In a broadcasting first, Prince Charles and his sons, Prince William and Price Harry, have sat down together for a TV interview, highlights of which will be aired on “Dateline NBC” Sunday, 7 p.m. and “Today” Monday.
The pre-recorded chat with British presenters Ant and Dec (a comedy duo whose real names are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly), revealed a lighter side of the Prince of Wales and a comfortable interaction with his sons.
The interview is a highlight of a TV special on UK network ITV. Billed as “UK’s biggest birthday bash,” the special will include a live concert from the Tower of London and mark the 30th anniversary of the to help Britain’s disadvantaged youth.
The interview included a walk through with the Windsors through the gardens at Highgrove, the family’s country residence.
Below is the unedited transcript:
ANT: Your Royal highness congratulation on thirty years of the Prince’s Trust
PRINCE CHARLES: Very kind, thank you very much.
ANT: Tell us how…..
PRINCE CHARLES: I can’t believe it’s thirty years, it’s rather worrying…and I’m still alive…
LAUGHS
ANT: Tell us about the different ways the Trust supports young people all over the UK.
PRINCE CHARLES: Well as I say over thirty years I mean trying to find ways you know meeting the particular needs and challenges that people face and really trying to bring out people’s best talents and potential. It’s like a lot of people you know talent has been buried and never been brought out. Everybody has something I think and it’s just that business of giving them self confidence and self esteem and funnily enough when you do that it gives people enormous encouragement and motivation, suddenly they realise they can do things that they never thought they could and so many people face difficult situations and come from difficult backgrounds and you know they get into a shell and can’t communicate and I find some of the programmes we’ve started for people just helps to develop their abilities you know and suddenly particularly people you know who’ve been offenders for instance again their lives can be completely transformed much to everybody’s amazement.
ANT: It helps kick start their lives.
PRINCE CHARLES: So what I think it is is an investment in the future. And that has grown and grown now so 66,000 businesses we’ve started now in the last twenty something years which is quite encouraging really and some of them are doing really well. There was one the other day who we started twenty years ago exactly in 1986 and they started with a thousand pounds in their grandmother’s attic…
ANT: Really?
CHARLES: And they’re now turning over thirty million pounds a year and they’ve got offices you know in Los Angeles and New York and Britain and they are fantastic – it’s called Attic yes I’m very proud of that….
ANT & DEC: Yes you must be.
ANT: William and Harry do you feel as strongly as your father does about the Trust?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes definitely – we both dipped in a little bit with The Prince’s Trust and helped out where we can and visited a few projects and programmes and it would be nice in the future if we can both get involved in it and help out but he’s (POINTS TO CHARLES) is doing a pretty good job at the moment so there’s no room for the two spares.
DEC : Let him carry on?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes exactly…
ANT: Do you find on these trips that you can often get more nervous than the people that you’re visiting as members of the Royal…. ?
PRINCE CHARLES: We try not to be..
ANT: You try not to be?
PRINCE HARRY: What about those people yesterday…because you turn up and everyone’s sort of cold and it’s really hard to…
ANT: Because everybody’s quite nervous I presume….that you guys are turning up and..
PRINCE HARRY: But then you’re expected to ask the questions and make the conversation and then even more nervous they’re just sort of going mmn mmn mmn and you’ll be lucky to get a yes or a no but then eventually just as everybody’s starts to relax and you get into a conversation then you have to leave.
PRINCE CHARLES: But the fun would then be to come back you see and if you came back again I daresay it would be much better because they’d have got used to you but I mean a lot of it is involved at trying to put people at their ease because they obviously you know it’s the thinking about it and they have vague ideas that what you might be like or whatever so you have to try and encourage them it’s not quite as terrifying or awful or whatever as they thought and once you got over that perhaps you can then start to make a difference.
DEC: Now the media nowadays days tends to demonise young people with terms like hoodies and thugs and things like that I mean they’re all myths that the Trust has tried to dispell as well.
PRINCE CHARLES: Exactly. I mean again it’s very easy isn’t it to create stereotypes which is what happens a lot unfortunately I think. I just know that there are a lot of people who appear like that but underneath it all are actually uncertain and unsure of themselves and perhaps insecure and as I say all it needs a lot of the time is to provide them with motivation and self esteem and suddenly they are transformed.
DEC: They’re real life testimonies…they’re the best…
PRINCE CHARLES: I can jump up and down and shout and scream …..(LOOKS TO PRINCE WILLIAM)… thank you very much.
PRINCE WILLIAM: You’re welcome.
PRINCE CHARLES: …..but you know they make a real difference and the stories they tell you can’t believe the horrors some people have been through.
DEC: I bet.
PRINCE CHARLES: You know abuse of every kind of horror but the fact that these have overcome it and if we can help them overcome these real challenges and awfulnesses in
PRINCE CHARLES: I can jump up and down and shout and scream …..(LOOKS TO PRINCE WILLIAM)… thank you very much.
PRINCE WILLIAM: You’re welcome.
PRINCE CHARLES: …..but you know they make a real difference and the stories they tell you can’t believe the horrors some people have been through.
DEC: I bet.
PRINCE CHARLES: You know abuse of every kind of horror but the fact that these have overcome it and if we can help them overcome these real challenges and awfulnesses in their lives you really can make a difference and to see them get on and do marvellous things in their life and help other people is really
special I think.
DEC: How important are William and Harry keeping you in touch with what’s relevant today and what’s in fashion?
PRINCE CHARLES: I’m sure they think they are very important I do – they are very good at keeping me in touch with what’s going on a bit and particularly on the music front and things like that I can’t keep up with all the different new bands and everything else that bob up on the scene.
PRINCE WILLIAM: One you did miss was PJ and Duncan they were very good.
LAUGHSANT: Now they were good…
PRINCE WILLIAM: (Points to Ant & Dec) It was those two….
ANT: We had a very brief music career a few years ago,
DEC: ….a former life…
PRINCE WILLIAM: They don’t talk about it very much.
DEC: ……albums for you afterwards…
DEC: Do you have quite similar music tastes, the two of you or are you quite different in taste of music?
PRINCE WILLIAM: We’re quite similar (POINTS TO PRINCE CHARLES) I’d say his is pretty shocking but mine is good but apart from that we seem to like the same music yes.
ANT: And last time we spoke, sir, you were saying that you are a classical music fan and a jazz fan?
PRINCE CHARLES: Yes I am really. I tell you who I think is wonderful is a chap called Leonard Cohen do you know him?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Is he a jazz player?
PRINCE CHARLES: No not really he is remarkable he has the most wonderful I mean the orchestration is fantastic and his, the words, the lyrics everything he is a remarkable man and he has the most laid back gravelly voice terrific stuff I think. I enjoy the jazz yes but these two play this stuff and I’m sitting there going (MIMICS HEADBANGING) downstairs somewhere the whole place….
LAUGHS
ANT: It’s just like houses up and down the country – turn that racket down….
DEC: And you’ve obviously had quite a few run-ins over the years with The Spice Girls as well they were great on The Prince’s Trust weren’t they?
PRINCE CHARLES: Marvellous – terrific they really were and great fun anyway you know and it was all really Phil Collins it was his fault really. Phil’s been wonderful because he has been a fantastic supporter and he said to me once what you need is more, more, characters to help so I said really where can we, anyway since then we’ve recruited what is it now three hundred and eighteen ambassadors.
DEC: Would you say you have any favourite ambassadors sir?
LAUGHTER – PRINCE CHARLES POINTS TO ANT & DEC
PRINCE CHARLES: What can I say….
DEC: Spare our blushes….
MORE LAUGHING
PRINCE CHARLES: I am enormously grateful because a lot of them spend a lot of time - give up their time to help with the Trust and they do motivate and inspire – so it’s terrific.
ANT: And one of the schemes that we touched on before that the Trust runs there’s lots of music schemes and the music schemes help a lot of different bands who are struggling whether it’s to find the money or rehearsing anywhere and one of the bands that the Trust did help was Journey South – did you see that….
PRINCE WILLIAM: I heard about it, yeah, I didn’t watch that particular X Factor but I think Harry probably watched most of it.
PRINCE HARRY: I saw a couple.
ANT: They did really well and if it wasn’t for the Trust they were in debt they couldn’t afford to buy any more equipment but when they did –when they got a grant….
DEC: And now I think their album’s out –I think it’s gone gold or platinum or something and you know if it wasn’t for the Trust those guys wouldn’t be there so it’s something to be proud of isn’t it?
PRINCE CHARLES: Well I think so and I hope we can go on doing that you know as I say it is a struggle raising all the money to do it all and you know we rely on these concerts and incredibly generous donors who fortunately see the point I think because I think they see that it’s worth investing – particularly the business programme I think people like the idea of supporting businesses which are going to do better and better.
ANT: So Harry I imagine you watched the X Factor did you used to watch Pop Idol as well because I would say out of the two. (POINTS TO DEC THEN BACK TO HIMSELF)….LAUGHS
PRINCE HARRY: I know he won’t admit it (POINTS TO PRINCE WILLIAM) but we did both watch it and especially the American Pop Idol….
ANT & DEC: That wasn’t so good…
PRINCE HARRY: But the cut outs were so good.
ANT: But if you’re watching anything else then "I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" I can highly recommend that.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Exactly, I wonder why!
DEC: But we are looking for contestants for the next series of I’m A Celebrity and so…..
PRINCE HARRY: You can chuck Simon Cowell in there with his high waist trousers.
DEC: That’s a great idea…
ANT: I don’t think he’d go for it……
PRINCE CHARLES: But do you try out all those things before you do ask them you don’t eat some of those disgusting things?
PRINCE WILLIAM: They should do….
LAUGHS ANT: I once tried some of the green ants which is the first
DEC: It’s an acquired taste.
ANT: They taste kind of citrusy apparently you just bite the bottom of them and you spit the heads out and so they’re not too bad but I wouldn’t try any of the eye balls….
PRINCE CHARLES: Have you tried a witchity grub?
ANT: No
PRINCE WILLIAM: They look so nasty.
ANT: They do don’t they.
DEC: I’m glad we’re hosting it – that’s not for us.
PRINCE WILLIAM: There’ll be plans in the future.
ANT: Have you guys got the same sense of humour – do you watch the same comedy programmes?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes we tend to mostly we like the same sort of things although there’s usually an argument over the remote control at home about who watches what – that usually goes on for a while.
PRINCE HARRY: "Friends" is always a safe bet.
DEC: Now the Trust is also it’s involved in like you say music and sport it’s also involved in films isn’t it and helping people in film you must have made so many film stars over the years are there any that stand out – any that you got star struck by maybe?
PRINCE CHARLES: Apart from yourselves.
DEC: Present company excluded.
PRINCE WILLIAM: They are film stars now you know.
ANT: Well I was going to mention that but thanks for bringing that up.
PRINCE CHARLES: Ben Elton has been marvellous actually but also Stephen Fry is a wonderful supporter he really is and Rowan Atkinson.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Emma Thompson as well.
PRINCE CHARLES: There’s Emma Thompson as well and Al Pacino has been marvellous.
DEC: Has he – a hero of mine.
PRINCE CHARLES: He’s a fantastic actor.
DEC: A great actor. Amazing
ANT: The Trust has also linked very closely to sport and football in particular and you spend your time going up and down the country and visiting football clubs can you tell us a couple of the schemes that the Trust is involved with.
PRINCE CHARLES: You’ve got the premier league and the football association have been wonderful again and helped us most generously and you know I’ve been to Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs and they’ve been terrific in helping us this whole scheme and you know a lot of young ones something like eleven thousand I think have come in through this the football schemes which means that they can come and get involved at the clubs.
ANT: Of course.
PRINCE CHARLES: And football clubs are fantastic and the things they do anyway in their different communities is terrific.
DEC: Harry you are an Arsenal fan if I am correct….
PRINCE WILLIAMS COUGHS
PRINCE HARRY: Yes it’s true (TO WILLIAM) – what’s that supposed to mean?
ANT: And you are an Aston Villa fan?
PRINCE WILLIAM: I am indeed.
DEC: I can understand Arsenal but Aston Villa?
PRINCE HARRY: Newcastle?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Very good point….
ANT: We’re doing alright at the moment thank you!
DEC: Why did you choose Aston Villa as a club to support?
PRINCE WILLIAM: It was the first team I went and watched play in an FA Cup game against Bolton and I sort of decided that we were close enough to Birmingham to allow me to support it and I loved the Brummy supporters up there they’re a great bunch.
ANT: And you’re also president of the FA as well now?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Exactly, yes.
ANT: That’s a great job.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Great job yes, loads of free tickets.
PRINCE CHARLES: They must have been desperate…
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes, my footballing skills are not good but it’s a real privilege actually to be president of the FA they are doing an awful lot of good for the young and for community based programmes and that and hopefully in the future get a bit more involved in them and support them as much as I can.
DEC: But the most important question – will you get to hand over the FA cup?
PRINCE WILLIAM: If they let me anywhere near it then yes that’s the plan.
DEC: Well that’s the closest Aston Villa’s going to get to it.
LAUGHS
PRINCE WILLIAM: And Newcastle as well.
DEC: That’s true – and sir, do you have a team?
PRINCE CHARLES: I’m not letting on about that one. What can I do (POINT TO PRINCE WILLIAM AND HARRY)
DEC: I know secretly though you are a massive Newcastle United fan.
PRINCE WILLIAM: He’s got a magpie T.shirt on underneath.
ANT: Now we know you three must be very competitive you all play polo together, team highball.
PRINCE CHARLES: Used to.
ANT: Used to play polo together.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Decided that the pressure of playing with his two sons was too much we’re too good for him now gotta give him some..
ANT: Well I was going to ask sir, which one is the most competitive?PRINCE WILLIAM: Just remember what we were saying dad…
PRINCE CHARLES: I don’t know they’re probably both…what can I say…about this one but I always thought I’d give up …(mumbles) the handicap which they very nearly are – but it’s awful having to give up but I love it –played it for almost forty years and broken various parts of my anatomy and I mean they are very competitive and playing with them, the last time I played with them in a tournament we really wanted to win and I get this stuff shouted at me you know silly old father get on with it the usual thing and I was trying too hard. But I was trying too hard I remember doing it and I had to turn the pony very fast and the next thing I mean the thing the pony came down sideways and I must have landed absolutely smack on my head anyway completely felled me and I ended up being taken to hospital where I finally woke up seemed a long time afterwards, anyway this person here (PRINCE HARRY) told me later that he thought when I was lying on the ground that I was – he said “papa’s just snoring” and there I was busily swallowing my tongue and quietly dying – remember you told me that. Anyway I was taken off in an ambulance and that was the last time I played with them, the pressure was too great.
PRINCE WILLIAM: We won the game so it was okay.
ANT: I was going to ask did you win the game! But if you were playing against them—
PRINCE HARRY: He reacts beautifully to a few elbows in the ribs!
PRINCE CHARLES: Can you imagine they tried to kill me so they could walk off with my ponies.
DEC: The tempers get a bit frayed.
PRINCE WILLIAM: We work really well as a team because we all sort of think really alike but when someone does wrong you get two very stern faces looking at you and you get the bollocking afterwards.
LAUGHS
PRINCE CHARLES: It is great fun being able to play with them that was the great thing I did have some time playing with them.
PRINCE HARRY: Glad you enjoyed it.
PRINCE CHARLES: Didn’t quite have enough to make a team.
ANT: And Harry you recently went to Glasgow and took part in the Get Into Project how did you find it?
PRINCE HARRY: It was good fun – cooking a bit of food (?) – he messed it all up – the usual story…..
DEC: …….cooking yourself?
PRINCE HARRY: No, I think I put a guinea fowl in the frying pan that was about it that was all I was allowed to do.
PRINCE WILLIAM: I’ve done a bit at university when I was at university I did the cooking, I had to feed my flatmates which was quite hard work because I kind of made quite a lot but I wasn’t very good at it no but er it’s an important skill to master I’ve got a long way to go before I get anywhere near it.
ANT: How are you – not so good?
PRINCE HARRY: Better than him.
DEC: I think I could do with a bit of time on the Get into cooking project.
ANT: He’s the worst cook you’ll ever have in your life.
ANT: But you William and Harry you have other practical skills as well obviously away at university you have to learn how to cook and look after yourselves have you put up the odd shelf and changed the odd lightbulb – have you had to do that?
PRINCE WILLIAM: My DIY skills are appalling they really are – hence why father won’t let me anywhere near the house – but yes at university I put up a few of shelves and put in washing machines and things like that when I was up there and most of the time things break and fell down so definitely to go by there so I think it is an important skill to learn everything today is so much more in moving on and advancing yourself and things like that you forget the essentials you need for life and they are those are the core essentials or basic skills and I think they are worthwhile definitely just don’t look at me for an example though.
DEC: When we first came to London we moved into a flat together we lived in Fulham in a flat and we moved in and we had a great time. It was the first time we’d been away from home takeaways every night in front of the TV and when we came to move out of the flat there was this small cupboard in the middle of the kitchen that we couldn’t open, we didn’t know what it did
and when we moved out they came round to do the inventory to check everything and this woman came in with a big clipboard and she opened this thing and she went “the dishwasher’s okay” and we went “is that a dishwasher?”
LAUGHS
DEC: We couldn’t open it. We didn’t know what it was.
PRINCE HARRY: It’s so sweet seeing them together isn’t it? (ANT & DEC)
DEC: What really struck us early on was how peaceful it was this morning it must be such a great sanctuary here as well.
PRINCE CHARLES: Yes it is. I’ve tried to create something to make it better I’ve planted a lot of things…..
DEC: And you’ve had this place 25 years now?
PRINCE CHARLES: 26
DEC: 26 years wow….
PRINCE CHARLES: Bit of a worry really….
ANT: These are the stables…
PRINCE CHARLES: That used to be pig sty….
ANT: Did it – that was a pig sty.
PRINCE CHARLES: Originally but it was all rather redundant when I came.
ANT: They are huge.
PRINCE CHARLES : It’s a long way to fall down.
ANT: I can see how you injured yourself so many times falling off these. You fancy that Dec?
DEC: Err….
PRINCE WILLIAM: It’s a long way up for you!
ANT: It’s a long fall for us two.
DEC: Good job I’m not sensitive about my height isn’t it!
PRINCE CHARLES: You’re being very well behaved aren’t you? (to horses)
DEC: Is this a cherry blossom?
PRINCE CHARLES: No this is a magnolia.
DEC: Now that’s a daffodil.
PRINCE CHARLES: That is a daffodil.
DEC: I recognise those my mum’s got some in the garden.
PRINCE CHARLES: Those are forget-me-nots.
ANT: You must have had great fun growing up here and fantastic gardens?
PRINCE WILLIAM: It’s good fun having a tour like this because we’re learning for the first time where everything is. You normally see it and say I know where that it.
PRINCE CHARLES: When you are small you don’t notice it’s all part of the background – it’s only when you get a bit older.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Probably another ten, fifteen years I might take an interest!
DEC: How many visitors per year?
PRINCE CHARLES: Twenty five thousand.
ANT: That’s good.
PRINCE CHARLES: That’s about the most you can manage.
ANT: That is good that you can do all this and people can come and get enjoyment out of it.
PRINCE CHARLES: It does make a remarkable amount of money for charity and the other thing is once you’ve made some of the of the people want to come and see – then for instance I’m endlessly having auction prizes for people to come around the gardens – and all these different people ask can you give something for an auction for all these different charities – so a lot of the time it’s the garden tours are the things that raise the money for them.
DEC: We just send them a signed DVD!
PRINCE WILLIAM: That’s just as good.
DEC: This part of the garden this is stunning isn’t it?
PRINCE CHARLES: It hasn’t quite come out yet – you can just smell the old bits of thyme. It can be wonderful because you get the purples and the sky blues. It looks like a tapestry.
DEC: These are amazing. (SHAPED BUSHES)
PRINCE CHARLES: I’m clipping them – they used to just look like puddings. So we’re just clipping them into rather eccentric shapes. (CHARLES POINTS OUT THE DIFFERENT SHAPED BUSHES)
PRINCE CHARLES: Now listen come and have a seat.
ANT: I’d love to.
DEC: Cheers.
PRINCE CHARLES: You may need it after this.
ANT: Do you get to spend a lot of time here on your own?
PRINCE CHARLES: Not as much.
ANT: Not as much as you’d like to.
PRINCE CHARLES: But I do try.
DEC: Well twenty five thousand people every year coming through here…
PRINCE CHARLES: It’s quite a lot.
DEC: …it’s amazing.
PRINCE CHARLES: But I’m very lucky because we’ve got wonderful volunteer garden guides who are locals who come and help show people round and they seem to enjoy that quite a lot.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Some of the stories are brilliant all you hear some of them have got very dominating very loud voices so you’re up in your bedroom and you’re fast asleep at 9 o’clock in the morning the first party arrive….
PRINCE CHARLES: Only 9 o’clock.
PRINCE WILLIAM: I’m not going into the time I get up and all you can hear outside is and look and there’s this great big…and all applauding and you look out of the window it feels like
you’re on a theatre stage and you open the window and it’s like oh okay.
LAUGHS
DEC: Sorry I’ll put some clothes on…..
ANT:Well thanks so much for showing us round
PRINCE CHARLES: Not at all.
ANT: and chatting to us today…..
PRINCE CHARLES: Thanks for coming all this way.
ANT: Here’s to a great night.
ALL CHEERS
The interview of the three princes will be broadcast on Dateline Sunday, May 21, 7 p.m., and on portions will be broadcast on the “Today show” Monday.
