It's very easy to regard Prince Charles as an over-privileged twit with a head full of whacky ideas, and many people do.

However, there's another way of looking at him and seeing both his privileged position and his tendency to (as they say) "think outside the box" as strengths.

Despite the constitutional constraints upon him, the heir to the throne is able to swing the spotlight on to himself whenever he wants. And because he's virtually untouchable he can venture into areas of opinion where many others would fear to tread.

He's ideally placed, in fact, to be "a dissident working against the prevailing political consensus". With the revelation this week that this is the role he has chosen for himself, the Prince of Wales rose immeasurably in my estimation.

In a world in which we are being increasingly controlled and bullied into conformity, in which we are being spun the Establishment view and lied to about hugely-important matters (such as wars), in which (at least in this country) there is very little to choose between the main parties vying for our votes, we desperately need dissenting voices.

If we are told long enough and often enough what to think, there's a big danger that we'll eventually go along with it. We need people who are able to hit the headlines when they ask that ever-important question, "Why?", and shake us out of our apathy.

I was privileged to have attended Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School in the 1950s and early '60s, then a powerful force on the Bradford education scene which never discouraged pupils from asking that question. To challenge established thinking was regarded as a good thing.

That's why so many products of that school turned into bolshie, independent-minded adults.

Prince Charles would probably have felt quite at home there.

The need to question and challenge has never been greater than in the present world, where so much that is so wrong seems to be happening and where huge armies of brainwashed opinion are being mustered to howl down those who dare to pipe up with "I'm afraid I don't agree".

So here's a big welcome to Prince Charles's emergence as someone who doesn't need to pipe up but can declare it with the authority of his position behind him and, as commander-inchief of the Awkward Squad, offer encouragement and inspiration to all fellow dissidents.