74-year-old Charles Philip Arthur George’ became the United Kingdom’s new King after her mother, Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September, last year. He had been the Prince of Wales, the title reserved for future British kings-in-waiting, for the longest term in the history of the UK’s monarchy. The Prince’s mother was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 25, when her father, King George VI, died aged 56 on 6 February 1952. On The Queen’s accession to the throne, Prince Charles – as the Sovereign’s eldest son – became heir apparent at the age of three.
Charles has been on waiting for the longest ever period to be crowned as the King of the UK. Here’s everything about King Charles III:
First Modern Heir To Throne
In many ways, Charles has been the first modern heir to the British throne. He is the first monarch to have gone through formal school education as all his were educated by private tutors, according to a Reuters report. Charles went to Hill House school in West London.
After 10 months, the 9-year-old Prince became a boarder at Cheam School, a preparatory school in Berkshire. In 1958, while The Prince was at Cheam, The Queen created him The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
According to CBS News, he was then sent to Gordonstoun, a tough boarding school in Scotland where Philip had also studied. The Prince, who had already passed six O Levels, also took A Levels and was awarded a grade B in history and a C in French, together with a distinction in an optional special history paper in July 1967.
Charles spent two terms at Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.
He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, to study archaeology and physical and social anthropology but later changed to history. Charles also spent a term at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth learning Welsh.
The young Charles then served in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, being deployed on several warships during the 1970s.
Love For Sports, Art And Music
Charles loved skiing, surfing, and scuba diving when he was young and was also a keen polo player for more than 40 years until he finally retired from the sport in 2005, aged 57, Reuters reported, as quoted by CBS News.
He played competitively until 1993 and once also suffered a double fracture to his right arm after a fall which required surgery and a bone graft. The report mentioned that he also rode as an amateur jockey in six races in 1980-81, coming second on two occasions but also being unseated twice.
The monarch is also passionate about the arts and has often quoted Shakespeare in the aftermath of succeeding his mother Queen Elizabeth. Not only this, he played piano trumpet and cello while in school and appeared in a number of theatrical productions including the lead in a production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. He loves opera and classical music and also cites Leonard Cohen as one of his favourites, according to the Royal Family website.
As Prince of Wales in 2000, he also revived a tradition of having an official harpist. He is also a keen painter and had a watercolour displayed in the Royal Academy’s 1987 summer exhibition after it was submitted anonymously, the Royal Family website reported.
Military Career
According to the Royal Family website, Charles was invested as Prince of Wales by The Queen on 1 July 1969 in a colourful ceremony at Caernarfon Castle. Before the investiture The Prince had spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, learning to speak Welsh.
The Prince qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes. On 9 February 1976, The Prince took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last nine months in the Navy. On 11 February 1970, he took his seat in the House of Lords.
On 8 March 1971 The Prince flew himself to Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell in Lincolnshire, to train as a jet pilot. At his own request, The Prince had received flying instruction from the RAF during his second year at Cambridge.
In September 1971 after the passing out parade at Cranwell, The Prince embarked on a naval career, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and both his great-grandfathers.
Charles, Princess Diana And Camilla
Charles married Lady Diana Spencer On 29 July 1981. He was 32, she was 20, and their wedding was a worldwide media spectacle. They had two sons, Princes William and Harry. However, it was evident the royal couple wasn’t happy together. CBS reported that many tabloids labelled them, “The Glums.”
Once Princess Diana was asked post-split whether she thought Charles’ long-time confidant Camilla Parker Bowles had been a reason for the breakdown of her relationship, she said: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Charle’s image suffered a massive blow when Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997. Many wondered if he could ever become king at all. It literally took him years to be seen as the dedicated father to his two grieving sons, William and Harry.
Thereafter, he married Camilla in 2005 in the first non-religious, civil ceremony ever for a British royal in England.
The report stated that early in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II said that when Charles did become king, it was her “sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service” to Britain.
Buckingham Palace on April 5 unveiled the royal invitations for the Coronation ceremony of King Charles III and “Queen Camilla” at Westminster Abbey, featuring a floral and leafy pattern to be printed on recycled paper. The invitation revealed that Camilla will drop the “consort” from her title after the occasion and be known thereafter simply as Queen Camilla.
Charles And Charities
Prince Charles has concentrated his efforts on the various charities and other causes that he’s supported of which, not all, were hugely popular initiatives in their day. The King has been instrumental in establishing more than 20 charities over 40 years, including The Prince’s Trust, The Prince’s Foundation and The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), as per the Royal Family website.
As per a CBS News report, Charles in 2016 said, “I suppose I have spent most of my life trying to propose and initiate things that very few people could see the point of, or, frankly, thought were plain bonkers…perhaps some of them are now beginning to recognize a spot of pioneering in all this apparent madness?”
Over the decades, The Prince of Wales launched a number of sustainability initiatives aimed at delivering practical outcomes. In late 2019, he launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative. As well as addressing environmental challenges, The King promoted a more sustainable approach to planning and designing homes and communities in ways that enhance and add to the social, natural and built environment, the Royal Family website reported.
He was ahead of many in embracing concepts such as organic farming, nature conservancy and the urgency of confronting climate change. As Prince of Wales, Charles continued to be a passionate advocate through his charity work for everything from environmental conservation to community empowerment, the report added.
He first spoke publicly about his concerns about pollution and plastics and their impact on the natural world in 1970. He often carries out tree-planting ceremonies during engagements. After planting each tree, His Majesty gives a branch a friendly shake to wish them well.
He once told in an interview, “I find myself born into this particular position…I am determined to make the most of it and do whatever I can to help and, I hope, leave things behind a little bit better than I found them.”
Charles And US Presidents
King Charles has visited Washington at least 20 times and has met every American president since Jimmy Carter, CBS News reported.
He met President Biden in November 2021 at the COP26 climate conference in Scotland. Biden praised the then-prince for his leadership on environmental matters and reportedly told him: “We need you badly… and I’m not just saying that.”
Charles also met former US President Donald Trump during latter’s visit to the UK in 2019. Notably, he was scheduled to sit down for about 15 minutes with Trump, but they ended up talking for an hour and a half.
Trump, who has often stoked controversy over his views on climate change, later said Charles “did most of the talking,” but he described the royal as “a very good person” who was “really into climate change.”
“What moved me is his passion for future generations,” said Trump. “He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate, as opposed to a disaster, and I agree.”
In 2015, Charles met then-US President Barack Obama for the second time during a three-day visit to the US. Obama had then said that the American people were “quite fond of the royal family,” and even suggested they “like them much better than they like their own politicians.”