PRINCE Charles has asked a group of senior royal advisers to help him improve his public image after it emerged that most Britons do not think he should become king.
The prince is particularly concerned that his popularity has rapidly decreased since the end of his marriage and that the British public has not accepted his continuing relation ship with Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles.
His advisers have been told that his relationship with Mrs Parker Bowles is a "fact of life" and that Prince Charles will not change it.
After stressing that there was no question" of Mrs Parker Bowles becoming queen, Mr Tom Shebbeare, a director of the Prince's Trust and a member of the advice group, said there was also a perception that the British public did not fully understand all of Prince Charles's achievements.
"He has a relationship with Mrs, Parker Bowles which he has talked publicly about. There is no question of there being a Queen Camilla. He has told everybody, he has no intention of remarrying and I am sure that he will stick to that," he added.
The newly formed group, which also includes Mr Stephen Lamport, the Prince of Wales's private secretary, has met twice.
"I am not expecting him to be a different individual. What we are trying to do is to make sure that people understand what he has achieved and what he will achieve in the future and the things that are important to him," explained Mr Shebbeare.
It is believed the group intends to focus the public's attention upon Prince Charles's list of charities and his concerns about architecture and conservation.
"The Prince's Trust does an enormous amount of good work. It does get publicity, yet somehow it is not something most people immediately remember when they think of the Prince of Wales. That is what needs to be changed," he added.
Buckingham Palace insisted yesterday that there was no question of Prince Charles taking over any of Queen's duties or commitments and denied suggestions that he had a five year deadline, to coincide with his mother's golden jubilee, to improve, his image.