Prince Charles could prove a 'big problem' when he becomes King, says Jeremy Paxman

Former Newsnight presenter expresses reservations despite admitting he is a monarchist

Prince Charles has been a vocal on issues including climate change, farming and architecture (Getty Images)

The Prince of Wales could prove "a big problem" once he is King, Jeremy Paxman has claimed.

The former Newsnight presenter predicted the monarch-in-waiting's reign would spell trouble "if he behaves like Prince Charles".

Declaring himself a monarchist because it was "better than any alternatives", Mr Paxman told an audience at the Buxton International Festival in Derbyshire that "we’d have ended up with a President Blair or something awful like that."

But, according to the Daily Mail, the 67-year-old added: "People say to me 'but what about Prince Charles?' My answer is it’s going to be a big problem when we get Prince Charles - if he behaves as Prince Charles.

"But I don’t think he will - the role is different. We shan’t have his views on talking to trees or whatever inflicted upon us when he’s monarch but when he’s the Prince of Wales he can do what he likes."

Jeremy Paxman said he had been forced to "come out" as a royalist (Getty)

Paxman​ went on to blame the generation who grew up in the 1960s for the current levels of distrust in politicians, saying the decade "encouraged everybody to disbelieve everyone over 30."

He said: "It has left us with an abiding distrust of institutions and authority figures. I’m not sure that’s terribly healthy."

​He added that spiritual figures had been his most interesting interviewees because they were prepared to answer "the why" to life’s big questions.

Politicians, he said, stuck to "the when, where and how".