Prince Charles participated in a global issues forum Wednesday in Washington, D.C., hosted by the University-affiliated Presidential Precinct at the National Archives.
Titled “Magna Carta 2015: Global Empowerment Through Rule of Law,” the forum brought together young leaders from twenty countries to meet with the Prince of Wales and various policy experts to discuss law, the economy, gender equality, climate change and conflict.
Prior to Prince Charles’ arrival, Gregory Fairchild, Darden’s E. Thayer Bigelow associate professor of business administration, led a town hall meeting to discuss the relevance of the Magna Carta and its role today.
“[I] lead a town hall meeting of around twenty young leaders who were selected by the state department, and encouraged them to think about the document and generate ideas that would be useful in their home countries,” Fairchild said.
Attendees were split into four groups, each of which later spoke with the prince about issues facing contemporary society. Prince Charles stayed for an hour, shaking hands with everyone in attendance, and Presidential Precinct founder Jim Murray presented him with a medallion. Presidential Precinct Managing Director Neal Piper said Prince Charles is a very talented leader and that it was an honor to have him.
“He’s an extraordinary leader who’s very humble,” Piper said. “We were honored to host him.”
Piper said the idea behind the forum was to have an event that aligned with the 800-year anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.
“This event itself was about a year in the making, around a year ago we started reaching out to Prince Charles’ office,” Piper said.
The Presidential Precinct is a consortium of six American institutions, all based in Virginia — the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary as well as Monticello, Montpelier, Ash-Lawn Highland and Morven. Murray said the goal was to create a platform to foster greater education about democracy and law.
Wednesday’s forum was live streamed online and was watched by around 1500 people from 34 different countries, Piper said.
In addition to Prince Charles, attendees included Jeff Legro, Taylor Professor of Politics and vice provost for global affairs at the University, who ran a panel on climate and conflict, AMAR President Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne and Steve Hanson, former William and Mary vice provost for international affairs, among others.
Prince Charles toured the Rotunda and the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives to view the original 1297 iteration of the Magna Carta. He also made stops at various historic sites in the D.C. area.
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