Isolation and sacrifice: what Prince Charles told Kenneth Branagh about the life of a future king
The Prince of Wales confided in Sir Kenneth Branagh that he lived a life of isolation and sacrifice as he helped the actor to prepare a film adaptation of Henry V.
Sir Kenneth directed and starred in the screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s play in 1989.
He said the Prince and other members of the Royal family acknowledge that their privileged position is “an accident of birth”.
In a new interview, Sir Kenneth explained how the Prince came to act as unofficial adviser on the film.
“I thought, ‘Well, how do you find out about what that’s like?’” he said of getting inside the head of a member of the Royal family.
“I was voicing these concerns over a pint with a friend of mine who said, ‘Well, actually, you know, I do know someone who knows someone’. He said, ‘If you’re serious and you will be discreet…’ And so he arranged a number of intermediary meetings. I was very clearly screened.
“But eventually I met Prince Charles, who was very open, particularly about the burdens of expectations, and the fact of isolation. And this to me was very interesting.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Sir Kenneth went on: “It was interesting also to hear how he spoke: very quietly. People in authority often do. They don’t need to raise their voices.”
He was struck by the “degree of thoughtfulness” and attention to detail that the Prince and other members of the Royal family put into meeting members of the public.
He said the Prince had told him that he endeavoured to “particularise and individualise and make moments memorable”, and a desire “to connect with people who were often dazzled by the job title, as it were”.
The Prince also noted that most people, when encountering him at charitable events, only “became themselves” a couple of minutes before their encounter ended. “So he had to make an extra effort to make that connection and accept that there would always be a separation.
“That does something to somebody’s insides. It does something to the way they then make decisions about other people’s welfare.
'Commitment to serve'
“Built in, and I could see it in every fabric of his being, is a sense of duty, a sense of privilege, a sense of sacrifice.
“For all of the, as it were, first-class life that [the Royal family] lead, they know it’s an accident of birth and one that they need to meet by a commitment to serving others.
“And I saw in his case a genuine expression of that.”
The Prince attended the premiere of the film and remained friends with Sir Kenneth, who was among the guests at his wedding to the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005.
The actor recited the opening prologue from Henry V at a 2018 gala show to celebrate the Prince’s 70th birthday.
Sir Kenneth was speaking to the Awards Chatter podcast after his autobiographical film Belfast was nominated for seven awards including best picture, best original screenplay and best direction.
