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serendipitous moment happened
on May 26. I met Prince Charles.
This past spring I was on a Sabbatical
study leave from Columbia International
University. My family travelled to Europe
where I taught at Cliff College and we
explored the small towns of England,
before sailing to Croatia, Athens, Greece
and Ephesus in Turkey.
Following my first weekend of teaching,
and speaking at a British Jesus festival,
my wife Rhonda wanted us to visit the
Hatfield House, a country house built in
1611.
When we arrived, the sad news was given
that the home was closed for the day, but
that we could walk around the property
with its beautiful gardens, paths and a
courtyard with shoppes, cafes and pubs.
We noticed secret service all over the
place, so being curious, I asked what was
going on. “Prince Charles will be coming
shortly to visit.” I am thinking, “Wow, a
A
chance to meet Prince Charles, he’s
going to be thrilled to meet me (just
teasing).”
Our short wait turned from 30 minutes
to over an hour and a half. And then,
to our gleeful surprise, enters Prince
Charles and his entourage.
The Prince went into one of the
shoppes, and then came out the
other side of the store, in which my
son Andrew and I were positioned to
say hello. He looked out us, put his
hand out toward mine, and we shook
hands. (I was not sure if you are to touch
royalty.)
We spoke for less than a minute. He
asked me who I was, where I was from
and how long we were going to be in the
U.K. I explained that “I am from America,
was teaching in the Peak district and
would be taking a cruise to the Adriatic
seas the following week.”
And yet I could not resist one last
comment, so I piped in, “The real reason
I came here to England was to meet
you.” His response was priceless, “Well,
you’ve come to the right place.” We both
laughed, and that was our spontaneous
meeting with Prince Charles.
MEETING
PRINCE
CHARLES
By Dr. David Olshine, Professor of Youth Ministry, Family, and Culture
Prince Charles chats with Dr. David Olshine
(Photo provided by David Olshine)
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CIU Today
Winter 2016