Charles, the first son of Queen Elizabeth II, has taken the throne following her death. Charles, 73, had held the title of Prince of Wales—reserved for aspiring British kings—for the longest period in the monarchy’s history.
King Charles III will be the new monarch, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.
Charles has been the first modern heir to the British throne in many ways, including the fact that he attended school rather than receiving private tutoring at the palace and later completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Cambridge.
Charles has been the first modern heir to the British throne in many ways, including the fact that he attended school rather than receiving private tutoring at the palace and later completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Cambridge.
The young prince later served in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, spending the 1970s aboard several warships.
Rock-and-roll, mission-critical love life of Charles
The women he has shared his public life with have played a significant role in shaping Charles’ life in many ways. Finding a wife and bearing children was the boy-who-would-be-most king’s important responsibility from an early age.
Although there were hints of the problems that would arise right away, Lady Diana Spencer seemed to be the ideal partner. He was 32, she was 20, and their wedding made international headlines.
Princes William and Harry were dutifully followed by two sons.
But it soon became clear to everyone that the royal couple wasn’t content with each other. The tabloids dubbed them “The Glums” as more and more images of them revealed them to be distant.
Prince Charles frequently unintentionally portrayed himself as the villain for a voracious tabloid press in their highly public divorce drama.
When asked after their breakup if Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles’ longtime love interest and confidante, played a role in their relationship’s dissolution.
Charles’ reputation was so damaged after Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 that many people questioned whether he would ever be king at all. The prince didn’t come out from under the cloud until he had established himself as a loving father to his two grieving sons over years.
But he did survive, and in 2005, he married Camilla in England in the first nonreligious civil ceremony ever for a British royal.
Early in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II herself, clearly wanting no doubt to linger over her intentions, 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 loyal service” to Britain.
Charles and Camilla were “deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother’s wish,” according to a statement they released.
A prince’s “crazy” interests
Prince Charles focused his efforts on the various charities and other causes he supported, not all of them hugely popular movements in their day after his life partner and future heirs were determined.
He claimed in 2016 that he had “spent most of my life trying to propose and initiate things that, frankly, very few people could see the point of.” Maybe some of them are starting to see some pioneering in all this apparent madness now.
The remark made by the man who would eventually become King Charles III was both an example of his endearingly wry sense of humor and an arguably acceptable humblebrag by a royal who had been a pioneer in embracing ideas like organic farming, nature preservation, and the urgency of addressing climate change.
Through his charitable work, he has continued to be a fervent supporter of causes ranging from environmental protection to community empowerment. More than 400 nonprofit organizations have benefited from the Prince of Wales’ support as their patron or president.
“I find myself born into this particular position,” he once told an interviewer. “I’m 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.”
The presidents and the prince
Prince Charles is accustomed to navigating the political hierarchy on the other side of the Atlantic. He has met every president of the United States since Jimmy Carter and has made at least 20 trips to Washington.
At the COP26 climate conference in Scotland in November 2021, he crossed paths with President Biden. Commending Charles for starting “the whole thing going,” Mr. Biden praised the prince for his environmental leadership and reportedly told him: “We need you badly… and I’m not just saying that.”
Charles was supposed to have a 15-minute conversation with former President Donald Trump during his state visit to the UK in 2019, but they ended up speaking for an hour and a half.
“What moved me is his passion for future generations,” said Trump. “He wants to make sure future generations have a climate that is a good climate, as opposed to a disaster, and I agree.”
During a three-day trip to the United States in 2015, Charles had a second meeting with then-President Barack Obama. Obama stated in the Oval Office that the American people “like the royal family quite a bit,” even joking that they “like them much better than they like their politicians.”
I don’t believe that” the royal retorted.
