On Saturday, King Charles III will be crowned as the new monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
King Charles is the oldest monarch to take the throne of Britain at age 73. The longest-reigning British monarch, his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, is succeeded by him.
Elizabeth II represented the monarchy for more than seven decades, but King Charles is now charged with bringing it into the modern day when all of its facets, from the monarchy’s core concept to the behaviour of the Royals, are subject to scrutiny.
But Charles is not unfamiliar with public scrutiny. As his mother’s heir, King Charles had his fair share of media attention due to the dissolution of his marriage to the late Princess Diana. That incident and his second marriage to Camilla, who is now the Queen Consort, were significant turning points for British society as it transitioned from the days of the British Empire to a new era in which it had to deal with becoming a second-rung power and a society shifting between traditional dress and contemporary views.
The late Queen helped normalise divorce in the stigmatised British society, according to Outlook’s Rakhi Bose.
“Despite being a staunch supporter of traditional family values, Queen Elizabeth’s reign still saw the monarchy make reluctant but positive efforts towards the abolition of societal problems like the shame associated with divorce, which was at the time forbade by the Church…According to reports, the Queen made every attempt to resolve the conflict amicably but ultimately permitted King Charles and Diana’s divorce against church law, a first for the monarchy. After Diana’s passing, she also let Charles and Camilla, who were both divorcees, to get married, according to Bose.
Now that Elizabeth II has retired, King Charles , who has never shied away from controversy or the attention that other Royals wish to avoid, has the difficult burden of leading the monarchy forward.
Here, we examine King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s life, significant accomplishments, and conflicts.
childhood and education
On November 14, 1948, in London’s Buckingham Palace, King Charles III was born. He is the late Queen Elizabeth’s and Prince Philip’s oldest child.
King Charles was the longest-serving British monarch-in-waiting until his mother passed away in September 2022. At that time, he was referred to as Prince Charles.
At the age of four, King Charles succeeded his mother Elizabeth II as heir to the British monarchy in 1952.
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King Charles received the title of Prince of Wales in 1958, which is typically reserved for heirs to the throne.
King Charles initially had a private education. He had private instruction in London, Hampshire, and Scotland.
King Charles attended Gordonstoun in Aberdeenshire from 1957 to 1967 after attending Hill House prep school in Knightsbridge.
Charles studied at Trinity College in Cambridge from 1967 to 1970, graduating with a bachelor’s degree. He holds the first university degree among the Royals. He researched history, archaeology, and anthropology.
Charles started his military duty in 1971; his sons William and Harry both served in the military, as is customary for British royals. He attended the Naval and Air Force academies.
The Britannica Encyclopaedia states, “He later attended the Royal Air Force College (becoming an excellent flyer) and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and from 1971 to 1976 took a tour of duty with the Royal Navy.”
Charles’s time serving in the military
Charles served in the British military from 1971 until 1976. In 1976, he left the military with the rank of Commander.
“On September 15, 1971, he enrolled in a ‘advanced graduates’ programme at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth as a 22-year-old acting sub-lieutenant. Two months later, he was transferred aboard the frigates HMS Minerva and HMS Jupiter before being sent to the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk.The prince put a lot of effort into his training in 1972 and had a taste of life at sea during the Cold War, according to Forces.net, a British military news website.
It continues, “Among his adventures were studying navigation at HMS Mercury, travelling with hunter-killer HMS Churchill, practising the submarine emergency escape drill at HMS Dolphin, and putting his expertise to the test aboard minehunter HMS Glasserton…When he was appointed a gunnery officer on HMS Minerva when it was patrolling the West Indies, his career advanced.The future King qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974, and from the commando aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, he flew with 845 Naval Air Squadron. He next took on the Royal Marines’ endurance and Tarzan courses as his next test.
Charles’ last position in the military was as the CO of the Ton-class minesweeper HMS Bronington.
marriage to Diana and the ensuing rift
The most well-known part of Charles’ life is his union with Diana and the consequences that followed.
Charles and Diana Spencer first met in 1979. The younger Charles siblings were acquainted with her and knew that she was a member of the British royalty.
Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and Frances Ruth Burke Roche, the fourth Baron Fermoy’s daughter, were the parents of Diana.
The younger sons of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, lived in Park House, the property that Diana’s parents rented on the royal estate at Sandringham, according to The Britannica.
Charles and Diana were wed in 1981. Charles was 31 and she was 19. According to The Insider, about 750 million people in 74 countries watched the “Wedding of the Century,” a broadcast wedding.
Diana, who had been given the official title of Princess of Wales, saw an increase in popularity as Charles and Diana travelled the globe. According to The Insider, as a result of Diana’s all-encompassing appeal due to her demeanour and actions, “Diana Fever” was sweeping the globe.
“Diana was always eager to meet with people of all ages and backgrounds while travelling and refused to wear gloves when meeting people, which was usually customary for royals,” according to The Insider. In 1986, as Charles and Diana drove through Tokyo, about 100,000 people clapped for them, demonstrating how well-liked Diana was well beyond the boundaries of the UK.
Later, Diana was also referred to as “the People’s Princess” with fame and affection.
However, according to Guardian, Charles and Diana’s marriage had ended by 1986. even if nobody was aware of it yet.
The first public developments surrounding their ten-year experience started to surface in 1987. The departure of Diana’s bodyguard Barry Mannakee sparked rumours that the two were having an affair.
The Insider reports that the royal couple’s problems came to light after Diana’s bodyguard was moved to a different position owing to rumours that the two were dating.
Charles is reportedly alleged to have began an affair with Camilla in 1986. The two had previously dated but split up. Later in life, she would become his second wife.
Charles and Camilla’s relationship was made public in 1992 thanks to media stories. ‘Camillagate’ was the initial name given to it. According to AP, Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story from the same year claimed Charles had a committed relationship with Camilla. According to an insider, Charles and Camila’s private and sexual talk was also made public.
“An ‘intimate transcript of a 1989 phone call’ between Charles and Camilla was made public in November 1992. According to Insider, Charles joked that he would want to be changed into a pair of [Camila] Parker Bowles’ “knickers” or her tampon during the scandalous and sexual chat.
Charles and Diana separate in 1992, although they continue to perform royal obligations individually.
Charles came clean about having an affair with Camilla in 1994. Diana attended a gathering in her infamous “revenge dress,” which has now become recognisable.
Diana also acknowledged having an affair with her riding teacher in an interview in 1995.
After four years of being apart and fifteen years of legally being married, Charles and Diana divorce in 1996.
Diana was connected to a variety of male companions in 1996–1997. They included musician Bryan Adams, a physician by the name of Hasnat Ahmad Khan, and an Egyptian billionaire’s son by the name of Dodi Fayed.
Diana lost her life in a vehicle accident in Paris, France, in 1997. She was in the automobile with Dodi Fayed, who perished in the collision. After Diana passed away, there was a huge outpouring of sadness and sympathy.
Charles and Camilla were wed in 2005. Camilla’s first spouse had also been divorced. Camilla was named Queen Consort after Charles ascended to the throne.
lifelong environmentalist King Charles
Charles has championed environmental concerns, however most people outside of the UK only know him from the publicity surrounding his marriage to Diana.
Charles has long been an opponent of contemporary design.
According to the Britannica, “It is safe to say that King Charles concern for the environment, which dates back to at least 1970, when he gave a speech on the “horrifying effects” of all forms of pollution and called attention to the threat posed by “indestructible plastic containers,” has remained the issue that has remained closest to his heart.”
King Charles has long been a major advocate on sustainability and global warming through his charitable work and public appearances.
King Charles is described as a “outspoken critic of modern architecture” by The Britannica.
In 1989’s A Vision of Britain, he discussed this issue. He established the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture in 1992, which eventually became the BRE Trust, a group active in urban development and regeneration initiatives, according to Britannica.
Some people are unsure whether his rule would be interventionist, where he would not be a figurehead but would continue to speak out on issues, given his decades of environmental work. King Charles has stayed out of any such dispute thus far.
The king of the United Kingdom is a symbolic figure. The monarch does not participate in public political life, although they do hold official meetings on a regular basis. With the monarchy comes a perception of permanence and a soft power component. We have yet to really see how King Charles accepts this job.