Prince Charles is the focus of a new Time Magazine article, in which the heir to the British throne talks about his fears and hopes for his future role as the head of the monarchy. A widely quoted portion of the article claims that Charles isn’t very excited about becoming king, despite his historic wait. Both the Royal Family and the article’s author have tried to explain exactly what was said.

The BBC reports that the story features a quote from an anonymous official who claims that Charles is worried that he won’t achieve all his personal goals before “the prison shades” close and he becomes king.

However, a Clarence House spokesman claimed that the prince is not reluctant to take on the duties of a king. “This is not the Prince of Wales's view and should not be attributed to him as he did not say these words,” the statement read. “The prince has dutifully supported the Queen all his life and his official duties and charitable work have always run in parallel.”

Catherine Mayer, Time’s editor at large and the author of the article, has said that the quote was taken out of context. Charles didn’t mean that being king would make it difficult for him to fulfill his philanthropic causes.

“I'm not saying that ... he is unwilling or not wanting to be king or to take on the duties of the monarch. What the quote was about was the restrictions on his time,” she told SkyNews. “The person in the quotation was not suggesting that he views being monarch as prison. That would be a completely inaccurate understanding of it.”

Mayer said that the point of her story was to bridge the gap between the Prince and how the public views him. “This is not about his wanting to be king, what this is about is, far from having sat impatiently wanting to be king, Prince Charles is one of the world's great philanthropists. He has funded more than 25 charities,” she said. “What the problem is about is how to manage his time as he takes on more of the Queen's duties.”

Charles is now 64 and a grandfather, now that Prince William and Duchess Katherine are parents to Prince George.

image: Time Magazine