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Charles III Profile
Charles III, Prince of Wales, is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has been heir apparent as well as Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay since 1952 and is both the oldest and the longest-serving heir apparent in British history.
Charles III Age
Charles III was born Charles Philip Arthur George and is 76 years old as of 2023. He was born on 14th November 1948 in Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom. He celebrates his birthday on the 14th of November every year.
Charles III coronation
Charles III acceded to the British throne at the age of 73 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022, and is scheduled to be proclaimed king by the Accession Council shortly afterward. Plans have been made for Charles III’s coronation under the code name Operation Golden Orb.
On May 6, King Charles III will become the 40th monarch of the United Kingdom to be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, while his wife Camilla will be anointed as the queen consort. Millions of people in the UK and around the globe will be watching the coronation event and attending celebrations
Charles III Bachelorhood
Charles’s girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of Sir John Russell, who was British ambassador to Spain; Lady Jane Wellesley, the daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington; Davina Sheffield; Lady Sarah Spencer; and Camilla Shand, who later became his second wife and Duchess of Cornwall.
Early in 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with Charles about a potential marriage to Amanda Knatchbull, who was Mountbatten’s granddaughter. Charles wrote to Amanda’s mother—Lady Brabourne, who was also his godmother—expressing interest in her daughter, to which she replied approvingly, though she suggested that a courtship with the not-yet 17-year-old girl was premature.
Four years later, Mountbatten arranged for Amanda and himself to accompany Charles on his 1980 tour of India. Both fathers, however, objected; Philip feared that Charles would be eclipsed by his famous uncle (who had served as the last British Viceroy and first Governor-General of India), while Lord Brabourne warned that a joint visit would concentrate media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple.
However, in August 1979, before Charles would depart alone for India, Mountbatten was killed by the IRA. When Charles returned, he proposed to Amanda, but in addition to her grandfather, she had lost her paternal grandmother and youngest brother Nicholas in the bomb attack and was now reluctant to join the royal family.
In June 1980, Charles officially turned down Chevening House, placed at his disposal since 1974, as his future residence. Chevening, a stately home in Kent, was bequeathed, along with an endowment, to the Crown by the last Earl Stanhope, Amanda’s childless great-uncle, in the hope that Charles would eventually occupy it. In 1977, a newspaper report mistakenly announced his engagement to Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg.
Charles III Family
He was born in Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948, during the reign of his maternal grandfather George VI, as the first child of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was baptized there by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948.
The death of his grandfather and the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 made Charles the heir apparent. As the monarch’s eldest son, he automatically assumed the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. He attended his mother’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.
Charles III Education
He was born in Buckingham Palace, the first child of his mother and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; he was the first grandchild of King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth. Charles was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, both of which his father attended as a child.
He later spent a year at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer, with whom he had two sons, Prince William, and Prince Harry.
In 1996, the couple divorced after they had each engaged in well-publicized extramarital affairs. Diana died as a result of a car crash in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-time partner, Camilla Parker Bowles.
As was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, making him the first heir apparent to be educated in that manner.
On 7 November 1956, Charles commenced classes at Hill House School in West London. He did not receive preferential treatment from the school’s founder and headmaster, Stuart Townend, who advised the Queen to have Charles train in football because the boys were never deferential to anyone on the football field.
He then attended two of his father’s former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, from 1958, followed by Gordonstoun in the northeast of Scotland, beginning classes there in April 1962.
Charles III Marriage to Lady Diana Spencer
He first met Lady Diana Spencer in 1977 while he was visiting her home, Althorp. He was the companion of her elder sister, Sarah, and did not consider Diana romantically until mid-1980. While Charles and Diana were sitting together on a bale of hay at a friend’s barbecue in July, she mentioned that he had looked forlorn and in need of care at the funeral of his granduncle Lord Mountbatten.
Soon, according to Charles’s chosen biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, “without any apparent surge in feeling, he began to think seriously of her as a potential bride”, and she accompanied Charles on visits to Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House. Charles’s cousin Norton Knatchbull and his wife told Charles that Diana appeared awestruck by his position and that he did not seem to be in love with her.
Meanwhile, the couple’s continuing courtship attracted intense attention from the press and paparazzi. When Prince Philip told him that the media speculation would injure Diana’s reputation if Charles did not decide between marrying her soon, and realizing that she was a suitable royal bride (according to Mountbatten’s criteria), Charles construed his father’s advice as a warning to proceed without further delay. Charles proposed to Diana in February 1981; she accepted and they married in St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 July of that year.
Upon his marriage, Charles reduced his voluntary tax contribution from the profits generated by the Duchy of Cornwall from 50% to 25%. The couple lived at Kensington Palace and Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and had two children: Princes William and Henry (known as “Harry”). Charles set a precedent by being the first royal father to be present at his children’s births.
Within five years, the marriage was in trouble due to the couple’s incompatibility and near 13-year age difference. By November 1986, Charles had fully resumed his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.In a videotape recorded by Peter Settelen in 1992, Diana admitted that by 1986, she had been “deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment.”
It is thought she was referring to Barry Mannakee, who was transferred to the Diplomatic Protection Squad in 1986 after his managers had determined that his relationship with Diana had been inappropriate.
Lady Diana Spencer’s affair with Hewitt
Diana later commenced a relationship with Major James Hewitt, the family’s former riding instructor. Charles and Diana’s evident discomfort in each other’s company led to them being dubbed “The Glums” by the press. Diana exposed Charles’s affair with Camilla in a book by Andrew Morton, Diana, Her True Story. Audio tapes of her extramarital flirtations also surfaced.
Persistent suggestions that Hewitt is Prince Harry’s father have been based on a physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry. However, Harry had already been born by the time Diana’s affair with Hewitt began
Charles III children
The couple lived at Kensington Palace and Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and had two children: Princes William and Henry (known as “Harry”). Charles set a precedent by being the first royal father to be present at his children’s births. William Arthur Philip Louis; was born on 21 June 1982 in St Mary’s Hospital, London, England. Henry Charles Albert David; was born on 15 September in St Mary’s Hospital, London, England.
Charles III Legal separation and divorce
In December 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the couple’s legal separation in Parliament. Earlier that year, the British press had published transcripts of a passionate bugged telephone conversation between Charles and Camilla from 1989, which was dubbed Camillagate by the press.
Charles sought public understanding in a television film, Charles: Private Man, the Public Role, with Jonathan Dimbleby that was broadcast on 29 June 1994. In an interview in the film, he confirmed his extramarital affair with Camilla, saying that he had rekindled their association in 1986 only after his marriage to Diana had “irretrievably broken down”.
This was followed by Diana’s admission of marital troubles in an interview with the BBC current affairs show Panorama, broadcast on 20 November 1995. Referring to Charles’s relationship with Camilla, she said: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” She also expressed doubt about her husband’s suitability for kingship.
Charles and Diana divorced on 28 August 1996, after being formally advised by the Queen in December 1995 to end the marriage. Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August of the following year; Charles flew to Paris with Diana’s sisters to accompany her body back to Britain
Charles III Marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles
The engagement of Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles was announced on 10 February 2005; he presented her with an engagement ring that belonged to his grandmother. The Queen’s consent to the marriage was recorded in a Privy Council meeting on 2 March.
In Canada, the Department of Justice announced its decision that the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada was not required to meet to give its consent to the marriage, as the union would not result in offspring and would have no impact on the succession to the Canadian throne. Charles was the only member of the royal family to have a civil rather than a church wedding in England.
Government documents from the 1950s and 1960s, published by the BBC, stated that such a marriage was illegal, though these were dismissed by Charles’s spokesman, and explained to be obsolete by the sitting government. The marriage was scheduled to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious blessing at St George’s Chapel.
The venue was subsequently changed to Windsor Guildhall because a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue to be available to anyone who wished to be married there. Four days before the wedding, it was postponed from the originally scheduled date of 8 April until the following day to allow Charles and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Charles’s parents did not attend the civil marriage ceremony; the Queen’s reluctance to attend possibly arose from her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did attend the service of blessing and later held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle. The blessing, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, was televised.
Charles III broke royal tradition
He broke royal tradition a second time when he proceeded straight to university after his A-levels, rather than joining the British Armed Forces. In October 1967, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read archaeology and anthropology for the first part of the Tripos, and then changed to history for the second part.
During his second year, Charles attended the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth, studying Welsh history and language for a term. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree on 23 June 1970, the first British heir apparent to earn a university degree.
On 2 August 1975, he was awarded a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree by Cambridge. At Cambridge, a Master of Arts is an academic rank, not a postgraduate degree In his 1994 authorized biography by Jonathan Dimbleby, Elizabeth and Philip were described as physically and emotionally distant parents, with Philip being blamed for his disregard of Charles’s sensitive nature and forcing him to attend Gordonstoun, where he was bullied.
Though Charles reportedly described Gordonstoun, noted for its especially rigorous curriculum, as “Colditz in kilts”, he subsequently praised Gordonstoun, stating it had taught him “a great deal about myself and my abilities and disabilities. It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative.”
In a 1975 interview, he said he was “glad” he had attended Gordonstoun and that the “toughness of the place” was “muchly exaggerated”. He spent two terms in 1966 at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia, during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a school trip with his history tutor, Michael Collins Persse.
In 1973, Charles described his time at Timbertop as the most enjoyable part of his whole education. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father into becoming Head Boy. He left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C respectively. On his early education, Charles later remarked, “I didn’t enjoy school as much as I might have, but that was only because I’m happier at home than anywhere else
Charles III Lady Diana Spencer’s Death
Princess Diana was 36 when she died in a car crash in Paris on Sunday 31 August 1997. The crash happened at around 23 minutes past midnight in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris while the driver was fleeing the paparazzi who were pursuing the princess.
Diana passed away from internal bleeding at 4:53 in the morning firefighter on the scene of Princess Diana’s accident revealed the last words she spoke before her death in an interview with The Independent.
According to the firefighter, Xavier Gourmelon, the Princess of Wales asked: “My God, what has happened?” She was buried on 6 September 1997, in Althorp Estate, United Kingdom.
Charles III Career
As Prince of Wales, Charles undertook official duties on behalf of Elizabeth II. He founded the youth charity The Prince’s Trust in 1976, sponsors The Prince’s Charities, and is a patron, president, or member of over 400 other charities and organizations.
He has advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of architecture in society. A critic of modernist architecture, Charles has worked on the creation of Poundbury, an experimental new town based on his architectural tastes.
He is also an author or co-author of several books. A self-described environmentalist, Charles has supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, which has earned him awards and recognition from environmental groups.
He is also a prominent critic of the adoption of genetically modified food. Charles III’s support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been the subject of criticism. The conduct of his charities has also attracted criticism, with The Prince’s Foundation subject to an ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation into cash-for-honors allegations.
Charles III Prince of Wales
Charles served in the Royal Air Force and, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and two of his great-grandfathers, in the Royal Navy. During his second year at Cambridge, he requested and received Royal Air Force training, learning to fly the Chipmunk aircraft with Cambridge University Air Squadron.
On 8 March 1971, he flew himself to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell to train as a jet pilot. After the passing-out parade that September, he embarked on a naval career and enrolled in a six-week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. He then served on the guided-missile destroyer HMS Norfolk (1971–1972) and the frigates HMS Minerva (1972–1973) and HMS Jupiter (1974).
In 1974, he qualified as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Yeovilton, and then joined the 845 Naval Air Squadron, operating from HMS Hermes. He gave up flying after crash landing a BAe 146 in Islay in 1994, for which the crew was found negligent by a board of inquiry. On 9 February 1976, Charles took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last ten months of active service in the navy
Charles III Religious and philosophical interests
Charles was confirmed at age 16 by Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey at Easter 1965, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He attends services at various Anglican churches close to Highgrove and attends the Church of Scotland’s Crathie Kirk with the rest of the royal family when staying at Balmoral Castle.
In 2000, he was appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Charles has visited (amid some secrecy) Orthodox monasteries several times on Mount Athos as well as in Romania. Charles is also patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford, and in the 2000s, he inaugurated the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, which is dedicated to Islamic studies in a plural multicultural context.
Sir Laurens van der Post became a friend of Charles in 1977; he was dubbed his “spiritual guru” and was godfather to Charles’s son, Prince William. From van der Post, Charles developed a focus on philosophy and an interest in other religions. Charles expressed his philosophical views in his 2010 book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, which won a Nautilus Book Award.
In November 2016, he attended the consecration of St Thomas Cathedral, Acton, to be Britain’s first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral. In October 2019, he attended the canonization of Cardinal Newman. Charles visited Eastern Church leaders in Jerusalem in January 2020.
He culminated in an ecumenical service in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, after which he walked through that city accompanied by Christian and Muslim dignitaries. Although it had been rumored that Charles would vow to be a “Defender of the Faiths” or “Defender of Faith” as king, he stated in 2015 that he would retain the monarch’s traditional title of “Defender of the Faith”, whilst “ensuring that other people’s faiths can also be practiced”, which he sees as a duty of the Church of England
Charles III Sports
From his youth until 1992, Charles was an avid player of competitive polo. He continued to play informally, including for charity, until 2005. He was occasionally injured after falling off horses and underwent two operations in 1990 to fix fractures in his right arm. Charles also frequently took part in fox hunting until the sport was banned in the United Kingdom in 2005.
By the late 1990s, opposition to the activity was growing when Charles’s participation was viewed as a “political statement” by those who were opposed to it. The League Against Cruel Sports launched an attack against Charles after he took his sons on the Beaufort Hunt in 1999.
At that time, the government was trying to ban hunting with hounds. In 2001, he broke a small bone in his left shoulder while hunting in Derbyshire. Charles has been a keen salmon angler since his youth and supports Orri Vigfússon’s efforts to protect the North Atlantic salmon.
He frequently fishes the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, while he claims his most special angling memories are from his time in Vopnafjörður, Iceland. Charles is a supporter of Burnley Football Club
Charles III Residences and finance
Clarence House, previously the residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was Charles’s official London residence from 2003 after being renovated for £4.5 million. He previously shared Apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington Palace with his wife Diana, before moving to York House, St James’s Palace, which remained his principal residence until 2003.
As a prince, his primary source of income was generated from the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns 133,658 acres of land including farming, residential, and commercial properties, as well as an investment portfolio. Highgrove House in Gloucestershire is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, having been purchased for his use in 1980, and which King Charles rents for £336,000 per annum.
The Public Accounts Committee published its 25th report on the Duchy of Cornwall accounts in November 2013 noting that the duchy performed well in 2012–13, increasing its total income and producing an overall surplus of £19.1 million.
In 2007, Charles purchased a 192-acre property (150 acres of grazing and parkland, and 40 acres of woodland) in Carmarthenshire, and applied for permission to convert the farm into a Welsh home for him and the Duchess of Cornwall, to be rented out as holiday flats when the couple is not in residence.
A neighboring family said the proposals flouted local planning regulations, and the application was put on hold temporarily while a report was drafted on how the alterations would affect the local bat population. Charles and Camilla first stayed at the new property, called Llwynywermod, in June 2008.
They also stay at Birkhall for some holidays, which is a private residence on the Balmoral Castle estate in Scotland, and was previously used by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In 2016, it was reported that his estates received £100,000 a year in European Union agricultural subsidies. Starting in 1993, Charles has paid taxes voluntarily under the Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, updated in 2013.
In December 2012, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs were asked to investigate alleged tax avoidance by the Duchy of Cornwall. The Duchy of Cornwall is named in the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The papers show that the Duchy invested in a Bermuda-based carbon credits trading company run by one of Charles’s Cambridge contemporaries. The investment was kept secret but there is no suggestion that Charles or the estate avoided UK tax.
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