This picture may add fuel to the speculation about Prince Charles being a wannabe and/or closet Orthodox. This picture hangs in the reception room at Mar Gabriel Monastery, in the Tur Abdin region of southeastern Turkey. Charles visited Turkey in 2004, Tur Abdin being his only stop outside of Istanbul.
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I read the end of a book on his grandmother, Princess Alice, in a bookstore the other day, and was fascinated to find out that her desire (which was granted, but after several years and much wrangling) was to be buried next to St. Elizabeth the New Martyr (her relative - aunt or cousin).
I think she's a stronger influence on Prince Charles than many realize.
Yes, he is "closet Orthodox". He gives tons of money to Athonite Monasteries and visits them regularly. If you look at European history you'll see that many of the monarchs of Europe were inbred/intermarried in the 1800/1900's and the common family was an Orthodox monarch of Russia if I recall correctly.
Mimi and S-P,
I have the book on Princess Alice, but have not read it yet. I think that Prince Philip and his side of the family do indeed have a strong influence on Prince Charles. It is interesting to see how many Western royals "took" to Orthodoxy when they married into the Russian and Greek (who were Danish converts) royal families. St. Elizabeth and her sister the Empress Alexandra are prime examples, but there are many more. I have also heard that Prince Philip quietly returned to Orthodoxy in 1991 or 92. Charles' fascination with Orthodoxy is not hard to figure, given his quiet, introspective nature. I have read that he is frustrated beyond belief with the Anglican Church, whom he sees as being run by a bunch of weenies.
Perhaps there is an angle that you should consider: Charles, like his mentor Laurens van der Post has frequently expressed interest in the transcendental unity of religions, as in the mode of Martin Lings and Fritjof Schuon.
The short of it, is an interest in orthodoxy in its various guises, Islamic, Hindu, and so on. I have personally heard Muslim sufis speak of Charles as a closet Muslim. God knows best, and I hope he will abandon this course.
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