Charles III

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Charles III
King of the United Kingdom
and other Commonwealth realms[note 1]
Reign8 September 2022 – present
Coronation6 May 2023
PredecessorElizabeth II
Heir apparentWilliam, Prince of Wales
BornPrince Charles of Edinburgh
(1948-11-14) 14 November 1948 (age 75)
Buckingham Palace, London, England
Spouses
  • Diana Spencer
    (m. 1981; div. 1996)
  • Camilla Parker Bowles
    (m. 2005)
Gordonstoun School
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge (MA)
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch
Years of active service1971–1976
RankFull list
Commands heldHMS Bronington

Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is

King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.[note 1]

Charles was born in

Camilla Parker Bowles
.

As heir apparent, Charles undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of his mother. He founded

the Prince's Trust in 1976, sponsored the Prince's Charities, and became patron or president of more than 800 other charities and organisations. He advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of architecture in society. In that vein, he generated the experimental new town of Poundbury. An environmentalist, Charles supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change during his time as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, earning him awards and recognition as well as criticism; he is also a prominent critic of the adoption of genetically modified food, while his support for alternative medicine has been criticised. He has authored or co-authored 17 books
.

Charles became king upon his mother's death in 2022. At the age of 73 he was the oldest person to accede to the British throne, after having been the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British history. Significant events in his reign have included his coronation in 2023, and his cancer diagnosis the following year, the latter of which temporarily suspended planned public engagements.

Early life, family, and education

An infant Charles in a white christening gown with his parents and grandparents
Christening of Charles (centre, wearing the royal christening gown) in 1948: (from left to right) his grandfather King George VI; his mother, Princess Elizabeth, holding him; his father, Philip; and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth

Charles was born at 21:14 (

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[3] He was delivered by Caesarean section at Buckingham Palace.[4] His parents had three more children, Anne (born 1950), Andrew (born 1960) and Edward (born 1964). On 15 December 1948, at four weeks old, he was christened Charles Philip Arthur George in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.[note 4][note 5][8][9]

Edward III in 1337, and as the monarch's eldest son, he automatically assumed the traditional titles of Duke of Cornwall and, in the Scottish peerage, the titles Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.[10] On 2 June the following year, Charles attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey.[11]

When Charles turned five, a governess known as Catherine Peebles, was appointed to oversee his education at Buckingham Palace.[12] Charles then commenced classes at Hill House School in west London in November 1956.[13] He was the first heir apparent to attend school, rather than be educated by a private tutor.[14] 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.[15] Charles subsequently attended two of his father's former schools: Cheam School in Hampshire,[16] from 1958,[13] followed by Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland, beginning classes there in April 1962.[13][17]

A young Prince Charles with his mother, Elizabeth II; his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; and his sister, Princess Anne
With his parents and sister Anne, October 1957

In his 1994 authorised biography by

GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C respectively.[20][23] On his 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".[19]

Charles broke royal tradition when he proceeded straight to university after his A-levels, rather than joining the

Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree.[20]

Prince of Wales

Charles was created

Welsh nationalist sentiment.[28] He took his seat in the House of Lords the following year[29] and he delivered his maiden speech on 13 June 1974,[30] the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884.[31] He spoke again in 1975.[32]

Charles began to take on more public duties, founding

governor-general of Australia, at the suggestion of Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser; however, because of a lack of public enthusiasm, nothing came of the proposal.[35] In reaction, Charles commented, "so, what are you supposed to think when you are prepared to do something to help and you are just told you're not wanted?"[36]

Military training and career

Charles served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy. During his second year at Cambridge, he received Royal Air Force training, learning to fly the Chipmunk aircraft with the Cambridge University Air Squadron,[37][38] and was presented with his RAF wings in August 1971.[39]

Three county-class destroyers sailing in the English Channel
(Front to back) HMS Norfolk, London, and Antrim in the English Channel following joint exercises with the RAF in December 1971. Charles was serving aboard the Norfolk at this time.

After the

BAe 146 in Islay in 1994, as a passenger who was invited to fly the aircraft; the crew was found negligent by a board of inquiry.[42]

Relationships and marriages

Bachelorhood

In his youth, Charles was amorously linked to a number of women. His girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of

Camilla Shand, who later became his second wife.[47]

Portrait of Charles seated
Photograph by Allan Warren, 1972

Charles's great-uncle

Amanda Knatchbull, Mountbatten's granddaughter.[49] Charles wrote to Amanda's mother, Lady Brabourne, who was also his godmother, expressing interest in her daughter. Lady Brabourne replied approvingly, but suggested that a courtship with a 16-year-old was premature.[50] Four years later, Mountbatten arranged for Amanda and himself to accompany Charles on his 1980 visit to India. Both fathers, however, objected; Prince Philip feared that his famous uncle[note 6] would eclipse Charles, while Lord Brabourne warned that a joint visit would concentrate media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple.[51]

In August 1979, before Charles would depart alone for India,

younger brother in the bomb attack and was now reluctant to join the royal family.[51]

Lady Diana Spencer

With Diana during their visit to Uluru in Australia, March 1983

Charles first met

Lady Diana Spencer in 1977, while he was visiting her home, Althorp. He was then 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 great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. Soon, according to 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.[52]

Charles's cousin

Harry, in 1984.[14]

Charles giving a speech at a podium, with Diana standing to his right
With Diana at the Alberta Legislature Building
in Edmonton, Canada, June 1983

Within five years, the marriage was in trouble due to the couple's incompatibility and near 13-year age difference.[56][57] By November 1986, Charles had fully resumed his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.[58] In a videotape recorded by Peter Settelen in 1992, Diana admitted that she had been "deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment."[59][60] It was assumed that she was referring to Barry Mannakee,[61] who had been transferred to the Diplomatic Protection Squad in 1986, after his managers determined his relationship with Diana had been inappropriate.[60][62] Diana later commenced a relationship with Major James Hewitt, the family's former riding instructor.[63]

Charles and Diana's evident discomfort in each other's company led to them being dubbed "The Glums" by the press.[64] Diana exposed Charles's affair with Parker Bowles in a book by Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story. Audio tapes of her own extramarital flirtations also surfaced,[64] as did persistent suggestions that Hewitt is Prince Harry's father, based on a physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry. However, Harry had already been born by the time Diana's affair with Hewitt began.[65]

In December 1992,

Camillagate" and "Tampongate".[66] Charles subsequently sought public understanding in a television film with Dimbleby, Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role, broadcast in June 1994. In an interview in the film, Charles confirmed his own extramarital affair with Parker Bowles, saying that he had rekindled their association in 1986, only after his marriage to Diana had "irretrievably broken down".[67][68] This was followed by Diana's own admission of marital troubles in an interview on the BBC current affairs show Panorama, broadcast in November 1995.[69] Referring to Charles's relationship with Parker Bowles, 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.[70] Charles and Diana divorced on 28 August 1996,[71] after being advised by the Queen in December 1995 to end the marriage.[72] The couple shared custody of their children.[73]

Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. Charles flew to Paris with Diana's sisters to accompany her body back to Britain.[74] In 2003, Diana's butler Paul Burrell published a note that he claimed had been written by Diana in 1995, in which there were allegations that Charles was "planning 'an accident' in [Diana's] car, brake failure and serious head injury", so that he could remarry.[75] When questioned by the Metropolitan Police inquiry team as a part of Operation Paget, Charles told the authorities that he did not know about his former wife's note from 1995 and could not understand why she had those feelings.[76]

Camilla Parker Bowles

Charles and Camilla stand next to each other.
With Camilla in Jamaica, March 2008

The engagement of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles was announced on 10 February 2005.

Canadian throne.[79]

Charles was the only member of the royal family to have a civil, rather than a church, wedding in England. British government documents from the 1950s and 1960s, published by the BBC, stated that such a marriage was illegal; these claims were dismissed by Charles's spokesman[80] and explained by the sitting government to have been repealed by the Registration Service Act 1953.[81]

The union was scheduled to take place in a civil ceremony at

funeral of Pope John Paul II.[82]

Charles's parents did not attend the marriage ceremony; the Queen's reluctance to attend possibly arose from her position as

service of blessing and held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle.[84] The blessing by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was televised.[85]

Official duties

Black and white photograph of Charles in Gujarat with a crowd of people, 1980
With Harichand Megha Dalaya at Amul, in Anand, Gujarat, December 1980

In 1965, Charles undertook his first public engagement by attending a student garden party at the

Royal Collection Trust met three times a year under his chairmanship.[91] Charles also represented his mother at the independence celebrations in Fiji in 1970,[92] the Bahamas in 1973,[93] Papua New Guinea in 1975,[94] Zimbabwe in 1980,[95] and Brunei in 1984.[96]

In 1983,

.22 rifle at the Queen in 1981, attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital in order to assassinate Charles, who was visiting New Zealand with Diana and William.[97] While Charles was visiting Australia on Australia Day in January 1994, David Kang fired two shots at him from a starting pistol in protest of the treatment of several hundred Cambodian asylum seekers held in detention camps.[98] In 1995, Charles became the first member of the royal family to visit the Republic of Ireland in an official capacity.[99] In 1997, Charles represented the Queen at the Hong Kong handover ceremony.[100][101]

Charles shaking hands with a crowd
Charles's ninth tour of New Zealand in 2015

In March 1998 Charles had laser

keyhole surgery on his right knee.[102] In March 2003 he underwent surgery at King Edward VII's Hospital to treat a hernia injury.[103] At the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, he caused controversy when he shook hands with the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who had been seated next to him. Charles's office subsequently released a statement saying that he could not avoid shaking Mugabe's hand and that he "finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent".[104] In 2008 a non-cancerous growth was removed from his nasal bridge.[102]

Charles represented the Queen at the

student protests when their car was attacked by protesters.[106] In November 2013, he represented the Queen for the first time at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[107]

Charles and Camilla made their first joint trip to the Republic of Ireland in May 2015. The trip was called an important step in "promoting peace and reconciliation" by the British Embassy.

D-Day
on 5 June 2019

Commonwealth heads of government decided at their 2018 meeting that Charles would be the next Head of the Commonwealth after the Queen.[110] The head is chosen and therefore not hereditary.[111] In March 2019, at the request of the British government, Charles and Camilla went on an official tour of Cuba, making them the first British royals to visit the country. The tour was seen as an effort to form a closer relationship between Cuba and the United Kingdom.[112]

Charles contracted

NHS doctors, nurses and patients had been unable to be tested expeditiously.[115] He tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time in February 2022.[116] He and Camilla, who also tested positive, had received doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in February 2021.[117]

Charles seated on the Sovereign's Throne in the House of Lords during the 2022 state opening of the British Parliament. Next to him is the Imperial State Crown.
Delivering the Queen's Speech to the British Parliament on behalf of his mother, May 2022

Charles attended the November 2021 ceremonies to mark

counsellor of state.[121]

Reign

Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone is seated next to the King.
Addressing the Scottish Parliament on 13 September 2022

Charles acceded to the British throne on his mother's death on 8 September 2022. He was the longest-serving British heir apparent, having surpassed Edward VII's record of 59 years on 20 April 2011.[122] Charles was the oldest person to succeed to the British throne, at the age of 73. The previous record holder, William IV, was 64 when he became king in 1830.[123]

Charles gave his first speech to the nation at 6 pm on 9 September, in which he paid tribute to his mother and announced the appointment of his elder son, William, as Prince of Wales.

Australian states.[127]

Charles and Camilla wearing their crowns and coronation robes waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace
Charles and Camilla after their coronation

anointment, delivery of the orb, and enthronement.[133] In July they attended a national service of thanksgiving where Charles was presented with the Honours of Scotland in St Giles' Cathedral.[134]

Charles and Camilla have engaged in three state visits and received two. In November 2022 they hosted the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, during the first official state visit to Britain of Charles's reign.[135] In March the following year, the King and Queen embarked on a state visit to Germany; Charles became the first British monarch to address the Bundestag.[136] Similarly, in September, he became the first British monarch to give a speech from France's Senate chamber during his state visit to the country.[137] The following month, the King visited Kenya where he faced pressure to apologise for British colonial actions. In a speech at the state banquet, he acknowledged "abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence", but did not formally apologise.[138]

In January 2024, Charles underwent a "corrective procedure" at

outpatient treatment.[140] He released a statement espousing his support for cancer charities and that he "remain[ed] positive" on making a full recovery.[141] In March, it was announced that Camilla would deputise for him in his absence at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey and at the Royal Maundy at Worcester Cathedral.[142][143]

Philanthropy and charity

Since founding the Prince's Trust in 1976, using his £7,500 of

patron or president of over 800 other charities and organisations.[86]

the Prince's Charities Australia, based in Melbourne, to provide a coordinating presence for his Australian and international charitable endeavours.[148]

With Camilla visiting the African American Heritage Center in Louisville, Kentucky, March 2015

Charles has supported humanitarian projects; for example, he and his sons took part in ceremonies that marked the 1998 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.[147] Charles was one of the first public figures to express strong concerns about the human rights record of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, initiating objections in the international arena,[149] and subsequently supported the FARA Foundation,[8] a charity for Romanian orphans and abandoned children.[150]

Investigations of donations

Two of Charles's charities,

Charity Commission also launched an investigation into allegations that the donations meant for the Prince's Foundation had been instead sent to the Mahfouz Foundation.[153] In February 2022, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the cash-for-honours allegations linked to the foundation,[154] passing their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service for deliberation in October.[155] In August 2023, the Metropolitan Police announced that they had concluded their investigations and no further actions would be taken.[156]

The Times reported in June 2022 that, between 2011 and 2015, Charles accepted €3 million in cash from Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.[157][158] There was no evidence that the payments were illegal or that it was not intended for the money to go to the charity,[158] although, the Charity Commission stated it would review the information[159] and announced in July 2022 that there would be no further investigation.[160] In the same month, The Times reported that the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund received a donation of £1 million from Bakr bin Laden and Shafiq bin Laden – both half-brothers of Osama bin Laden – during a private meeting in 2013.[161][162] The Charity Commission described the decision to accept donations as a "matter for trustees" and added that no investigation was required.[163]

Personal interests

Charles standing next to Johnson with the flag of the Commonwealth of Nations behind them
With Boris Johnson at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda

From young adulthood, Charles encouraged understanding of

CHOGM 2022, Charles, who was representing the Queen, raised that reconciliation process as an example for dealing with the history of slavery in the British Empire,[168] for which he expressed his sorrow.[169]

Letters sent by Charles to government ministers in 2004 and 2005 expressing his concerns over various policy issues – the so-called black spider memos – presented potential embarrassment following a challenge by The Guardian newspaper to release the letters under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In March 2015, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom decided that Charles's letters must be released.[170] The Cabinet Office published the letters in May 2015.[171] The reaction was largely supportive of Charles, with little criticism of him;[172] the press variously described the memos as "underwhelming"[173] and "harmless",[174] and concluded that their release had "backfired on those who seek to belittle him".[175] It was revealed in the same year that Charles had access to confidential Cabinet papers.[176]

In October 2020, a letter sent by Charles to the governor-general of Australia,

Kirking of the Scottish Parliament
, May 2016

The Times reported in June 2022 that Charles had privately described the British government's Rwanda asylum plan as "appalling" and he feared that it would overshadow the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda that same month.[178] It was later claimed that Cabinet ministers had warned Charles to avoid making political comments, as they feared a constitutional crisis could arise if he continued to make such statements once he became king.[179]

Built environment

Charles has openly expressed his views on architecture and

National Gallery in London as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved friend" and deplored the "glass stumps and concrete towers" of modern architecture.[181] Charles called for local community involvement in architectural choices and asked, "why has everything got to be vertical, straight, unbending, only at right angles – and functional?"[181] Charles has "a deep understanding of Islamic art and architecture" and has been involved in the construction of a building and garden at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, which combine Islamic and Oxford architectural styles.[182]

Charles at the science and arts centre and educational charity At-Bristol, now called We the Curious, in 2000
At the newly opened At-Bristol, June 2000

In Charles's 1989 book

the Prince's Foundation for Building Community, which were later merged into one charity – promote his views. The village of Poundbury was built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall to a master plan by Léon Krier, under the guidance of Charles and in line with his philosophy.[180] In 2013, developments for the suburb of Nansledan began on the estate of the Duchy of Cornwall with Charles's endorsement.[186] Charles helped purchase Dumfries House and its complete collection of 18th century furnishings in 2007, taking a £20m loan from his charitable trust to contribute toward the £45m cost.[187] The house and gardens remain property of the Prince's Foundation and serve as a museum and community and skills training centre.[188][189] This led to the development of Knockroon, called the "Scottish Poundbury".[190][191]

After lamenting in 1996 the unbridled destruction of many of Canada's historic urban cores, Charles offered his assistance to the Department of Canadian Heritage in creating a trust modelled on Britain's National Trust, a plan that was implemented with the passage of the federal budget in 2007.[192] In 1999, Charles agreed to the use of his title for the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, awarded by the National Trust for Canada to municipal governments that have committed to the conservation of historic places.[193]

Whilst visiting the US and surveying the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Charles received the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize in 2005 for his efforts in regard to architecture; he donated $25,000 of the prize money towards restoring storm-damaged communities.[194] For his work as patron of New Classical architecture, Charles was awarded the 2012 Driehaus Architecture Prize from the University of Notre Dame.[195] The Worshipful Company of Carpenters installed Charles as an Honorary Liveryman "in recognition of his interest in London's architecture."[196]

Charles has occasionally intervened in projects that employ architectural styles such as

Qatari Diar to the High Court.[200] After the suit was settled, the CPC Group apologised to Charles "for any offence caused ... during the course of the proceedings".[200]

Natural environment

Paris Climate Change Conference
, November 2015

Since the 1970s, Charles has promoted environmental awareness.

talking to plants, stating that "I happily talk to the plants and trees, and listen to them. I think it's absolutely crucial".[203] His interest in gardening began in 1980 when he took over the Highgrove estate.[204] His "healing garden", based on sacred geometry and ancient religious symbolism, went on display at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2002.[204]

Upon moving into Highgrove House, Charles developed an interest in

GM crops, and in a letter to Tony Blair in 1998, Charles criticised the development of genetically modified foods.[208]

The Sustainable Markets Initiative – a project that encourages putting sustainability at the centre of all activities – was launched by Charles at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos in January 2020.[209] In May of the same year, the initiative and the World Economic Forum initiated the Great Reset project, a five-point plan concerned with enhancing sustainable economic growth following the global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[210]

Visiting Hackney City Farm in East London with Camilla, May 2009

As early as 1985, Charles was questioning meat consumption. In the 1985 Royal Special television programme, he told host

PETA that foie gras would not be served at any royal residences; he had stopped the use of foie gras at his own properties for more than a decade before becoming king.[214] During a September 2023 state banquet at the Palace of Versailles, it was reported that Charles did not want foie gras or out-of-season asparagus on the menu. Instead he was served lobster. Charles does not like chocolate, coffee, or garlic.[215]

The holy chrism oil used at Charles's coronation was vegan, made from oils of olive, sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, and benzoin, along with amber and orange blossom. His mother's chrism oil contained animal-based oils.[216]

Charles delivered a speech at the

COP28, saying among others he prayed "with all my heart that COP28 will be a critical turning point towards genuine transformational action."[220]

Charles, who is patron of the

University of Montreal in March 2022.[221] In 2010 he funded The Prince's Countryside Fund (renamed The Royal Countryside Fund in 2023), a charity which aims for a "confident, robust and sustainable agricultural and rural community".[222]

Alternative medicine