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Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"

Charles visits Sri Lanka as tour starts to improve his public profile

Sandra Laville in Colombo
Monday February 28, 2005
The Guardian

Thousands of miles away from the fiasco of his wedding plans and question marks over the legality of his marriage, Prince Charles will step off a plane in Sri Lanka today to begin a two- week tour in an attempt to redeem his reputation.

Flying into Colombo - en route to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji - the prince is making a whistle-stop visit to the Tamil-dominated east of the island, where the December 26 tsunami killed around 13,000 people.

Aides said Prince Charles had requested a visit to see the progress of recovery work in Sri Lanka; the decision to avoid Galle in the south of the island and travel instead to the less visited east, came after discussions with the British high commission.

Former US presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton avoided the east of the island during their visit last week after US officials raised security concerns. But the British high commission said it was confident the prince and his party would be secure in Batticaloa, an area which is predominantly Tamil but controlled by the Sri Lankan government.

Earlier this month the political leader of the Tamil Tigers in the east was assassinated near Batticaloa, it is thought in an internecine conflict between the Tigers and a breakaway group.

The British high commission added: "There is a feeling that we want to show the people in the Tamil-dominated east that they haven't been forgotten."

After six hours in Sri Lanka, the prince will travel to Australia, a country he last visited 11 years ago while the row about the "Squidgygate" tape of conversations with Camilla Parker Bowles, was still raging.

Although it is a country he is said to love, there are fears that he may receive a cooler welcome than anticipated.

In a poll carried out by Galaxy and published in the Australian media yesterday the issue of "the Charles factor" became apparent. While support for republicanism after the referendum in 1999 remains at around 50%, it increases significantly in the event of Prince Charles becoming king.

Asked whether they would want Prince Charles as king and Camilla Parker Bowles as queen or consort, support for a republic rose from 53% to 57%, the poll showed.

The increase was largely down to a rise in women supporting a republic - from 44% to 50%.
"While the women of Australia first appeared willing to accept the John Howard argument that if it's not broke don't fix it, Prince Charles has not endeared himself to them, perhaps by not being a model husband in the past," said David Briggs, director of Galaxy.

Further emphasising the "Charles factor", 59% of those polled said he should stand down and let Prince William take the throne on the abdication or death of his grandmother.

David Flint, from Australians for a constitutional monarchy, said the poll was flawed because it was based on the assumption that the prince and his new wife would become heads of state. But it was not intended that Mrs Parker Bowles would ever be given the title of queen, he said.

Republican supporters welcomed the poll and are likely to be present when the prince arrives in Perth for a visit to a lobster fishery later today and elsewhere during his visit.

Attempts by John Warhurst, chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, to meet the prince while he is in Australia have failed. "Our letter was passed to Clarence House but we were told we couldn't meet him because his schedule was too tight," he said.

Despite possible demonstrations from anti-monarchists, the prince will be able to enjoy a respite from the criticism about his marriage arrangements. An insight into how he views the constant criticism came yesterday in an excerpt from an interview the prince gave to the BBC reporter Gavin Hewitt two years ago.

The excerpt, printed in the Mail on Sunday, revealed that the prince believed he had been shown no compassion by the British public as a result of his relationship with Mrs Parker Bowles.

"I thought the British people were supposed to be compassionate. I don't see much of it ... I don't see any reason why I should define my private life," he was reported as saying. "All my life, people have been telling me what to do. I'm tired of it. My private life has become an industry," he said. "People are making money out of it. I just want some peace"

On this front, he may find some sympathy and even wholehearted support from his Australian hosts, even among his republican foes.

Mr Warhurst told the Guardian: "Most people in Australia look at his marriage to Camilla and say: "Look mate, just get on with it and good luck to you."

aide- doradca
anticipate- antycypować, przewidywać
apparent- widoczny
assassinate- zamordować
assumption- założenie
carry out- przeprowadzić
compassion- współczucie
compassionate- współczujący
consort- małżonek (małżonka) panującego
constant- ciągły, stały
emphasise- podkreślać
en route to- po drodze do
endear (oneself to)- przymilać się (komuś)
excerpt- fragment
flawed - wadliwy, błędny
foe- wróg, przeciwnik
head of state- głowa państwa
insight- wgląd, pojęcie, wniknięcie
internecine- wyniszczający, morderczy
poll- ankieta; ankietować, badać
predominantly- przeważnie, w przeważającym stopniu
question mark- znak zapytania
rage- wściekać się, szaleć
raise- podnosić
recovery- poprawa, odbudowa
redeem - ratować, odkupywać, przywracać
respite- wytchnienie, krótki odpoczynek
reveal- wyjawiać, ujawniać
schedule- rozkład zajęć, grafik
security concerns- problemy bezpieczeństwa
significantly- znacznie
stand down- ustępować
sympathy- współczucie
view- postrzegać
whistle-stop- objazd kraju w ramach kampanii wyborczej
wholehearted- szczery, niekłamany


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