HRH PRINCE CHARLES

Page 1 | 2 | 3
 

Prince Charles backed a Cumbrian farmer who told him, "If we as a group were black or gay, we would not be victimised or picked upon." But, farmers get massive financial support totalling £7.5billion in subsidies compared to less than £1billion for ethnic minorities and virtually nothing for gays. Farmers were also compensated for BSE and foot and mouth. The cereal, milk, sheep and beef sectors get a third of their revenue from the Government. Their cash includes £5.75billion a year, £150,000 for every farm, from the EU common agricultural policy payments.

They were the main beneficiaries of £100million spent on flood and coastal defences. They are also set to receive £500million over the next three years for sustainable farming. Britain's ethnic minorities get help from the Commission for Racial Equality which has a £17million budget. Home Office equality schemes provide £11million and voluntary organisations, schools, councils and health services get £100million in grants. The gay community gets some grants from the Equal Opportunities Commission and for Aids charities.

Countryside
Subsidies of £5.75bn, low rate of duty on farm diesel (3.13p a litre versus 51.82p for motorists), rate relief for stores, garages and pubs in rural communities, dedicated Government department - cost £7.5bn.

Ethnic Groups
Commission for Racial Equality, budget £17m, Home Office gives grants of about £11m, voluntary groups and housing organisations get special assistance, factor in grants for schools, hospitals, etc - cost £1bn.

Gays in the UK
Included in remit of Equal Opportunities Commission, some grants to voluntary organisations dealing with Aids. No recognition in grant distribution formulae for councils of health - cost negligible.

Charles has admitted he has enjoyed some good banter while talking to different vegetables. He made the comments as he opened an extension to Europe's largest organic research centre, Ryton Organic Gardens, in Warwickshire, as part of a one-day tour of the county. On opening a new interactive exhibition on the history of vegetables, he said, "Bearing in mind some of my more illuminating conversations have been with vegetables, none of you will be surprised that I am delighted with this development. I have had the odd banter with a brassica."

While bemoaning the loss of almost 2,000 varieties of vegetables from cultivation since the 1970s, the Prince said he was sure a runner bean would make a good confidant, adding, "I think because runner beans don't run off to the press." Charles, who is patron of the Henry Doubleday Research Association, which runs the gardens, was shown around part of the 23-acre site, including the new exhibition illustrating the part vegetables have played in social history.

He stopped briefly to play with a giant interactive green pepper and larger-than-life leek. He also met local children studying for a rural science GCSE which required them to maintain plants and animals at school. The Prince, who last visited the site 14 years ago, said he was encouraged by their work and overran his visit by half an hour. Earlier in the day, the Prince voiced his support for Britain's smaller agricultural producers on a visit to a farm food hall.

After an hour-long tour of the Field To Kitchen farm produce shop based at Dobbies Garden World, in Mancetter, he told suppliers and staff, "It is a very brave and courageous business that you are involved in."

A former royal valet has stated allegations that the Prince of Wales was seen in a compromising incident with one of his servants cannot be true. Simon Solari, who worked closely with both Prince Charles and Princess Diana for 15 years, said the ex-servant who made the claims would not have had the opportunity to witness the alleged events. "The incident at the centre of these allegations about the Prince of Wales simply could not have happened," he told London's Evening Standard newspaper. "I have never spoken publicly about my service before but I feel compelled to speak out now as I feel the Prince of Wales is being unfairly maligned."

Mr Solari, who now runs his own chauffeur company, continued, "The Royal Household operates a very strict system on military lines, with specific servants having specific roles." Meanwhile there are reports that Prince Charles is holding talks with close family and key aides over the crisis. According to the Daily Mail, he was joined for dinner at Highgrove by Prince William and Camilla Parker Bowles to discuss how to put an end to the rumours surrounding him. Charles flew home from his 13-day foreign tour after a week which began with former servant Michael Fawcett taking out an injunction against the Mail on Sunday gagging it from publishing a story based on claims by another former servant.

Asked whether Clarence House was relieved that the allegations were not published in full in the newspaper, a spokeswoman for the Prince said, "We're not bothered one way or the other. It's not us who's monitoring it. We're not the ones who brought the injunction. We didn't take any legal action." Meanwhile, it was also reported that the man who put the Prince publicly at the centre of the crisis once questioned his sexuality. Sir Michael Peat, his private secretary, issued a statement to deny allegations of the "incident". But the Prince's former key aide, Mark Bolland, claimed that Sir Michael asked him a year ago - "Do you think Charles is bisexual?" Bolland said, "I was astonished at Sir Michael's question. I told him that the Prince was emphatically not gay or bisexual."

Next >>>