At least in spiritual matters, the heir to the throne is anything but Russophobe
By B.C.
THE HEIR to the British throne has often made statements, on subjects ranging from architecture to nanotechnology, that cause a frisson of disapproving reaction, to the effect that he is going beyond the prerogatives of a constitutional monarchy, which for good reason are narrowly defined. But assuming he has been correctly quoted, as comparing Vladimir Putin with Adolf Hitler, the latest row over an edgy royal remark is rather unexpected, when set against his stated views on religion, history and the world.
In 1992, an ultra-conservative Russian weekly, Den, approvingly quoted Prince Charles as saying that in a world of profligacy and decadence, the only country where he saw some regeneration was Russia. Again, he may or may not have been accurately cited, but that remark was more of a piece with his stated views and interests. The future head of the Church of England has a deep interest in the mystical and aesthetic side of both Christianity and Islam, and in particular in Orthodox Christianity, Russian and otherwise, and in Sufism.
The Orthodox part is very much in his blood. The prince's paternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, ended her days as an Orthodox nun; and another close relation. the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, was canonised by the Russian church in recognition both of her charitable life and heroine's death at the hands of the Bolsheviks. After her husband, a harsh governor of Moscow, was assassinated in 1905, the German-born grand duchess, a convert to Orthodoxy, founded a new religious community to care for the poor; but like her sister Empress Alexandra, she was a victim of communist rage. The earthly remains of the saintly grand duchess, and of Princess Alice, are to be found at a Russian convent in Jerusalem in which the British royals have a fond family interest.
The Prince's interest in Orthodoxy, whether of the Greek, Russian or other varieties, is also reflected in his love of icons and Russian chant; at his second marriage service, one of the musical highlights was a recitation of the Creed in Old Church Slavonic, the language of the Russian church. Among his favourite charities is a school of religious and traditional art in east London where the curriculum includes both Christian iconography and Koranic calligraphy.
In the traditionalist school of philosophy and aesthetics which has influenced Prince Charles, the combination of Christianity and Islam under the same roof (in this case, literally) isn't as surprising as you might think. In a series of lectures about Islam, the heir to the throne has credited the Muslim faith with many virtues that he holds dear: a sense that the earth is to be respected out of deference to the Creator, and that human creativity is a spiritual endeavour as well as a utilitarian one. In both Orthodox Christianity and Islam, he discerns a set of values that might mitigate the world's environmental problems by encouraging a spirit of self-restraint.
These are hard waters to navigate, especially for a scion of a very wealthy dynasty whose natural interlocutors include Gulf monarchs who are not noted either for self-restraint, or for concern about excessive reliance on fossil fuels; or indeed for encouraging the more generous-minded and aesthetically rich strains within the world of Islam. Prince Charles needs plenty of good advice, on spiritual questions as well as diplomatic ones.
