To Play the King

Prince Charles has decided his staff should bicycle everywhere and that he himself should practice what he preaches, up to a point:

Although aides have been looking into his catching an ordinary commuter train from Kemble station, near his Highgrove estate, Gloucs, they said yesterday that he was yet to use it.

Travelling by public transport would the most environmentally-friendly mode for the prince, who has said it was his desire to reduce carbon emissions — and not his advancing years — that led to his decision to give up playing polo, because time restrictions forced him to catch a helicopter to games.

But, inevitably, there are security issues. A first-class carriage would have to be sealed off and guarded.

Royal accounts show that it costs taxpayers £13 per mile to transport a royal by air, compared to £41 per mile by royal train.

“There are some issues where the environmental cost and the financial cost have got to be weighed,” said the aide.

We wonder how much it would cost his future subjects, in terms of closing down highways for security reasons, if he biked everywhere.

Uneasy lies the head that shall wear the crown…