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"Wild
girl of rock to work for trust"
By Adam Nathan
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CERYS
MATTHEWS, the wild-girl lead singer of the Welsh rock band
Catatonia, is to become an ambassador for the Prince's Trust.
The
appointment means she will appear at several events through
the year for the trust, set up by the Prince of Wales to help
unemployed young people to find work and set up their own
businesses.
"It is a big dilemma for us signing stars, because we need
to be sure they are becoming associated with us for the right
reasons and not just for publicity," said a trust spokesman.
"The great thing about Cerys is that some of her friends have
been helped by the trust, so she is very genuine."
Although
Catatonia have been together for more than 10 years, they
only reached the top 10 in 1998 with hits such as Road Rage
and Mulder and Scully.
Matthews,
32, is famously hedonistic and once drunkenly joined the band
Space for a performance of their hit The Ballad of Tom Jones,
almost falling off the stage.
Prince
Charles reveals in an interview to be broadcast today that
he is a fan of Catatonia, who are due to play at the Party
in the Park open-air concert in Hyde Park today to raise money
for the trust.
The
interview, the most relaxed Charles has given in front of
a camera, was conducted in the grounds of Highgrove, his Gloucestershire
home, by Ant and Dec, the children's television presenters
who are hosting today's event and have agreed to become trust
ambassadors.
Charles's hiring of Matthews is part of a deliberate attempt
by the prince to persuade what the trust views as an "alienated"
part of Britain's youth generation to become interested in
helping others.
"Charles
understands that to get young people interested in the trust's
charitable work he needs to be associated with the people
they respect," said the trust spokesman. "He wants to target
alienated youth."
In
the interview, Charles says he hopes Princes William and Harry
will become involved in the trust's work. "Our ideal would
be for one of the princes to take it over," said an official.
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