So, England, how does it feel to have a hereditary moron like Prince Charles fluttering about the country?

The Prince of Wales has blamed a lack of belief in the soul for the world’s environmental problems, and said that the planet cannot sustain a population expected to reach 9 billion in 40 years.

He said he found it “baffling” that so many scientists professed a faith in God yet this had little bearing on the “damaging” way science was used to exploit the natural world.

The Prince pinned part of the blame on Galileo. Criticising the profit imperative behind much scientific research, he said: “This imbalance, where mechanistic thinking is so predominant, goes back at least to Galileo’s assertion that there is nothing in nature but quantity and motion.

“This is the view that continues to frame the general perception of the way the world works, and how we fit within the scheme of things.

“As a result, Nature has been completely objectified — ‘She’ has become an ‘it’ — and we are persuaded to concentrate on the material aspect of reality that fits within Galileo’s scheme.” The Prince said that he believed “green technology” alone could not resolve the world’s environmental problems. Instead, the West must do something about its “deep, inner crisis of the soul”.

Oh, yes — if only we’d return to regarding Nature as feminine, whatever that means, and start believing in souls, we could fix all environmental problems. He’s not very specific, though — could he make some clear suggestions about how pretending the planet is a lady will solve, say, global warming or the oil spill in the Gulf?

Don’t be too embarrassed, UK readers. It could be worse. If Charles were an American, he’d be getting elected to his position as ceremonial woo-meister. At least you can blame it all on the vagaries of the genetic lottery and a royally pampered upbringing.