometimes as though you have no privacy but, if you’re sensible about it and stick to the rules, you’ll be allowed to go your own way more often than you might imagine.
Continuing with the Maslow theme, having all these needs met early on, it means you are left with a real chance in life to reach the peak – described as self-actualisation. You will have time enough to study, ponder, absorb and act (keeping in mind the rules set out initially) – meaning you can work on being the best person you can possibly be. And if you haven’t considered self-exploration, may I remind you of the wisdom of Socrates who said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
So, how would you feel about becoming monarch, not just of the glen but of all the surrounding areas? If you do it well, it looks effortless and, like the Queen, you’ll not get much thanks for it until after your departure. But at least you will gain satisfaction from knowing you’ve done your best.
Even though you do have responsibilities, you will never ever have the final say in what happens. It may seem so but you really won’t have to stay up all night worrying and wondering about any decision you may seem to have made. You will have the best and most experienced advisers possible. They will be there for you. All you need to do is trust them to give you the best advice and then sign where they tell you to.
Ah, signing. That should not present a difficulty but it might, as we’ve only recently witnessed. May I suggest you have your own pen in hand when it comes to the important role of offering a signature. We’ve watched live the fallout of getting a signing wrong. Prince – sorry, King – Charles first seemed to be stymied by a stray inkwell, then we had the incident when it didn’t seem to work and then, finally, we had the time when the ink splodged and he signed the wrong date.
We spotted a little bit of temper there and I felt slightly unsettled. I doubt the Queen would have been so jittery. Thinking kindly, the King had just lost his mum and it looked for a moment as though the establishment was looking to wear him out within days if given the chance. It seemed important to forgive and, fortunately, it all worked out in the end.
That was lucky as the signature is key to all this. It confirms your status, your role, your authority and the reason why all of us accept who you are. You have to get it right.
Sadly, as we know, this is only make believe and the job is not up for grabs, no matter how appealing it sounds. It is Charles by birthright. For the present, he has our goodwill on his side. And, while we know his reign cannot be anything like as long as his mother’s, we can still wish him a continuing long life and hope he enjoys and appreciates the benefits of all that he has.
For his part, I hope Charles really appreciates the role he now has. It seems like a peach of a job. I also hope he can still enjoy those causes that he cared so much about when he was Prince of Wales, and get a sense of achievement at watching them blossom from the seeds he first sowed.
I also hope Charles as our monarch will be as gracious to us as his mother was so that we, in turn, can be equally gracious and loving towards him.
Photo 1: PA/Danny Lawson
Photo 2: Jack Lucas Smith on Unsplash
