Prince Charles pays tribute to "my darling Mama"

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London (dpa) - Britain's Prince Charles Friday paid a personal tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth II on her 80th birthday, recalling how his "darling Mama" came to say goodnight to him wearing her crown.

The 57-year-old heir to the throne said his sentiments were those of a "proud and loving son" who wished the Queen "the happiest of happy birthdays."

In his emotional message, broadcast on radio and BBC television, Charles recalled being separated from his parents while they were on long overseas tours and speaking to them on a crackling phone line "in far-distant lands."

Charles was 5 years old when the queen was crowned in June, 1953.

"I find it hard to believe my own mother, the Queen, is today celebrating her 80th birthday", Charles said.

"It is hard to believe that my grandfather, King George VI, was the same age as I am now when he died and that my mother succeeded him when so young - the same age, in fact, as my sons are now", Charles said in a clear reference to his own, continuing wait for the throne.

He had vivid memories of the coronation, Prince Charles said.

"Of my mother coming to say goodnight to my sister and me while wearing the crown so that she could get used to its weight on her head before the coronation ceremony."

He also remembered the thousands of people gathered in The Mall outside Buckingham Palace chanting "We want the Queen" and keeping him awake at night.

Charles recalled his parents being away for long overseas tours during the 1950s and the "determined attempts to speak to them on the telephone in far-distant lands when all you could hear was the faintest of voices in a veritable storm of crackling and static interference."

"I remember so well, too, the excitement of being reunited with our parents when my sister and I sailed out in the then brand new Royal Yacht Britannia to meet them off Tobruk at the end of their Commonwealth Coronation Tour in 1954 - a tour that had lasted over six months and taken in 13 countries", he said.

"And, of course, there was the thrill - as a small boy - of witnessing the entire Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy steam past the Royal Yacht at high speed, with my mother and father waving to all the ships' companies from the afterdeck."

But there was "no doubt that the world in which my mother grew up and, indeed, the world in which she first became Queen, has changed beyond all recognition," Charles said.

"However, during all those years she has shown the most remarkable steadfastness and fortitude, always remaining a figure of reassuring calm and dependability - an example to so many of service, duty and devotion in a world of sometimes bewildering change and disorientation."

"For very nearly 60 of those 80 years she has been my darling Mama and my sentiments today are those of a proud and loving son who hopes that you will join with me in wishing the Queen the happiest of happy birthdays, together with the fervent prayer that there will be countless memorable returns of the day."