From his work with the Prince’s Trust in deprived parts of Tottenham to his love of the outdoors, ITV trump Channel 4’s same-named offering
An awkward week in the TV programme-naming department. Hot on the heels of Channel 4’s Charles: Our New King comes an ITV documentary called Charles: Our New King. But you won’t confuse the two because Channel 4’s effort was poor and this one is significantly better.
It was made by ITN, which knows how to put these things together, and narrated by Tom Bradby, who knows the royals well enough to have launched the Harry and Meghan exit tour with that 2019 interview in South Africa. What he delivered here was a well-balanced portrait of the new monarch – broadly positive, but not without some criticism.
The programme took us on a chronological tour through the King’s life, from the misery of Gordonstoun to the doomed marriage to Diana and eventual happiness with Camilla. It was well-told and well-trodden territory, and the more interesting bits were the least familiar. They included a former pupil and a former history tutor who spent time with 16-year-old Charles at Timbertop in Australia, an outpost of Geelong Grammar School. Being outdoors and away from prying eyes was invaluable in boosting his confidence, they said, while the tutor recalled that Charles had a unique take on monarchs “because he was seeing them from within”.
We also took a trip to Poundbury in Dorset “to see Charles’ philosophies in action”. The streets looked oddly empty, and one visitor likened it to Las Vegas or Disneyland, but the architect who designed it spoke approvingly of the King being involved from day one.