Prince Charles' View of Islam

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," October 19, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight, Prince Charles and his wife are in D.C. tonight to dine with President Bush and his wife. Big bash for the royals.

And one of the things Charles is passionate about, according to the British press, is Islam. I didn't know that. The Sunday London Telegraph reports Prince Charles believes the USA has been too intolerant of Islam since 9/11 and was going to address the issue with Mr. Bush. I find that hard to believe.

With us now, Harry Mount, the New York bureau chief for The Daily Telegraph.

Right, you're on The Daily Telegraph. The Sunday paper, you don't have anything to do with, correct?

HARRY MOUNT, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: That's correct.

O'REILLY: I can't imagine that Prince Charles is going to come over here and say to President Bush, hey, come here you. I want to talk to you about Islam. I can't see it.

MOUNT: Yes, no, he wouldn't in a million years. He's far too polite. And I think that's one of his great frustrations. He's never really allowed to say in public what he really feels.

O'REILLY: Well, he could if he wanted to. Who's going to scold him?

MOUNT: Well...

O'REILLY: The Queen or the papers? Hey, haven't the papers raked the guy over the coals enough? What else can they do to him?

MOUNT: Well, his mother and father. These things get to him. And she, the Queen, never in 150 years has she ever said anything believed to be controversial. And she's - as a result...

O'REILLY: Yes, but he should be his own man. Does he have an affinity for Islam?

MOUNT: I think he has an affinity for all sorts of mystical religions, if I can put it like that. So he's on a soul-searching mission. He's not a very happy man. And I've got to say it. He's not really a very intelligent man. So...

O'REILLY: He's not?

MOUNT: I don't think so. He didn't do well at school. He didn't do well at Cambridge. And he's also got the terrible thing is everybody always saying yes to him, every single advisor.

O'REILLY: He didn't -- he was on "60 MINUTES" on Sunday. He didn't come across as a dunderhead. He looked tentative. I don't think he trusts the press. And I don't blame him.

Now certainly Islam is not a mystical religion. Islam is a hard-core religion that is based upon a fervent belief in Allah. Nothing mystical about it, you know. It's into Allah, if Allah wills it, Allah really controls what people do on a daily basis.

It's not like Buddhism or some philosophical Tao thing.

MOUNT: Sure. I don't know how much he knows about the ins and outs, but what he's obsessed with is the spiritual qualities of religion. So it's Islam one day. The next day, it might be Greek orthodox religion. He goes off to Greek orthodox monasteries in the middle of Greece sometimes.

O'REILLY: Does he?

MOUNT: Yes.

O'REILLY: Has he studied Islam at all? Do you know if he's had any spiritual...

MOUNT: No. There's been no revelation along those lines. But he -- certainly at his house in the countryside in England, he's got Islamic tiles. He likes the spiritual aspect...

O'REILLY: Islamic tile?

MOUNT: Yes, exactly. So he'd like all the - he'd like to sort of pick from the different religions.

O'REILLY: All right, but is it fair for the Sunday Telegraph then to say he thinks that the USA has been intolerant of Islam since 9/11? I don't -- based on what you're telling me, that doesn't sound like it's a fair deal.

MOUNT: What they're going on is a quote four years ago shortly after 9/11 when apparently in private, he said he thought that Bush had been too confrontational in his language over Islam. Now I can believe he might have said that.

O'REILLY: So do I.

MOUNT: Yes.

O'REILLY: But I don't think it's a big deal.

Now you got a big problem with Islam in Britain and obviously in France. We're seeing the riots in France, seven days of them.

MOUNT: Yes.

O'REILLY: This is a growing problem for almost every European country, is it not?

MOUNT: Certainly is. Yes, and particularly after the bombings we had in the summer, which were home-grown bombers. And that was a real shock.

O'REILLY: Was there backlash against Muslims in Britain because of the bombings?

MOUNT: No, neither then nor after 9/11, no. There never has been. But it is striking that they were home-grown. I didn't think it would ever get there.

O'REILLY: I think there's a lot of fear, you know, in the French situation, I think there's a lot of fear because the numbers are so great. You know, you guys have let so many Muslims come into your country, both in Britain, France, and the rest of Western Europe, boy, oh, boy. I mean, and these riots are intense.

MOUNT: Sure. I don't think it's to do with the numbers. I think it's to do with the way we treat them.

Over here, I've been to Michigan...

O'REILLY: Right.

MOUNT: ...where there are plenty of Muslims in there. Yes, and they're very, very loyal Americans.

O'REILLY: Yes.

MOUNT: And they have to swear to the, you know, oath of allegiance. We don't have to do any of that. Or...

O'REILLY: Yes.

MOUNT: ...not (INAUDIBLE) in Britain do.

O'REILLY: There's also an apartheid over in Europe. They all live together and they're not treated well, so they think. And I don't know. I can't really report on that.

Mr. Mount, thanks very much. And we hope the prince has a nice time at the White House tonight.

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