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CAMILLA - QUEEN & WIFE OF KING CHARLES III - TYPED LETTER SIGNED AS QUEEN For Sale
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CAMILLA - QUEEN & WIFE OF KING CHARLES III - TYPED LETTER SIGNED AS QUEEN:
$249.98
HM Queen Camilla Hand Signed Coronation Card **RARE** With Birthday Message
This is a rare and unique item that will make a great addition to any collection.
The HM Queen Camilla Hand Signed Coronation Card is a collectible that commemorates the Coronation with a beautiful signature by the Queen herself. The card is in excellent condition with slight creasing (see images) and showcases the regal theme of royalty.
Very rare to have a Queen Camilla autograph for sale
The card belongs to the Collectables and Historical Memorabilia category, making it a must-have for any collector of Royal memorabilia. This card is a great way to remember a significant event in history This typed letter is a rare gem for any historical enthusiast. The letter is signed by the Queen and wife of King Charles III, adding a unique touch to your collection.The letter is perfect for anyone interested in the historical industry, and is sure to be a conversation starter. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own a piece of history.
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III.[note 1]Camilla was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in England and educated in England, Switzerland, and France. In 1973, she married British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles; they divorced in 1995. Camilla and Charles were romantically involved periodically, both before and during each of their first marriages. Their relationship was highly publicised in the media and attracted worldwide scrutiny. In 2005, Camilla married Charles in the Windsor Guildhall, which was followed by a televised Anglican blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. From their marriage until Charles's accession, she was known as the Duchess of Cornwall. On 8 September 2022, Charles became king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with Camilla as queen consort. Charles and Camilla's coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023.Camilla carries out public engagements representing the monarch and is the patron of numerous charities and organisations. Since 1994, she has campaigned to raise awareness of osteoporosis, which has earned her several honours and awards. She has also campaigned to raise awareness of issues such as rape, sexual abuse, illiteracy, animal welfare and poverty.
Early life and educationCamilla Rosemary Shand was born on 17 July 1947 at King's College Hospital, London.[1][a] Her family split their time between their country house—18th-century The Laines[2] in Plumpton, East Sussex[3]—and their London house in South Kensington.[4] Her parents were British Army officer-turned-businessman Major Bruce Shand and his wife The Hon. Rosalind Cubitt, daughter of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe. Camilla has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot, and had a younger brother, Mark Shand.[5] One of her maternal great-grandmothers, Alice Keppel, was a mistress of King Edward VII.[6] On 1 November 1947, Shand was baptised at St. Peter's Church, Firle, East Sussex.[7]Rosalind was a charity worker[8] who during the 1960s and 1970s volunteered at the Chailey Heritage Foundation (which helps young children with disabilities) near their Sussex home. Bruce had various business interests after retiring from the army. He was most notably a partner in Block, Grey and Block, a firm of wine merchants in South Audley Street, Mayfair, later joining Ellis, Son and Vidler of Hastings and London.[9]During her childhood, Shand became an avid reader through the influence of her father, who read to her frequently.[10] She grew up with dogs and cats,[11] and, at a young age, learnt how to ride by joining Pony Club camps, going on to win rosettes at community gymkhanas.[4][12] According to her, childhood "was perfect in every way".[3] Biographer Gyles Brandreth describes her background and childhood: Camilla is often described as having had an "Enid Blyton sort of childhood". In fact, it was much grander than that. Camilla, as a little girl, may have had some personality traits of George, the tomboy girl among the Famous Five, but Enid Blyton's children were essentially middle-class children and the Shands, without question, belonged to the upper class. The Shands had position and they had help—help in the house, help in the garden, help with children. They were gentry. They opened their garden for the local Conservative Party Association summer fête. Enough said.[11]When she was five, Shand was sent to Dumbrells, a co-educational school in Ditchling village.[11] From the age of 10, she attended Queen's Gate School near her London home. Her classmates at Queen's Gate knew her as "Milla"; her fellow pupils included the singer Twinkle (Lynn Ripley), who described her as a girl of "inner strength" exuding "magnetism and confidence".[13] One of the teachers at the school, the writer Penelope Fitzgerald, who taught French, remembered Shand as "bright and lively". Shand left Queen's Gate with one O-level in 1964; her parents did not make her stay long enough for A-levels.[14] Aged 16, she attended the Mont Fertile finishing school in Tolochenaz, Switzerland.[15] After completing her course there, she studied French and French literature at the University of London Institute in Paris for six months.[15][16][17]On 25 March 1965, Shand was a debutante in London,[18] one of 311 that year. After moving from home, she shared a small flat in Kensington with her friend Jane Wyndham, niece of decorator Nancy Lancaster. She later moved into a larger flat in Belgravia, which she shared with her landlady Lady Moyra Campbell, the daughter of the 4th Duke of Abercorn, and later with Virginia Carington, daughter of the 6th Baron Carrington.[19] Virginia was married to Shand's uncle Lord Ashcombe from 1973 until 1979,[20] and in 2005 became a special aide to Camilla and Charles.[21] Shand worked as a secretary for a variety of firms in the West End, and as a receptionist for the decorating firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in Mayfair.[22] She was reportedly fired from the job after "she came in late, having been to a dance".[23]Shand continued to ride, and frequently attended equestrian activities.[24] She also had a passion for painting, which eventually led to her private tutoring with an artist, although most of her work "ended up in the bin".[25] Other interests were fishing, horticulture and gardening.[26][27]
Marriages and children
First marriageIn the late 1960s, Shand met Andrew Parker Bowles, then a Guards officer – a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals through his younger brother, Simon, who worked for her father's wine firm in Mayfair.[28] After an on-and-off relationship for years, Parker Bowles and Shand's engagement was announced in The Times in 1973.[29] Sally Bedell Smith claimed that the announcement was sent out by the pair's parents without their knowledge, which forced Parker Bowles to propose.[30] They married on 4 July 1973 in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, in London.[31] Shand was 25 years old and Parker Bowles 33. Her wedding dress was designed by British fashion house Bellville Sassoon,[31] and the bridesmaids included Parker Bowles's goddaughter Lady Emma Herbert.[32] It was considered the "society wedding of the year"[33] with 800 guests.[31] Royal guests present at the ceremony and reception included Queen Elizabeth II's daughter, Anne; the Queen's sister, Margaret; and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[33]
Bolehyde Manor in Allington, WiltshireThe couple made their home in Wiltshire, purchasing Bolehyde Manor in Allington and later Middlewick House in Corsham.[34][35] They had two children: Tom (born 18 December 1974)[36] and Laura (born 1 January 1978).[37] Tom is a godson of King Charles III.[36] Both children were brought up in their father's Roman Catholic faith, particularly during the lifetime of their paternal grandmother, Ann Parker Bowles; Camilla remained an Anglican and did not convert to Roman Catholicism.[38] Laura attended a Catholic girls' school, but married in an Anglican church; Tom did not attend Ampleforth College as his father had, but Eton—and was married outside the Catholic Church. Tom, like his father, is in remainder to the Earldom of Macclesfield.[39]In December 1994, after 21 years of marriage, the couple issued divorce proceedings on the grounds they had been living separately for years. In July of that year, Camilla's mother, Rosalind, had died from osteoporosis, and her father later described this as a "difficult time for her".[40] Their petition was heard and granted in January 1995 at the High Court Family Division in London.[41] The divorce was finalised on 3 March 1995.[42] A year later, Andrew married Rosemary Pitman (who died in 2010).[43][44]
Relationship with CharlesShand reportedly met Prince Charles in mid-1971.[45] Andrew Parker Bowles had ended his relationship with Shand in 1970 and was courting Princess Anne.[46] Though Shand and Charles belonged to the same social circle and occasionally attended the same events, they had not formally met. Gyles Brandreth states that they did not first meet at a polo match, as has been commonly believed.[47][48] Instead, they first met at the home of their friend Lucía Santa Cruz, who formally introduced them.[24][49] They became close friends and eventually began a romantic relationship, which was well known within their social circle.[50] As a couple, they regularly met at polo matches at Smith's Lawn in Windsor Great Park, where Charles often played polo.[51] They also became part of a set at Annabel's in Berkeley Square.[45] As the relationship grew more serious, Charles met Shand's family in Plumpton, and he introduced her to some members of his family.[52] The relationship was put on hold after Charles travelled overseas to join the Royal Navy in early 1973, and ended abruptly afterward.[1][53]There have been different explanations for why the relationship ended. Robert Lacey wrote in his 2008 book Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that Charles met Shand too early, and he had not asked her to wait for him when he went overseas for military duties.[54] Sarah Bradford wrote in her 2007 book Diana that a member of the close circle of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten claimed Mountbatten arranged for Charles to be taken overseas to end the relationship with Shand, to make way for an engagement between Charles and his granddaughter Amanda Knatchbull.[55] Some sources suggest Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother did not approve of Shand because she wanted Charles to marry one of the Spencer family granddaughters of her close friend Lady Fermoy.[56] Other sources suggest Shand did not want to marry Charles but instead Andrew Parker Bowles, having had an on-and-off relationship with him since the late 1960s[57]—or that Charles had decided he would not marry until he was 30.[58]The majority of royal biographers agree that Charles would not have been allowed to marry Shand had he sought permission to do so. According to Charles's cousin and godmother Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, some palace courtiers at that time deemed Shand unsuitable as a prospective consort. In 2005, she stated, "With hindsight, you can say that Charles should have married Camilla when he first had the chance. They were ideally suited, we know that now. But it wasn't possible."[...][59] "it wouldn't have been possible, not then."[60] Nevertheless, they remained friends.[61][62] In August 1979, Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Charles was grief-stricken by his death, and reportedly relied heavily on Camilla Parker Bowles for solace. During this period, rumours began circulating, among close friends of the Parker Bowleses and in polo-playing communities, that Camilla and Charles had rekindled their intimate relationship.[63] A source close to Parker Bowles confirmed that by 1980 they had indeed rekindled as lovers.[64] There are also claims by royal staff that it occurred earlier.[65] Parker Bowles's husband, Andrew, reportedly approved of the affair,[66] while he had numerous lovers throughout their marriage.[67] Nevertheless, Charles soon began a relationship with Lady Diana Spencer, whom he married in 1981.[68]The affair became public knowledge in the press a decade later, with the publication of Diana: Her True Story in 1992,[69] followed by the "Camillagate" (also known as "Tampongate"[70]) tape scandal in 1993,[71] when an intimate telephone conversation between Parker Bowles and Charles was secretly recorded, and the transcripts were published in the tabloid press.[72][73] The book and tape immediately damaged Charles's public image,[74] and the media vilified Parker Bowles.[75] In 1994, Charles finally spoke about his relationship with Parker Bowles in Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role with Jonathan Dimbleby. He told Dimbleby in the interview, "Mrs. Parker Bowles is a great friend of mine... a friend for a very long time. She will continue to be a friend for a very long time."[76] He later admitted in the interview that their relationship was rekindled after his marriage had "irretrievably broken down" in 1986.[77]
Image rehabilitationFollowing both of their divorces, Charles declared his relationship with Parker Bowles was "non-negotiable".[78] Charles was aware that the relationship was receiving a lot of negative publicity, and appointed Mark Bolland—whom he had employed in 1995 to refurbish his own image—to enhance Parker Bowles's public profile.[79] Parker Bowles occasionally became Charles's unofficial companion at events. In 1999, they made their first public appearance together at the Ritz London Hotel, where they attended a birthday party for her sister; about 200 photographers and reporters from around the world were there to witness them together.[80] In 2000, she accompanied Charles to Scotland for a number of official engagements, and in 2001, she became president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), which introduced her to the public.[81]Parker Bowles later met Queen Elizabeth II, for the first time since Parker Bowles and Charles's relationship was made public, at the 60th birthday party of the former Greek king Constantine II in 2000. This meeting was seen as an apparent seal of approval by the Queen on her son's relationship with Parker Bowles.[82][83] After a series of appearances at public and private venues, the Queen invited Parker Bowles to her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. She sat in the royal box behind the Queen for one of the concerts at Buckingham Palace.[84] Charles reportedly paid privately for two full-time security staff for her protection.[85] Although Parker Bowles maintained her residence, Ray Mill House, which she purchased in 1995, near Lacock in Wiltshire,[86] she then moved into Clarence House, Charles's household and official residence since 2003.[87] [88] In 2004, she accompanied Charles on almost all of his official events, including a high-profile visit together to the annual highland games in Scotland.[89] The media speculated on when they would announce their engagement, and as time went by, polls conducted in the United Kingdom showed overall support for the marriage.[90]Despite this image rehabilitation, Parker Bowles received backlash from supporters of Diana who wrote to national newspapers to air their views, especially after Parker Bowles and Charles's wedding plans were announced.[91] This sentiment was later parodied by internet trolls on Facebook and TikTok through fake fanpages and accounts dedicated to Diana.[92] In 2023, The Independent named Camilla the most influential woman of 2023 in its "Influence List" and her name appeared on the list again in 2024.[93][94]
Second marriage
Further information: Wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and Wedding dress of Camilla Parker BowlesOn 10 February 2005, Clarence House publicised the engagement of Camilla Parker Bowles and the Prince of Wales. As an engagement ring, Charles gave Parker Bowles a diamond ring believed to have been given to his grandmother when she gave birth to Charles's mother.[95] The ring comprised a square-cut diamond with three diamond baguettes on each side.[96] As the future supreme governor of the Church of England, the prospect of Charles marrying a divorcée was seen as controversial, but with the consent of the Queen,[97] the government,[98] and the Church of England, the couple were able to wed. The Queen and Tony Blair, along with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, offered their best wishes in statements to the media.[99] In the two months following the announcement of their engagement, Clarence House received 25,000 letters with "95 or 99 per cent being supportive"; 908 hate mail letters were also received, with the more threatening and personal ones sent to the police for investigation.[100]The marriage was to have been on 8 April 2005, in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious service of blessing[101] at St George's Chapel. However, to conduct a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue to obtain a licence for civil marriages, which it did not have. A condition of such a licence is that the licensed venue must be available for a period of one year to anyone wishing to be married there, and as the royal family did not wish to make Windsor Castle available to the public for civil marriages, the venue was changed to the town hall at Windsor Guildhall.[102] On 4 April, the marriage was delayed by one day to allow the Prince of Wales and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.[103]On 9 April 2005, the marriage ceremony was held. The parents of Charles and Camilla did not attend;[104] instead, Camilla's son Tom and Charles's son Prince William acted as witnesses to the union.[105] The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did attend the service of blessing. Afterwards, the Queen held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle.[106] Performers included the St George's Chapel Choir, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott.[107] As a wedding gift, The Marinsky Theatre Trust in St. Petersburg brought a Belarusian mezzo-soprano singer, Ekaterina Semenchuk, to the United Kingdom to perform a special song for the couple.[108] Following the wedding, the couple travelled to Charles's country home in Scotland, Birkhall,[109] and carried out their first public duties together during their honeymoon.[110]
Duchess of Cornwall
A smiling Camilla waves her hand.
In Brazil, 2009After becoming Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla automatically acquired rank as the second highest woman in the British order of precedence (after Queen Elizabeth II), and as typically fifth or sixth in the orders of precedence of her other realms, following the Queen, the relevant viceroy, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince of Wales. It was revealed that the Queen altered the royal order of precedence for private occasions, placing the Duchess fourth, after the Queen, Princess Anne and Princess Alexandra.[111] Within two years of the marriage, the Queen extended Camilla visible tokens of membership in the royal family: she lent Camilla the Greville Tiara, which previously belonged to the Queen Mother,[112] and granted her the badge of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II.[113]After their wedding, Clarence House, Charles's official residence, also became Camilla's. The couple also stay at Birkhall for holiday events, and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire for family gatherings. In 2008, they took up residence at Llwynywermod, Wales, where they stay on their visit to Wales every year in the summer and for other occasions.[114] To spend time alone with her children and grandchildren, Camilla still maintains Ray Mill House, in which she resided from 1995 to 2003.[115]
With Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in the 1902 State Landau, 2012According to an undated statement from Clarence House, Camilla used to be a smoker but has not smoked for many years.[116] Though no details were publicly released, it was confirmed in March 2007 that she had undergone a hysterectomy.[117] In April 2010, she fractured her left leg while hill walking in Scotland.[118] In November 2010, Camilla and Charles were indirectly involved in student protests when their car was attacked by protesters.[119] Clarence House later released a statement on the incident: "A car carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked by protesters, but the couple were unharmed."[120] In 2011, they were named as individuals whose confidential information was reportedly targeted or actually acquired in conjunction with the news media phone hacking scandal.[121]On 9 April 2012, Camilla and Charles's seventh wedding anniversary, the Queen appointed Camilla to the Royal Victorian Order.[122] In 2015, Charles commissioned a pub to be named after Camilla, situated at Poundbury village. The pub opened in 2016 and is named the Duchess of Cornwall Inn.[123] On 9 June 2016, the Queen appointed the Duchess as a member of the British Privy Council.[124] On 1 January 2022, she made Camilla a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.[125] On 14 February 2022, Camilla tested positive for COVID-19, four days after Charles had also contracted it, and began self-isolating.[126] She and Charles received their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in February 2021.[127] She completed 3,886 engagements between 2005 and 2022.[128]
Foreign and domestic trips
Charles and Camilla with George W. and Laura Bush at the White House, November 2005Camilla's first solo engagement as Duchess of Cornwall was a visit to Southampton General Hospital;[129] she attended the Trooping the Colour for the first time in June 2005, making her appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards. She made her inaugural overseas tour in November 2005,[130] when she visited the United States,[130] and met George W. and Laura Bush at the White House.[131] Afterward, Camilla and Charles visited New Orleans to see the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and met some of the residents whose lives were affected by the hurricane.[132] In March 2006, the couple visited Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.[133] In 2007, Camilla conducted the naming ceremonies for HMS Astute and the new Cunard cruise ship, MS Queen Victoria.[134] In November 2007, she toured with the Prince of Wales on a four-day visit to Turkey.[135] In 2008, she and Charles toured the Caribbean, Japan, Brunei and Indonesia.[136] In 2009, they toured Chile, Brazil, Ecuador,[137] Italy and Germany. Their visit to the Holy See in Italy included a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.[138] They later visited Canada. In early 2010, they visited Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.[139] Camilla was unable to carry out her engagements on their tour of Eastern Europe after developing a trapped nerve in her back.[118] In October 2010, she accompanied Charles to Delhi, India, for the opening of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[140]
At the official opening of the Fourth Assembly at the Senedd in Cardiff, Wales, 7 June 2011In March 2011, Camilla and Charles visited Portugal, Spain, and Morocco,[141] visiting the heads of state of each country.[142] In June 2011, the Duchess alone represented the British royal family at the 125th Wimbledon Tennis Championships.[143] In August 2011, she accompanied the Prince of Wales to Tottenham to visit the aftermath of the London riots.[144] The couple later went to visit with Tottenham residents in February 2012, meeting with local shop owners six months after the riots to see how they were doing.[145] In London on 11 September 2011, the Duchess attended the 10th anniversary memorial service of the 9/11 attacks, along with David Cameron and the Prince of Wales.[146] In November 2011, Camilla travelled with Charles to tour the Commonwealth and Arab States of the Persian Gulf. They toured South Africa and Tanzania, and met with those countries' respective presidents, Jacob Zuma and Jakaya Kikwete.[147]In March 2012, the couple visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark to mark Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.[148] In May 2012, they undertook a four-day trip to Canada as part of the jubilee celebrations.[149] In November 2012, they visited Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for a two-week jubilee tour.[150] During the Australian tour, they attended the 2012 Melbourne Cup, where Camilla presented the Melbourne cup to the winner of the race.[151] In 2013, the couple went on a tour to Jordan, meeting with King Abdullah II and Queen Rania. They visited Syrian refugee camps of the civil war.[152] Camilla attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in May 2013,[153] and the same month, she travelled to Paris on her first solo trip outside the United Kingdom.[17] That same year, she and Charles attended the inauguration of Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, as well as the preceding celebrations in honour of the departing Queen Beatrix.[154][155]
Camilla, June 2022In June 2014, Camilla and Charles attended the 70th anniversary commemorations of D-Day in Normandy, France,[156] and in November of that year, they embarked on a nine-day tour to Mexico and Colombia.[157] In May 2015, they visited Northern Ireland and undertook their first joint trip to the Republic of Ireland.[158] In April 2018, they toured Australia and attended the opening of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[159] They also toured the West African countries of The Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria in November 2018.[160] In March 2019, Charles and Camilla went on an official tour to Cuba, making them the first British royalty to visit the country; the tour was part of offers to strengthen UK–Cuban ties.[161] In March 2021, the couple went on their first official foreign visit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and visited Greece at the invitation of the Greek government to celebrate the bicentennial of Greek independence.[162] In March 2022, they visited the Republic of Ireland to commemorate Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.[163] In May 2022, the couple undertook a three-day trip to Canada as part of the jubilee celebrations.[164]
Queen consort
On her coronation dayCamilla became queen consort on 8 September 2022 upon her husband's accession as Charles III, following the death of Elizabeth II.[165] On 10 September, she attended the Accession Council where Charles was formally proclaimed king and she served as a witness together with her stepson William.[166]Following the accession, Camilla announced that she was replacing the traditional role of lady-in-waiting with a new role of queen's companion, which would be a more occasional and less formal role, assisting her at official engagements but not in replying to letters or day-to-day planning.[167] On 13 February 2023, Buckingham Palace announced that Camilla had tested positive for COVID-19, which forced her to postpone a number of public engagements.[168]Camilla was crowned alongside Charles on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey, London.[169] On 16 June 2023, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles had appointed Camilla to the Order of the Thistle.[170] On 5 July, she accompanied Charles to a national service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral where the Honours of Scotland were presented to him.[171] In the same month, it was announced that unlike the previous consort, Prince Philip, Camilla would not receive a Parliamentary annuity and her activities would be funded through the Sovereign Grant instead.[172]Camilla and Charles have engaged in three state visits and received three. In March 2023, she accompanied Charles for a state visit to Germany, which was his first foreign visit as monarch.[173] In September and October 2023, the King and Queen undertook state visits to France and Kenya,[174][175] and in November, Camilla appeared at Charles's side at his first State Opening of Parliament as Sovereign.[176]Due to the King's cancer diagnosis in 2024, the Queen deputised for him in his absence at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey and at the Royal Maundy at Worcester Cathedral,[177][178] making her the first consort to hand out the ceremonial coins at the latter event.[179] In June 2024, she and Charles travelled to Normandy to attend the 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.[180]
Charity work
PatronagesCamilla is the patron or president of over 100 charities and organisations.[181][b] She is the honorary commodore-in-chief of the Royal Navy Medical Service. In this role, she visited the training-ship HMS Excellent in January 2012, to award medals to naval medical teams returning from service in Afghanistan.[193] She is also an honorary member of other patronages and in February 2012, she was elected a bencher of Gray's Inn.[194] In February 2013, she was appointed Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, a role which is ceremonial and involves conferring graduates with their degrees.[195] She took up the office in June 2013. She is the first female chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and the only member of the royal family to hold the post since it was created in 1860.[196]
Camilla greets a group of schoolchildren holding the flags of the Commonwealth and various countries.
At Barn Croft Primary School for a Commonwealth Big Lunch event, 2018. Camilla has been the initiative's patron since 2013.[197]In 2015, Camilla's presidency of the Women of the World Festival, an annual festival that celebrates the achievements of women and girls as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world, notably domestic violence,[198] was announced.[199] In 2018 and 2020, she became the vice-patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Royal Academy of Dance, respectively, of which Queen Elizabeth II was a patron.[200] In March 2022, as president of the Royal Voluntary Service, Camilla launched the organisation's Platinum Champions Awards to honour 70 volunteers nominated by the public for their efforts in improving lives in their communities.[201] In the same month, the Queen made Camilla patron of London's National Theatre, a role previously held by Camilla's stepdaughter-in-law Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.[202] In January 2024, Camilla became the first royal patron of the Anne Frank Trust UK.[203]In May 2024, after a major review of royal patronages and charity presidencies, Camilla took on 15 new patronages,[204] including Army Benevolent Fund, Royal Academy of Dance, Royal Voluntary Service, Royal Literary Fund,[205] Royal Foundation of St Katharine,[206] and Queen's Nursing Institute.[207]
OsteoporosisIn 1994, Camilla became a member of the National Osteoporosis Society after her mother died from the disease that year. Her maternal grandmother also died from the disease in 1986. She became patron of the charity in 1997 and was appointed president in 2001 in a highly publicised event, accompanied by Charles.[208] In 2002, she launched a mini book, A Skeleton Guide to a Healthy You, Vitamins and Minerals, which aims to help women protect themselves from the disease.[209] The following month, she attended the Roundtable of International Women Leaders to Examine Barriers to Reimbursement for Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoporosis conference along with 13 eminent women from around the world. The event was organised by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and hosted by Queen Rania of Jordan and during it, she made her first public speech. The international conference, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together worldwide public figures to focus on osteoporosis treatment and called for government assistance around the world.[210] In 2004, she attended another conference in Dublin, organised by the Irish Osteoporosis Society. The following year, she visited the United States National Institutes of Health in Maryland to give a presentation on osteoporosis to high-profile health figures.[211]
NIH director Elias Zerhouni welcomes Charles and Camilla to the NIH for a discussion on osteoporosis with Surgeon General Richard Carmona and other health officials, November 2005In 2006, Camilla launched the Big Bone walk campaign, leading 90 children and people with osteoporosis for a 10-mile walk and climb around Loch Muick at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland to raise money for the charity.[212] The campaign raised £200,000, and continues almost every year as one of the fundraisers for the charity.[213] In 2011, she appeared in the BBC Radio drama The Archers, playing herself,[214] to raise the profile of the disease, and in 2013 teamed up with the television series Strictly Come Dancing to raise funds for the National Osteoporosis Society.[215] By 2006, she had spoken at more than 60 functions on the disease in the United Kingdom and around the world and had also opened bone scanning units and osteoporosis centres to help people with the disease.[208] Almost every year, Camilla attends and partakes in World Osteoporosis Day, by attending events around the United Kingdom on 20 October.[216] She continues to attend conferences around the world, and meets with health experts to further discuss the disease.[217]For her work on raising awareness of osteoporosis around the world, Camilla was honoured with an Ethel LeFrak award in 2005 from an American charity[218] and received the Kohn Foundation Award in 2007 from the National Osteoporosis Society.[219] In July 2007, Camilla opened the Duchess of Cornwall Centre for Osteoporosis at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro.[220] In the same year, King's College London awarded her an honorary fellowship for raising the profile of osteoporosis.[221] In 2009, the National Osteoporosis Society created The Duchess of Cornwall Award, which recognises achievements in the field of osteoporosis.[222] In 2016, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton in recognition of her efforts in raising awareness about osteoporosis.[223] In 2019, the National Osteoporosis Society was renamed as the Royal Osteoporosis Society.[224]
Victims of rape and sexual abuseAfter visiting nine rape crisis centres in 2009 and hearing accounts from survivors, Camilla began raising awareness and advocating ways to help victims of rape and sexual abuse to overcome and move past their trauma.[225] She often speaks to victims at a rape crisis centre in Croydon and visits other centres to meet staff and victims, around the United Kingdom and during overseas tours.[226][227] In 2010, alongside the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, she opened a centre in Ealing, West London, for rape victims. The centre later expanded to other areas including Hillingdon, Fulham, Hounslow, and Hammersmith.[228] In 2011, Camilla opened the Oakwood Place Essex Sexual Assault Referral Centre at Brentwood Community Hospital in Essex.[229] She is patron of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust,[230] which provides home security for victims of crime and domestic abuse, and of SafeLives, a charity that campaigns against domestic abuse and violence.[231]In 2013, Camilla held a meeting at Clarence House which brought together rape victims and rape support groups. Director of Public Prosecutions (and future Labour Party leader) Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Theresa May were guests at the occasion. At the occasion, she introduced a plan to help the victims: about 750 wash-bags, created by her Clarence House staff and packed with luxury toiletries, were distributed to victims at the centres. Camilla thought of the gesture after she visited a centre in Derbyshire and asked victims what they would like to help them feel at ease after the trauma and forensic examinations. According to Clarence House, the event was the first meeting of high-profile figures to focus exclusively on rape and sexual abuse subjects.[227][232] In the same year, Camilla travelled to Northern Ireland and opened The Rowan, a sexual assault and referral centre at Antrim Area Hospital[233] which was the first centre to provide help and comfort to rape and sexual abuse victims in Northern Ireland.[234] In March 2016, during a tour to the Western Balkans with her husband, Camilla visited UNICEF programmes in Montenegro and while there, she discussed child sexual abuse and was shown an exclusive preview of a new app designed to protect children from online sexual abuse.[235] The following year, she partnered with retail and pharmacy chain Boots to create a line of wash-bags which will be given to sexual assault referral centres around the United Kingdom.[236] To date, it has donated over 50,000 wash bags filled with toiletries, which are offered at SARCs after a forensic examination.[237]In May 2020, Camilla supported SafeLives's 'Reach In' campaign, which encourages people to look out for people around them that might be suffering from domestic violence.[238] In July 2020, she guest-edited The Emma Barnett Show on BBC Radio 5 Live, which featured conversations on domestic violence.[239] In September 2021, Camilla was named as patron of the Mirabel Centre, Nigeria's first sexual assault referral centre.[240] In October 2021, she gave a speech at the launch of Shameless, a project endorsed by the Women of the World Foundation and Birkbeck, University of London looking to educate people on sexual violence. She expressed her shock at the murder of Sarah Everard and urged both men and women to break down the "culture of silence" surrounding sexual assault.[241]In February 2022, the Duchess and Theresa May supported a campaign initiated by the NHS England to encourage survivors of sexual and domestic abuse to come forward for help.[242] The campaign also highlighted the support offered at sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) in England.[242] The campaign was released on the first day of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.[242] She also visited the Haven Paddington, a sexual assault referral centre in West London and Thames Valley Partnership, a charity for domestic abuse survivors in Aylesbury.[243] In November 2022, Camilla hosted her first reception at Buckingham Palace after becoming queen to raise awareness of violence against women and girls during the UN's annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. She was joined by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.[244]
Literacy
With Peter McLaughlin, then headmaster of The Doon School which she visited in November 2013 on her India tour[245]Being an avid reader, Camilla is an advocate for literacy. She is the patron of the National Literacy Trust and other literacy charities. She often visits schools, libraries and children's organisations to read to young children. Additionally, she partakes in literacy celebrations, including International Literacy Day and World Book Day.[246] In 2011, she donated money to support the Evening Standard's literacy campaign,[247] and replaced the Duke of Edinburgh as patron of BookTrust.[248] Camilla has also launched and continues to launch campaigns and programmes to promote literacy.[249] On spreading literacy, she stated in 2013 during a speech at an event for the National Literacy Trust that "I firmly believe in the importance of igniting a passion for reading in the next generation. I was lucky enough to have a father who was a fervent bibliophile and a brilliant storyteller too. In a world where the written word competes with so many other calls on our attention, we need more Literacy Heroes to keep inspiring young people to find the pleasure and power of reading for themselves."[250]Camilla has been patron of the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition since 2014. The initiative, which is run by the Royal Commonwealth Society, asks young writers from across the Commonwealth to write essays on a specified theme, with Camilla launching the competition annually.[251] Since 2015, she has been involved with 500 Words, a competition launched by BBC Radio 2 for children to write and share their stories[252] and was announced as the competition's honorary judge in 2018.[253] Since 2019, she has supported Gyles Brandreth's initiative Poetry Together, which aims to bring younger and older generations together through poetry recitation.[254]In January 2021, Camilla launched the Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room online club for readers, writers and literary communities to connect and share their interests and projects.[255] In January 2022, she joined members of the Reading Room initiative to promote planting books in phonebox libraries around the United Kingdom.[256] In February 2023, the Reading Room initiative was relaunched as a charity under the name the Queen's Reading Room.[257] The inaugural Queen's Reading Room Festival was held at Hampton Court Palace on 11 June, with Judi Dench, Richard E. Grant, Robert Harris, Kate Mosse and other celebrities as guests.[258] The festival has become an annual event.[259]In October 2021, Camilla was announced as patron of Silver Stories, a charity that links young people to the elderly by encouraging them to read stories over telephone.[260] In May 2022, she became patron of Book Aid International, a role previously held by Prince Philip from 1966 until his death in 2021.[261] In July 2022 and ahead of her 75th birthday, she launched her Birthday Books Project, with the aim of providing wellbeing and happiness-themed mini libraries at 75 primary schools from disadvantaged areas in the United Kingdom.[262] In May 2023, as patron of the National Literacy Trust, Camilla opened the first Coronation library at Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol, and 50 Coronation libraries will be created for children in communities with low levels of literacy across the United Kingdom in 2023 and 2024.[263] In September 2023, she launched a new UK-France literary prize with Brigitte Macron, the Entente Littéraire Prize at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris. The Entente Littéraire Prize will recognise Young Adult (YA) Fiction and allow UK and French citizens to share joint literary experiences, reinforcing cultural ties whilst celebrating the joys of reading.[264][265] In January 2024, twenty new manuscripts by different authors were added to the miniature library of Queen Mary's Dolls' House as part of the Modern-Day Miniature Library project headed by Camilla to reflect Britain's modern literature.[266]
Other areasCamilla is a supporter of animal welfare and patron of many animal welfare charities, including Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and president of Brooke.[267] She often visits other animal shelters to show her support and to see how the animals are cared for. Camilla, who had owned two Jack Russell Terriers named Rosie and Tosca,[268] adopted two rescue puppies of the same breed named Beth and Bluebell from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011 and 2012, respectively.[269][270] Also in 2012, she opened two veterinary facilities at the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences at Langford in Somerset, which provide treatment for sick animals.[271] In 2015, she worked with department store Fortnum & Mason to sell 250 jars of honey produced by bees in her private garden in Wiltshire; the jars, priced at £20, sold out in two weeks[272] and the proceeds were donated to the Medical Detection Dogs charity, of which she is a patron.[273] Since then, she sends a limited edition of honey every year to Fortnum & Mason, with proceeds donated to her other charities.[274]Camilla supports organisations around the world working to combat poverty and homelessness. She is the patron of Emmaus UK, and in 2013, during her solo trip to Paris, she went to see the work done by the charity in that city. Every year around Christmas, she visits Emmaus communities across the United Kingdom.[17] In a similar vein, she is a staunch supporter of credit unions,[275] which she states are a "real force for change in the financial landscape, serve the people, not profit" and "provide a friendly financial community where members mutually benefit from advice, as well as savings accounts and loans."[276] She annually hosts disabled and terminally ill children from her patronages Helen & Douglas House and Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity for lunch at Clarence House, where they also decorate the Christmas tree.[277] She also supports healthy-eating, anti-FGM,[278] arts and heritage related organisations and programmes.[185]In March 2022 and amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Camilla made a "substantial" donation to the Daily Mail's refugee campaign.[279] In February 2023, she and Charles donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) which was helping victims of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes.[280]
Fashion and styleCamilla topped Richard Blackwell's list of "Ten Worst-Dressed Women" in 1994, and her name appeared on it again in 1995, 2001 and 2006.[281] In the years after her marriage, she has developed her own style and tried outfits and ensembles by notable fashion designers.[282][283] She is said to prefer "signature tea and shirt dress styles" and favours "tones of nude, white and navy" and "round necklines".[282] She has also been praised for her jewellery collections.[282] In 2018, Tatler named her on its list of Britain's best dressed people, praising her for her hat choices which have given "millinery a good name".[284] Charles and Camilla topped Tatler's Social Power Index for 2022 and 2023.[285] In 2024, the magazine included her on its list of the most glamorous European royals.[286]In 2022, Camilla took part in her first solo magazine shoot for British Vogue, appearing in the July 2022 issue.[287] The shoot took place at Clarence House, and the outfits were chosen from her own wardrobe.[287] In 2023, she was named among British Vogue's "The Vogue 25", which annually celebrates influential women pushing British society forwards.[288] In response to an enquiry by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Buckingham Palace stated in May 2024 that Camilla would no longer "procure any new fur garments".[289]
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Main article: List of titles and honours of Queen Camilla
Titles and styles
A logo with "C" and a crown
Camilla's royal cyphers as queen (left)[290] and Duchess of Cornwall (right)Upon marrying Charles, Camilla was styled "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall". In Scotland, she was known as "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Rothesay".[291] Legally, Camilla was Princess of Wales but adopted the feminine form of her husband's highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, in a concession to the low public opinion of her.[292] In 2021, upon the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Charles inherited his father's titles,[293] and Camilla thus became also formally Duchess of Edinburgh until Charles's accession the following year.[294]Clarence House stated on the occasion of Charles and Camilla's wedding in 2005 that, upon his accession, she intended to be known as princess consort rather than as queen.[295] Like the initial title of duchess, this promise reflected public disapproval.[165] There is no legal or historical precedent for such a title, however, and Camilla was to be queen under common law anyway.[296] The rising public acceptance of her allowed the 2005 announcement to be quietly shelved.[165] In her 2022 Accession Day message, Elizabeth II stated that it was her "sincere wish" for Camilla to be known as queen consort upon Charles's accession to the throne.[297]Camilla duly became queen consort upon Charles's accession on 8 September 2022. She was initially styled as "Her Majesty The Queen Consort" to distinguish her from the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II.[298][299] Since her coronation on 6 May 2023, she has been styled "Her Majesty The Queen", consistent with past queens consort.[300]
HonoursCamilla is a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter,[301] Extra Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle,[302] Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order,[303] Grand Master and First and Principal Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire,[304] recipient of the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II,[305] recipient of the Royal Family Order of King Charles III,[306] and a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.[307]
Arms
Coat of arms of Queen Camilla
Notes
On Camilla's 58th birthday in 2005, Clarence House announced that she had been granted by Queen Elizabeth II a coat of arms for her own personal use. It was reported that Queen Elizabeth II, Charles, and Camilla all took a "keen interest" in the arms' creation, and they were prepared by Peter Gwynn-Jones, Garter Principal King of Arms.[308][309] A new grant of arms was made in 2023 after Charles's accession as king.[310] Camilla's coat of arms impale the royal arms to the dexter, with her father's own arms to the sinister.[310]
Adopted
21 February 2023 (first granted 14 July 2005)[310]
Coronet
Tudor Crown[310]
Escutcheon
Within the Garter Our Royal Arms [Quarterly, I and IV Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale Or langued and armed Azure. II Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules. III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent] impaling the Arms of Shand [Azure a Boar's Head erased behind the ears Argent armed and langued Or on a Chief engrailed Argent between two Mullets Gules a Cross crosslet fitchy Sable] surmounted by Our Crown[309][310]
Supporters
To the dexter A Lion Guardant Or Crowned proper and to the sinister A Boar Azure armed and unguled Or langued Gules and gorged with a Coronet composed of Crosses formy and Fleurs-de-lys attached thereto a Chain reflexed over the back and ending in a Ring all Or[310]
Orders
The ribbon of the Order of the Garter:[310] Honi soit qui mal y pense ('Shame be to him who thinks evil of it')
Banner
A banner of Camilla's arms combined with the Royal Standard
Symbolism
The arms contain symbolism from Camilla's paternal arms: those of the Shands of Craig from Aberdeenshire. The boar's head might indicate a connection to the prominent Gordon family of Aberdeenshire, whose arms also contain a boar's head. The mullets (stars) probably stem from marriage alliances with families that used mullets in their arms: potentially the Aberdeenshire family of Blackhall or the family of Reid of Pitfoddells.[311] The cross is used to difference the family arms and is specific to Camilla's father, Major Bruce Shand. Camilla's blue boar supporter echoes Major Shand's crest ("a boar statant Azure armed and langued Gules his dexter forefoot resting on a mullet Gules").[312]
Previous versions
Initial versions of her arms as Duchess of Cornwall were depicted without the Order of the Garter, to which she was appointed in 2022. Between 2012 and 2022, her arms featured the Royal Victorian Order circlet, with the insignia of GCVO appended.[313]AncestryCamilla's ancestry is predominantly English. She also has Dutch, Scottish, Colonial American, French and French–Canadian ancestors.[314]Camilla is descended from Dutch emigrant Arnold Joost van Keppel, who was created Earl of Albemarle by King William III in 1696.[315] Through Anne van Keppel, Countess of Albemarle and a granddaughter of King Charles II, Camilla's bloodline is descended from the Houses of Stuart and Bourbon.[314][316] Camilla's Scottish lineage descends from King Robert III through his daughter Mary, who was the mother of Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath, an ancestor of her maternal great-great-grandfather, Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet.[317] Her paternal ancestors, an upper-class family, emigrated to England from Scotland.[318]Camilla's French lineage derives partially through her maternal great-great-grandmother, Sophia Mary MacNab of Hamilton, Ontario, daughter of Sir Allan MacNab, who was prime minister of the Province of Canada before Confederation.[319] Sophia's son George Keppel and King Edward VII's mistress Alice Keppel were Camilla's maternal great-grandparents.[320]Through Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle, Camilla and Charles are ninth cousins once removed.[321]
In popular culture
Waxwork of Charles and Camilla at Madame Tussauds, LondonEmerald Fennell and Olivia Williams have portrayed Camilla during various stages of her life on the Netflix series The Crown.[322][323] Fennell's performance in the 2020 fourth season earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[324] Haydn Gwynne played Camilla in the sitcom The Windsors.[325] A royal consort is the spouse of a reigning monarch. Consorts of British monarchs have no constitutional status or power but many have had significant influence, and support the sovereign in his or her duties.[1] There have been 11 royal consorts since Britain's union of the crowns in 1707, eight women and three men.Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is the longest-serving and oldest-ever consort, and served for nearly 70 years until his death in 2021. Since the accession of Charles III on 8 September 2022, his wife Camilla has held the position of queen consort.[2]
HistorySince the union of England and Scotland in 1707, there have been eleven consorts of the British monarch.[3] Queens between 1727 and 1814 were also Electress of Hanover, as their husbands all held the title of Elector of Hanover.[4] Between 1814 and 1837, queens held the title as Queen of Hanover, as their husbands were kings of Hanover.[5] The personal union with the United Kingdom ended in 1837 on the accession of Queen Victoria because the succession laws (Salic Law) in Hanover prevented a female inheriting the title if there was any surviving male heir (in the United Kingdom, a male took precedence over only his own sisters, until the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 which removed male primogeniture).[6] In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia and became the Province of Hanover.[7]Not all wives of monarchs have become consorts, as they may have died, been divorced before their husbands' acceding to the throne, or married after abdication. Such cases include Princess Sophia Dorothea of Celle, wife of George, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later King George I); Wallis Warfield, wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII); and Lady Diana Spencer, wife of Charles, Prince of Wales (later King Charles III).Only George I and Edward VIII were unmarried throughout their reigns.[8]Since 1937, the sovereign's consort and the first four individuals in the line of succession who are over 21 may be appointed counsellors of state. Counsellors of state perform some of the sovereign's duties in the United Kingdom while the sovereign is out of the country or temporarily incapacitated.[9]
Style
Female consortsThe wife of the reigning king as his consort is styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" during her husband's reign and "Her Majesty Queen [first name]" upon her husband's death. The Queen is referred to as "Her Majesty" and addressed as "Your Majesty". Since her coronation in 2023, the current royal consort, Queen Camilla, has also been styled as "Her Majesty The Queen" per tradition. Camilla was styled as "Her Majesty The Queen Consort" preceding the coronation to distinguish her from her then recently deceased mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II, who as a queen regnant was also styled as "Her Majesty The Queen".[10][11]
Male consorts
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria, is the only male consort to be given the title Prince Consort.The husband of a reigning queen does not share the regal title and style of his wife, and the three men who served as consort held various titles. The title of “Prince Consort” has only been held by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert Prince George of Denmark, husband of Queen Anne, never received an official style as the consort, his princely title being Danish, but was raised to the peerage of England as the Duke of Cumberland in 1689, several years before his wife's accession in 1702.
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria, did not take a British peerage title but was granted the title of Prince Consort as a distinct title in 1857, the only male consort of the United Kingdom or its predecessor realms to have held the title. Victoria wished to style him as King Consort, but the government would not allow it.
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was raised to the peerage as Duke of Edinburgh in 1947, five years before his wife's accession, and was made a prince of the United Kingdom in 1957.Coronation
The Coronation of King George V: King George V and Queen Mary Enthroned by Laurits Tuxen, 1912Queens consort participate in the coronation ceremony, undertaking many of the same ceremonies as the monarch. Queens traditionally wear elaborate robes and walk in the procession under a canopy. They have also been anointed with holy oil and been crowned. Traditionally, male consorts are not crowned or anointed during the coronation ceremony.[12]An unusual case was Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who had separated from her husband, George IV, before his accession, became queen consort by law but had no position at court and was forcibly barred from attending his coronation and being crowned.[13]
RegaliaThe earliest surviving consort's crown is that created in 1685 for Mary of Modena. In the early-20th century, new crowns were created for each queen consort in turn. However, Queen Camilla did not have a new crown created for her coronation in 2023 and she was crowned using the 1911 Crown of Queen Mary.[14]The Queen Consort's Ring was first created for the coronation of Queen Adelaide in 1831, and has been used by queens consort ever since.[14]The Queen Consort's Rod with Dove represents 'equity and mercy' and the dove, with its folded wings, is symbolic of the Holy Ghost. The Queen Consort's Sceptre with Cross, originally made for the coronation of Mary of Modena in 1685, is inlaid with rock crystals.[14]
List of consorts
Picture Name Arms Birth Marriage Became consort Coronation Ceased to be consort Death Grave site Tenure Spouse
George of Denmark and Norway 2 April 1653Son of
Frederick III of Denmark and Norway
and
Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg 28 July 1683 1 May 1707Creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain; became consort to the monarch of England and Scotland upon spouse's accession 8 March 1702 Not crowned 28 October 170855 years, 209 days Westminster Abbey 1 year, 180 days Anne
Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach 1 March 1683Daughter of
John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
and
Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach 22 August 1705 11 June 1727Spouse's accession 11 October 1727 20 November 173754 years, 172 days 10 years, 162 days George II
Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 19 May 1744Daughter of
Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow
and
Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen 8 September 1761Marriage to the monarch 22 September 1761 17 November 181874 years, 126 days St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 57 years, 70 days George III
Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 17 May 1768Daughter of
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of of Great Britain 8 April 1795 29 January 1820Spouse's accession Not crowned 7 August 182153 years, 72 days Brunswick Cathedral 1 year, 190 days George IV
Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline of Saxe-Meiningen 13 August 1792Daughter of
Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
and
Louise Eleanore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 13 July 1818 26 June 1830Spouse's accession 8 September 1831 20 June 1837Spouse's death 2 December 184956 years, 311 days St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 6 years, 359 days William IV
Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 26 August 1819Son of
Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
and
Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 10 February 1840Marriage to the monarch Not crowned 14 December 186142 years, 110 days St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, then Frogmore Royal Mausoleum 21 years, 307 days Victoria
Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia of Denmark 1 December 1844Daughter of
Christian IX of Denmark
and
Louise of Hesse-Kassel 10 March 1863 22 January 1901Spouse's accession 9 August 1902 6 May 1910Spouse's death 20 November 192580 years, 354 days St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 9 years, 104 days Edward VII
Victoria Mary Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes of Teck 26 May 1867Daughter of
Francis, Duke of Teck
and
Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge 6 July 1893 6 May 1910Spouse's accession 22 June 1911 20 January 1936Spouse's death 24 March 195385 years, 302 days 25 years, 259 days George V
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon 4 August 1900Daughter of
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
and
Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck 26 April 1923 11 December 1936Spouse's accession 12 May 1937 6 February 1952Spouse's death 30 March 2002101 years, 238 days 15 years, 57 days George VI
Philip of Greece and Denmark 10 June 1921Son of
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
and
Princess Alice of Battenberg 20 November 1947 6 February 1952Spouse's accession Not crowned 9 April 202199 years, 303 days 69 years, 62 days Elizabeth II
Camilla Rosemary Shand 17 July 1947Daughter of
Bruce Shand
and
The Honourable Rosalind Cubitt 9 April 2005 8 September 2022Spouse's accession 6 May 2023 IncumbentAge: 76 years, 343 days Living 1 year, 291 days Charles IIICharles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.[note 2]Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and became heir apparent when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952. He was created Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969. He was educated at Cheam School and Gordonstoun, and later spent six months at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After completing a history degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer. They had two sons, William and Harry. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, after they had each engaged in well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-term partner, 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 ElizabethCharles was born at 21:14 (GMT) on 14 November 1948,[3] during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, as the first child of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II), and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[4] He was delivered by Caesarean section at Buckingham Palace.[5] His parents had three more children, Anne (born 1950), Andrew (born 1960) and Edward (born 1964). He was christened Charles Philip Arthur George on 15 December 1948 in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.[note 5][note 6][9][10]George VI died on 6 February 1952 and Charles's mother acceded to the throne as Elizabeth II; Charles immediately became the heir apparent. Under a charter of 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.[11] The following year, Charles attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey.[12]When Charles turned five, a governess known as Catherine Peebles, was appointed to oversee his education at Buckingham Palace.[13] He then commenced classes at Hill House School in west London in November 1956.[14] Charles was the first heir apparent to attend school, rather than be educated by a private tutor.[15] 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.[16] Charles subsequently attended two of his father's former schools: Cheam School in Hampshire,[17] from 1958,[18] followed by Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland, beginning classes there in April 1962.[18][19] He later became patron of Gordonstoun in May 2024.[20]
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 1957In his 1994 authorised biography by Jonathan Dimbleby, Charles's parents were described as physically and emotionally distant and Philip was blamed for his disregard of Charles's sensitive nature, including forcing him to attend Gordonstoun, where he was bullied.[21] Though Charles reportedly described Gordonstoun, noted for its especially rigorous curriculum, as "Colditz in kilts",[17] he later praised the school, stating it had taught him "a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities". He said in a 1975 interview he was "glad" he had attended Gordonstoun and that the "toughness of the place" was "much exaggerated".[22] In 1966 Charles spent two terms 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.[23][24] In 1973 Charles described his time at Timbertop as the most enjoyable part of his whole education.[25] Upon his return to Gordonstoun, he emulated his father in becoming head boy, and left in 1967 with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C respectively.[23][26] 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".[22]Charles broke royal tradition when he proceeded straight to university after his A-levels, rather than joining the British Armed Forces.[17] In October 1967, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied archaeology and anthropology for the first part of the Tripos and then switched to history for the second part.[9][23][27] During his second year, he attended the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth, studying Welsh history and the Welsh language for one term.[23] Charles became the first British heir apparent to earn a university degree, graduating in June 1970 from the University of Cambridge with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[23][28] Following standard practice, in August 1975, his Bachelor of Arts was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree.[23]
Prince of WalesCharles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958,[29] though his investiture was not held until 1 July 1969, when he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle;[30] the investiture was controversial in Wales owing to growing Welsh nationalist sentiment.[31] He took his seat in the House of Lords the following year[32] and he delivered his maiden speech on 13 June 1974,[33] the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884.[34] He spoke again in 1975.[35]Charles began to take on more public duties, founding the Prince's Trust in 1976[36] and travelling to the United States in 1981.[37] In the mid-1970s, he expressed an interest in serving as 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.[38] 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?"[39]
Military training and careerCharles 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,[40][41] and was presented with his RAF wings in August 1971.[42]
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 passing-out parade that September, Charles embarked on a naval career and enrolled in a six-week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. He then served from 1971 to 1972 on the guided-missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and the frigates HMS Minerva, from 1972 to 1973, and HMS Jupiter in 1974. That same year, he also qualified as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Yeovilton and subsequently joined 845 Naval Air Squadron, operating from HMS Hermes.[43] Charles spent his last 10 months of active service in the Navy commanding the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington, beginning on 9 February 1976.[43] He took part in a parachute training course at RAF Brize Norton two years later, after being appointed colonel-in-chief of the Parachute Regiment in 1977.[44] Charles gave up flying after crash-landing a 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.[45]
Relationships and marriages
BachelorhoodIn his youth, Charles was amorously linked to a number of women. His girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of Sir John Russell, who was the British ambassador to Spain;[46] Lady Jane Wellesley, the daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington;[47] Davina Sheffield;[48] Lady Sarah Spencer;[49] and Camilla Shand, who later became his second wife.[50]
Portrait of Charles seated
Photograph by Allan Warren, 1972Charles's great-uncle Lord Mountbatten advised him to "sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down", but, for a wife, he "should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for ... It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage".[51] Early in 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with 25-year-old Charles about a potential marriage to Amanda Knatchbull, Mountbatten's granddaughter.[52] 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.[53] 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 7] 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.[54]In August 1979, before Charles would depart alone for India, Mountbatten was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army. When Charles returned, he proposed to Amanda. But in addition to her grandfather, she had lost her paternal grandmother and younger brother in the bomb attack and was now reluctant to join the royal family.[54]
Lady Diana Spencer
Further information: Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
With Diana during their visit to Uluru in Australia, March 1983Charles 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.[55]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.[56] Meanwhile, the couple's continuing courtship attracted intense attention from the press and paparazzi. When Charles's father told him that the media speculation would injure Diana's reputation if Charles did not come to a decision about marrying her soon, and realising 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.[57] He proposed to Diana in February 1981, with their engagement becoming official on 24 February; the wedding took place in St Paul's Cathedral on 29 July. Upon his marriage, Charles reduced his voluntary tax contribution from the profits of the Duchy of Cornwall from 50 per cent to 25 per cent.[58] The couple lived at Kensington Palace and Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and had two children: William, in 1982, and Harry, in 1984.[15]
Charles giving a speech at a podium, with Diana standing to his right
With Diana at the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, Canada, June 1983Within five years, the marriage was in trouble due to the couple's incompatibility and near 13-year age difference.[59][60] In 1986, Charles had fully resumed his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.[61] In a videotape recorded by Peter Settelen in 1992, Diana admitted that, from 1985 to 1986, she had been "deeply in love with someone who worked in this environment."[62][63] It was assumed that she was referring to Barry Mannakee,[64] who had been transferred to the Diplomatic Protection Squad in 1986, after his managers determined his relationship with Diana had been inappropriate.[63][65] Diana later commenced a relationship with Major James Hewitt, the family's former riding instructor.[66]Charles and Diana's evident discomfort in each other's company led to them being dubbed "The Glums" by the press.[67] 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,[67] 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.[68]In December 1992, John Major announced the couple's legal separation in the House of Commons. Early the following year, the British press published transcripts of a passionate, bugged telephone conversation between Charles and Parker Bowles that had taken place in 1989, which was dubbed "Camillagate" and "Tampongate".[69] 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".[70][71] 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.[72] 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.[73] Charles and Diana divorced on 28 August 1996,[74] after being advised by the Queen in December 1995 to end the marriage.[75] The couple shared custody of their children.[76]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.[77] 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.[78] 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.[79]
Camilla Parker Bowles
Main article: Wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles
Charles and Camilla stand next to each other.
With Camilla in Jamaica, March 2008In 1999 Charles and Parker Bowles made their first public appearance as a couple at the Ritz London Hotel, and she moved into Charles’s official residence, Clarence House, in 2003.[80][81] Their engagement was announced on 10 February 2005.[82] The Queen's consent to the marriage – as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772 – was recorded in a Privy Council meeting on 2 March.[83] In Canada, the Department of Justice determined the consent of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada was not required, as the union would not produce any heirs to the Canadian throne.[84]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[85] and explained by the sitting government to have been repealed by the Registration Service Act 1953.[86]The union was scheduled to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious blessing at the castle's St George's Chapel. The wedding venue was changed to Windsor Guildhall after it was realised 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 event, it was postponed from the originally scheduled date of 8 April until the following day in order to allow Charles and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.[87]Charles's parents did not attend the marriage ceremony; the Queen's reluctance to attend possibly arose from her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.[88] However, his parents did attend the service of blessing and held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle.[89] The blessing by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was televised.[90]
Official duties
See also: List of official overseas trips made by Charles III
Black and white photograph of Charles in Gujarat with a crowd of people, 1980
With Harichand Megha Dalaya at Amul, in Anand, Gujarat, December 1980In 1965 Charles undertook his first public engagement by attending a student garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.[91] During his time as Prince of Wales, he undertook official duties on behalf of the Queen,[92] completing 10,934 engagements between 2002 and 2022.[93] He officiated at investitures and attended the funerals of foreign dignitaries.[94] Charles made regular tours of Wales, fulfilling a week of engagements each summer, and attending important national occasions, such as opening the Senedd.[95] The six trustees of the Royal Collection Trust met three times a year under his chairmanship.[96] Charles also represented his mother at the independence celebrations in Fiji in 1970,[97] The Bahamas in 1973,[98] Papua New Guinea in 1975,[99] Zimbabwe in 1980,[100] and Brunei in 1984.[101]In 1983 Christopher John Lewis, who had fired a shot with a .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.[102] 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.[103] In 1995, Charles became the first member of the royal family to visit the Republic of Ireland in an official capacity.[104] In 1997, Charles represented the Queen at the Hong Kong handover ceremony.[105][106]
Charles shaking hands with a crowd
Charles's ninth tour of New Zealand, November 2015At 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".[107] In 2008 a non-cancerous growth was removed from his nasal bridge.[108]Charles represented the Queen at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.[109] In November 2010, he and Camilla were indirectly involved in student protests when their car was attacked by protesters.[110] In November 2013, he represented the Queen for the first time at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[111]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.[112] During the trip, Charles shook hands in Galway with Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin and widely believed to be the leader of the IRA, the militant group that had assassinated Lord Mountbatten in 1979. The event was described by the media as a "historic handshake" and a "significant moment for Anglo-Irish relations".[113]
Seated left to right are: Governor-General of New Zealand Patsy Reddy, French president Emmanuel Macron, British prime minister Theresa May, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, US president Donald Trump, Greek president Prokopis Pavlopoulos, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte
With Queen Elizabeth II and other world leaders to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day on 5 June 2019Commonwealth heads of government decided at their 2018 meeting that Charles would be the next Head of the Commonwealth after the Queen.[114] The head is chosen and therefore not hereditary.[115] 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.[116]Charles contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic in March 2020.[117][118] Several newspapers were critical that Charles and Camilla were tested promptly at a time when many NHS doctors, nurses and patients had been unable to be tested expeditiously.[119] He tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time in February 2022.[120] He and Camilla, who also tested positive, had received doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in February 2021.[121]
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 2022Charles attended the November 2021 ceremonies to mark Barbados's transition into a parliamentary republic, abolishing the position of monarch of Barbados.[122] He was invited by Prime Minister Mia Mottley as the future Head of the Commonwealth;[123] it was the first time that a member of the royal family attended the transition of a realm to a republic.[124] In May of the following year, Charles attended the State Opening of the British Parliament, delivering the Queen's Speech on behalf of his mother, as a counsellor of state.[125]
Reign
Further information: Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II and Proclamation of accession of Charles III
Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone is seated next to the King.
Addressing the Scottish Parliament on 13 September 2022Charles 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.[126] 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.[127]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.[128] The following day, the Accession Council publicly proclaimed Charles as king, the ceremony being televised for the first time.[129][114] Attendees included Queen Camilla, Prince William, and the British prime minister, Liz Truss, along with her six living predecessors.[130] The proclamation was also read out by local authorities around the United Kingdom. Other realms signed and read their own proclamations, as did Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, Canadian provinces, and Australian states.[131]
Charles and Camilla wearing their crowns and coronation robes waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace
Charles and Camilla after their coronationCharles and Camilla's coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023.[132] Plans had been made for many years, under the code name Operation Golden Orb.[133][134] Reports before his accession suggested that Charles's coronation would be simpler than his mother's in 1953,[135] with the ceremony expected to be "shorter, smaller, less expensive, and more representative of different faiths and community groups – falling in line with the King's wish to reflect the ethnic diversity of modern Britain".[136] Nonetheless, the coronation was a Church of England rite, including the coronation oath, the anointment, delivery of the orb, and enthronement.[137] In July that year, they attended a national service of thanksgiving where Charles was presented with the Honours of Scotland in St Giles' Cathedral.[138]Charles and Camilla have engaged in three state visits and received three. In November 2022 they hosted the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, during the first official state visit to Britain of Charles's reign.[139] 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.[140] 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.[141] 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.[142]In May 2024, the British prime minister Rishi Sunak asked the King to call a general election; subsequently royal engagements which could divert attention from the election campaign were postponed.[143] In June 2024, Charles and Camilla travelled to Normandy to attend the 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.[144] The same month, he received Emperor Naruhito of Japan during the latter's state visit to the United Kingdom, originally planned to be held in 2020 but postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[145]
HealthIn March 1998, Charles had laser keyhole surgery on his right knee.[108] In March 2003 he underwent surgery at King Edward VII's Hospital to treat a hernia injury.[146]In January 2024, Charles underwent a "corrective procedure" at the London Clinic to treat benign prostate enlargement, which resulted in the postponement of some of his public engagements.[147] In February, Buckingham Palace announced that cancer had been discovered during the treatment, but that it was not prostate cancer. Although his public duties were postponed, it was reported Charles would continue to fulfil his constitutional functions during his outpatient treatment.[148] He released a statement espousing his support for cancer charities and that he "remain[ed] positive" on making a full recovery.[149] In March, Camilla deputised for him in his absence at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey and at the Royal Maundy at Worcester Cathedral.[150][151] He made his first major public appearance since his cancer diagnosis at the Easter service held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 31 March.[152] In April 2024, it was announced that he would resume public-facing duties after making progress in his cancer treatment.[153][154]
DietAs early as 1985, Charles was questioning meat consumption. In the 1985 Royal Special television programme, he told host Alastair Burnet that "I actually now don't eat as much meat as I used to. I eat more fish." He also pointed out the societal double standard whereby eating meat is not questioned but eating less meat means "all hell seems to break loose."[155] In 2021, Charles spoke to the BBC about the environment and revealed that, two days per week, he eats no meat nor fish and, one day per week, he eats no dairy products.[156] In 2022, it was reported that he eats a breakfast of fruit salad, seeds, and tea. He does not eat lunch, but takes a break for tea at 5:00 p.m. and eats dinner at 8:30 p.m., returning to work until midnight or after.[157] Ahead of Christmas dinner in 2022, Charles confirmed to animal rights group 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.[158] 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.[159]
Charity workSince founding the Prince's Trust in 1976, using his £7,500 of severance pay from the Navy,[160] Charles has established 16 more charitable organisations and now serves as president of each.[161][92] Together, they form a loose alliance, the Prince's Charities, which describes itself as "the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the United Kingdom, raising over £100 million annually ... [and is] active across a broad range of areas including education and young people, environmental sustainability, the built environment, responsible business and enterprise, and international".[161] As Prince of Wales, Charles became patron or president of over 800 other charities and organisations.[91]The Prince's Charities Canada was established in 2010, in a similar fashion to its namesake in Britain.[162] Charles uses his tours of Canada as a way to help draw attention to youth, the disabled, the environment, the arts, medicine, the elderly, heritage conservation, and education.[163] He has also set up the Prince's Charities Australia, based in Melbourne, to provide a coordinating presence for his Australian and international charitable endeavours.[164]
With Camilla visiting the African American Heritage Center in Louisville, Kentucky, March 2015Charles 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.[163] 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,[165] and subsequently supported the FARA Foundation,[9] a charity for Romanian orphans and abandoned children.[166]
Investigations of donations
Main articles: The King's Foundation § Cash for honours allegations and other donations, and King Charles III Charitable Fund § Qatari donationsTwo of Charles's charities, the Prince's Foundation and the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund (later renamed the King's Foundation and King Charles III Charitable Fund, respectively), came under scrutiny in 2021 and 2022 for accepting donations the media deemed inappropriate. In August 2021, it was announced that the Prince's Foundation was launching an investigation into the reports,[167] with Charles's support.[168] The 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.[169] In February 2022, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the cash-for-honours allegations linked to the foundation,[170] passing their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service for deliberation in October.[171] In August 2023, the Metropolitan Police announced that they had concluded their investigations and no further actions would be taken.[172]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.[173][174] There was no evidence that the payments were illegal or that it was not intended for the money to go to the charity,[174] although, the Charity Commission stated it would review the information[175] and announced in July 2022 that there would be no further investigation.[176] 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.[177][178] The Charity Commission described the decision to accept donations as a "matter for trustees" and added that no investigation was required.[179]
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, RwandaFrom young adulthood, Charles encouraged understanding of Indigenous voices, claiming they held crucial messages about preservation of the land, respecting community and shared values, resolving conflict, and recognising and making good on past iniquities.[180] He dovetailed this view with his efforts against climate change,[181] as well as reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and his charitable work in Canada.[182][183] At CHOGM 2022, Charles, who was representing his mother, raised that reconciliation process as an example for dealing with the history of slavery in the British Empire,[184] for which he expressed his sorrow.[185]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.[186] The Cabinet Office published the letters in May 2015.[187] The reaction was largely supportive of Charles, with little criticism of him;[188] the press variously described the memos as "underwhelming"[189] and "harmless",[190] and concluded that their release had "backfired on those who seek to belittle him".[191] It was revealed in the same year that Charles had access to confidential Cabinet papers.[192]In October 2020, a letter sent by Charles to the governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, after Kerr's dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975, was released as part of the collection of palace letters regarding the Australian constitutional crisis.[193] In the letter, Charles was supportive of Kerr's decision, writing that what Kerr "did last year was right and the courageous thing to do".[193]
Charles greeting Davidson, Sturgeon, and other members of the Scottish Parliament
Meeting with Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon after the Kirking of the Scottish Parliament, May 2016The 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.[194] 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.[195][196]
Built environmentCharles has openly expressed his views on architecture and urban planning; he fostered the advancement of New Classical architecture and asserted that he "care[s] deeply about issues such as the environment, architecture, inner-city renewal, and the quality of life."[197] In a speech given for the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects in May 1984, he described a proposed extension to the 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.[198] 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?"[198] 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.[199]
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 2000In Charles's 1989 book A Vision of Britain, and in speeches and essays, he has been critical of modern architecture, arguing that traditional designs and methods should guide contemporary ones.[200] He has continued to campaign for traditional urbanism, human scale, restoration of historic buildings, and sustainable design[201] despite criticism in the press.[202] Two of his charities – the Prince's Regeneration Trust and 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.[197] In 2013 developments for the suburb of Nansledan began on the estate of the Duchy of Cornwall with Charles's endorsement.[203] 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.[204] The house and gardens remain property of the Prince's Foundation and serve as a museum and community and skills training centre.[205][206] This led to the development of Knockroon, called the "Scottish Poundbury".[207][208]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.[209] 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.[210]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.[211] For his work as patron of New Classical architecture, Charles was awarded the 2012 Driehaus Architecture Prize from the University of Notre Dame.[212] The Worshipful Company of Carpenters installed Charles as an Honorary Liveryman "in recognition of his interest in London's architecture."[213]Charles has occasionally intervened in projects that employ architectural styles such as modernism and functionalism.[214][215] In 2009, Charles wrote to the Qatari royal family – the financier of the redevelopment of the Chelsea Barracks site – labelling Lord Rogers's design for the site "unsuitable". Rogers claimed that Charles had also intervened to block his designs for the Royal Opera House and Paternoster Square.[216] CPC Group, the project developer, took a case against Qatari Diar to the High Court.[217] After the suit was settled, the CPC Group apologised to Charles "for any offence caused ... during the course of the proceedings".[217]
Natural environment
Charles delivers a speech at a podium with the French and United Nations flags behind him
Addressing the opening of the Paris Climate Change Conference, November 2015Since the 1970s, Charles has promoted environmental awareness.[218] At the age of 21, he delivered his first speech on environmental issues in his capacity as the chairman of the Welsh Countryside Committee.[219] An avid gardener, Charles has also emphasised the importance of talking to plants, stating that "I happily talk to the plants and trees, and listen to them. I think it's absolutely crucial".[220] His interest in gardening began in 1980 when he took over the Highgrove estate.[221] His "healing garden", based on sacred geometry and ancient religious symbolism, went on display at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2002.[221]Upon moving into Highgrove House, Charles developed an interest in organic farming, which culminated in the 1990 launch of his own organic brand, Duchy Originals,[222] which sells more than 200 different sustainably produced products; the profits (over £6 million by 2010) are donated to the Prince's Charities.[222][223] Charles became involved with farming and various industries within it, regularly meeting with farmers to discuss their trade. A prominent critic of the practice,[224] Charles has also spoken against the use of GM crops, and in a letter to Tony Blair in 1998, Charles criticised the development of genetically modified foods.[225]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.[226] 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.[227]
With Camilla visiting Hackney City Farm in East London, May 2009
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.[228]Charles delivered a speech at the 2021 G20 Rome summit, describing COP26 as "the last chance saloon" for preventing climate change and asking for actions that would lead to a green-led, sustainable economy.[229] In his speech at the opening ceremony for COP26, he repeated his sentiments from the previous year, stating that "a vast military-style campaign" was needed "to marshal the strength of the global private sector" for tackling climate change.[230] In 2022, the media alleged that Liz Truss had advised Charles against attending COP27, to which advice he agreed.[231] Charles delivered the opening speech at COP28, saying among others he prayed "with all my heart that COP28 will be a critical turning point towards genuine transformational action."[232]Charles, who is patron of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, introduced the Climate Action Scholarships for students from small island nations in partnership with University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, McMaster University, and University of Montreal in March 2022.[233] 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".[234]
Alternative medicine
See also: The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health and The College of MedicineCharles has controversially championed alternative medicine, including homeopathy.[235][236] He first publicly expressed his interest in the topic in December 1982, in an address to the British Medical Association.[237][238] This speech was seen as "combative" and "critical" of modern medicine and was met with anger by some medical professionals.[236] Similarly, the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) attracted opposition from the scientific and medical community over its campaign encouraging general practitioners to offer herbal and other alternative treatments to NHS patients.[239][240]In April 2008, The Times published a letter from Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, which asked the FIH to recall two guides promoting alternative medicine. That year, Ernst published a book with Simon Singh called Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial and mockingly dedicated to "HRH the Prince of Wales". The last chapter is highly critical of Charles's advocacy of complementary and alternative treatments.[241]Charles's Duchy Originals produced a variety of complementary medicinal products, including a "Detox Tincture" that Ernst denounced as "financially exploiting the vulnerable" and "outright quackery".[242] Charles personally wrote at least seven letters[243] to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency shortly before it relaxed the rules governing labelling of such herbal products, a move that was widely condemned by scientists and medical bodies.[244] It was reported in October 2009 that Charles had lobbied the health secretary, Andy Burnham, regarding greater provision of alternative treatments in the NHS.[242]Following accounting irregularities, the FIH announced its closure in April 2010.[245][246] The FIH was re-branded and re-launched later in the year as the College of Medicine,[246][247] of which Charles became a patron in 2019.[248]
Sports
Charles and others on horseback during a game of polo
Charles (at front) at the 2005 Chakravarty Cup Match at Ham Polo Club, June 2005From his youth until 2005, Charles was an avid player of competitive polo.[249] Charles also frequently took part in fox hunting until the sport was banned in the United Kingdom, also in 2005.[250] 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.[251] Charles suffered several polo and hunting-related injuries throughout the years, including a two-inch scar on his left cheek in 1980, a broken arm in 1990, a torn cartilage in his left knee in 1992, a broken rib in 1998, and a fractured shoulder in 2001.[108]Charles has been a keen salmon angler since youth and supported Orri Vigfússon's efforts to protect the North Atlantic salmon. He frequently fishes the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and claims his most special angling memories are from his time spent in Vopnafjörður, Iceland.[252] Charles is a supporter of Burnley F.C.[253]Apart from hunting, Charles has also participated in target rifle competitions, representing the House of Lords in the Vizianagram Match (Lords vs. Commons) at Bisley.[254] He became President of the British National Rifle Association in 1977.[255]
Visual, performing, and literary arts
Further information: Bibliography of Charles IIICharles has been involved in performance since his youth, and appeared in sketches and revues while studying at Cambridge.[256]
Charles in a brown coat attending a performance of Henry V in Stratford-upon-Avon
At a performance of Henry V at the Courtyard Theatre in 2007Charles is president or patron of more than 20 performing arts organisations, including the Royal College of Music, Royal Opera, English Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company (attending performances in Stratford-Upon-Avon, supporting fundraising events, and attending the company's annual general meeting),[257] British Film Institute,[258] and Purcell School. In 2000, he revived the tradition of appointing an official harpist to the Prince of Wales, in order to foster Welsh talent at playing the national instrument of Wales.[259]Charles is a keen watercolourist, having published books on the subject and exhibited and sold a number of his works to raise money for charity; in 2016, it was estimated that he had sold lithographs of his watercolours for a total of £2 million from a shop at his Highgrove House residence. For his 50th birthday, 50 of his watercolours were exhibited at Hampton Court Palace and, for his 70th birthday, his works were exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia.[260] In 2001, 20 lithographs of his watercolour paintings illustrating his country estates were exhibited at the Florence International Biennale of Contemporary Art[261] and 79 of his paintings were put on display in London in 2022. To mark the 25th anniversary of his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1994, the Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps that featured his paintings.[260] Charles is Honorary President of the Royal Academy of Arts Development Trust[262] and, in 2015, 2022, and 2023, commissioned paintings of 12 D-Day veterans, seven Holocaust survivors, and ten members of the Windrush generation, respectively, which went on display at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace.[263][264][265]Charles is the author of several books and has contributed a foreword or preface to numerous books by others. He has also been featured in a variety of documentary films.[266]
Religion and philosophyShortly after his accession to the throne, Charles publicly described himself as "a committed Anglican Christian";[267] at age 16, during Easter 1965, he had been confirmed into the Anglican communion by Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.[268] The King is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England[269] and a member of the Church of Scotland; he swore an oath to uphold that church immediately after he was proclaimed king.[270] He attends services at various Anglican churches close to Highgrove[271] and attends the Church of Scotland's Crathie Kirk with the rest of the royal family when staying at Balmoral Castle.
Charles conversing with Jaroslav Šuvarský
With Czech Orthodox priest Jaroslav Šuvarský [cs] in Prague, Czech Republic, March 2010Laurens van der Post became a friend of Charles in 1977; he was dubbed the prince's "spiritual guru" and was godfather to Prince William.[272] From van der Post, Charles developed a focus on philosophy and an interest in other religions.[273] Charles expressed his philosophical views in his 2010 book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World,[274] which won a Nautilus Book Award.[275] He has also visited Eastern Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos,[276] in Romania,[277] and in Serbia,[278] and met with Eastern Church leaders in Jerusalem in 2020, during a visit that culminated in an ecumenical service in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and a walk through the city accompanied by Christian and Muslim dignitaries.[279] Charles also attended the consecration of Britain's first Syriac Orthodox cathedral, St Thomas Cathedral, Acton.[280] Charles is patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and attended the inauguration of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, which is dedicated to Islamic studies in a multicultural context.[199][281]In his 1994 documentary with Dimbleby, Charles said that, when king, he wished to be seen as a "defender of faith", rather than the British monarch's traditional title of Defender of the Faith, "preferr[ing] to embrace all religious traditions and 'the pattern of the divine, which I think is in all of us.'"[282] This attracted controversy at the time, as well as speculation that the coronation oath might be altered.[283] He stated in 2015 that he would retain the title of Defender of the Faith, whilst "ensuring that other people's faiths can also be practised", which he sees as a duty of the Church of England.[284] Charles reaffirmed this theme shortly after his accession and declared that his duties as sovereign included "the duty to protect the diversity of our country, including by protecting the space for faith itself and its practice through the religions, cultures, traditions, and beliefs to which our hearts and minds direct us as individuals."[267] His inclusive, multi-faith approach and his own Christian beliefs were expressed in his first Christmas message as king.[285]
Media image and public opinion
Further information: Cultural depictions of Charles IIISince his birth, Charles has received close media attention, which increased as he matured. It has been an ambivalent relationship, largely impacted by his marriages to Diana and Camilla and their aftermath, but also centred on his future conduct as king.[286]
With his first wife, Diana, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan in the White House, November 1985Described as the "world's most eligible bachelor" in the late 1970s,[287] Charles was subsequently overshadowed by Diana.[288] After her death, the media regularly breached Charles's privacy and printed exposés. Known for expressing his opinions, when asked during an interview to mark his 70th birthday whether this would continue in the same way once he is king, he responded "No. It won't. I'm not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign. So, of course, you know, I understand entirely how that should operate."[289] In 2009 Charles was named the world's best-dressed man by Esquire magazine. [290] In 2023 the New Statesman named Charles as the fourth most powerful right-wing figure of the year, describing him as a "romantic traditionalist" and "the very last reactionary in public life" for his support of various traditionalist think-tanks and previous writings.[291]A 2018 BMG Research poll found that 46 per cent of Britons wanted Charles to abdicate immediately on his mother's death, in favour of William.[292] However, a 2021 opinion poll reported that 60 per cent of the British public had a favourable opinion of him.[293] On his accession to the throne, The Statesman reported an opinion poll that put Charles's popularity with the British people at 42 per cent.[294] More recent polling suggested that his popularity increased sharply after he became king.[295] As of May 2024, Charles had an approval rating of 58 per cent, according to statistics and polling company YouGov.[296]
Reaction to press treatmentIn 1994 German tabloid Bild published nude photos of Charles that were taken while he was vacationing in Le Barroux; they had reportedly been put up for sale for £30,000.[297] Buckingham Palace reacted by stating that it was "unjustifiable for anybody to suffer this sort of intrusion".[298]Charles, "so often a target of the press, got his chance to return fire" in 2002, when addressing "scores of editors, publishers, and other media executives" gathered at St Bride's Fleet Street to celebrate 300 years of journalism.[note 8][299] Defending public servants from "the corrosive drip of constant criticism", he noted that the press had been "awkward, cantankerous, cynical, bloody-minded, at times intrusive, at times inaccurate, and at times deeply unfair and harmful to individuals and to institutions."[299] But, he concluded, regarding his own relations with the press, "from time to time we are probably both a bit hard on each other, exaggerating the downsides and ignoring the good points in each."[299]
Charles and Camilla amidst a crowd of people, mostly reporters and photographers, in New Orleans
With Camilla (centre left) in front of the media pack in the French Quarter of New Orleans, United States, as part of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, November 2005In 2006 Charles filed a court case against The Mail on Sunday, after excerpts of his personal journals were published, revealing his opinions on matters such as the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China in 1997, in which Charles described the Chinese government officials as "appalling old waxworks".[300][92] Charles and Camilla were named in 2011 as individuals whose confidential information was reportedly targeted or actually acquired in conjunction with the news media phone hacking scandal.[301]The Independent noted in 2015 that Charles would only speak to broadcasters "on the condition they have signed a 15-page contract, demanding that Clarence House attends both the 'rough cut' and 'fine cut' edits of films and, if it is unhappy with the final product, can 'remove the contribution in its entirety from the programme'."[302] This contract stipulated that all questions directed at Charles must be pre-approved and vetted by his representatives.[302]
Residences and finance
Further information: Finances of the British royal familyIn 2023 The Guardian estimated Charles's personal wealth at £1.8 billion.[303] This estimate includes the assets of the Duchy of Lancaster worth £653 million (and paying Charles an annual income of £20 million), jewels worth £533 million, real estate worth £330 million, shares and investments worth £142 million, a stamp collection worth at least £100 million, racehorses worth £27 million, artworks worth £24 million, and cars worth £6.3 million.[303] Most of this wealth which he inherited from his mother is exempt from inheritance tax.[303][304]
Photograph of Clarence House, a white building with a Union flag flying over it
Clarence House, Charles's London residence since 2003Clarence House, previously the residence of the Queen Mother, was Charles's official London residence from 2003, after being renovated at a cost of £6.1 million.[305] He previously shared apartments eight and nine at Kensington Palace with Diana before moving to York House at St James's Palace, which remained his principal residence until 2003.[306] Highgrove House in Gloucestershire is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, having been purchased for Charles's use in 1980, and which he rented for £336,000 per annum.[307][308] Since William became Duke of Cornwall, Charles is expected to pay £700,000 per annum for use of the property.[309] Charles also owns a property near the village of Viscri in Romania.[310][311]As Prince of Wales, Charles's primary source of income was generated from the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns 133,658 acres of land (around 54,090 hectares), including farming, residential, and commercial properties, as well as an investment portfolio. Since 1993, he has paid tax voluntarily under the Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, updated in 2013.[312] Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs were asked in December 2012 to investigate alleged tax avoidance by the Duchy of Cornwall.[313] The Duchy is named in the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment that were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.[314][315]
Titles, styles, honours, and arms
Main article: List of titles and honours of Charles III
See also: List of awards received by Charles III
A logo with "CR III" and a crown (coloured)
Royal cypher of Charles III, surmounted by the Tudor Crown[316]
A logo with "CR III" and a crown
Scottish royal cypher of Charles III, surmounted by the Crown of Scotland[316]
A logo with "CR III" and a crown
Canadian royal cypher of Charles III, surmounted by the Canadian Royal Crown[317]
Titles and stylesCharles has held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, is sovereign of many orders in his own countries and has received honours and awards from around the world.[318][319][320][321][322] In each of his realms, he has a distinct title that follows a similar formula: King of Saint Lucia and of His other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc. In the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency rather than a separate realm, he is known as Lord of Mann. Charles is also styled Defender of the Faith.There had been speculation throughout Elizabeth II's reign as to what regnal name Charles would choose upon his accession; instead of Charles III, he could have chosen to reign as George VII or used one of his other given names.[323] It was reported that he might use George in honour of his grandfather George VI and to avoid associations with previous controversial kings named Charles.[note 9][324][325] Charles's office asserted in 2005 that no decision had yet been made.[326] Speculation continued for a few hours following his mother's death,[327] until Liz Truss announced and Clarence House confirmed that Charles had chosen the regnal name Charles III.[328][329]Charles, who left active military service in 1976, was awarded the highest rank in all three armed services in 2012 by his mother: Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force.[330]
Arms
Further information: Coat of arms of the Prince of Wales, Coat of arms of the United Kingdom, and Coat of arms of CanadaAs Prince of Wales, Charles's coat of arms was based on the arms of the United Kingdom, differenced with a white label and an inescutcheon of the Principality of Wales, surmounted by the heir apparent's crown, and with the motto Ich dien (German: [ɪç ˈdiːn], "I serve") instead of Dieu et mon droit.When Charles became king, he inherited the royal coats of arms of the United Kingdom and of Canada.[331] The design of his royal cypher, featuring a depiction of the Tudor crown instead of St Edward's Crown, was revealed on 27 September 2022. The College of Arms envisages that the Tudor crown will be used in new arms, uniforms and crown badges as they are replaced.[332] In 2024 the crown logo for GOV.UK changed to a depiction of the Tudor Crown.[333]
Coat of arms as Prince of Wales (1958–2022)
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland
Royal coat of arms of Canada
Banners, flags, and standards
See also: Flags of Charles III
As heir apparentThe banners used by Charles as Prince of Wales varied depending upon location. His personal standard for the United Kingdom was the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom differenced as in his arms, with a label of three points argent and the escutcheon of the arms of the Principality of Wales in the centre. It was used outside Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, and Canada, and throughout the entire United Kingdom when Charles was acting in an official capacity associated with the British Armed Forces.[334]The personal flag for use in Wales was based upon the Royal Badge of Wales.[334] In Scotland, the personal banner used between 1974 and 2022 was based upon three ancient Scottish titles: Duke of Rothesay (heir apparent to the King of Scots), High Steward of Scotland, and Lord of the Isles. In Cornwall, the banner was the arms of the Duke of Cornwall.[334]In 2011, the Canadian Heraldic Authority introduced a personal heraldic banner for the Prince of Wales for Canada, consisting of the shield of the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada defaced with both a blue roundel of the Prince of Wales's feathers surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves and a white label of three points.[335]
Banners of arms
Royal standard of the Prince of Wales for the United Kingdom
Standard for Wales
Standard for Scotland
Banner of arms of the Duke of Cornwall
Royal standard of the Prince of Wales for Canada
As sovereign
Main articles: Royal Standard of the United Kingdom and Royal standards of CanadaThe royal standard of the United Kingdom is used to represent the King in the United Kingdom and on official visits overseas, except in Canada. It is the royal arms in banner form undifferentiated, having been used by successive British monarchs since 1702. The royal standard of Canada is used by the King in Canada and while acting on behalf of Canada overseas. It is the escutcheon of the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada in banner form undifferentiated.
Royal Standards
United Kingdom (outside Birth Marriage Children
Date Spouse
William, Prince of Wales 21 June 1982 (age 42) 29 April 2011 Catherine Middleton Prince George of Wales
Princess Charlotte of Wales
Prince Louis of Wales
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex 15 September 1984 (age 39) 19 May 2018 Meghan Markle Prince Archie of Sussex
Princess Lilibet of SussexAncestry
Ancestors of Charles III[336]
See also List of current monarchs of sovereign states
List of covers of Time magazine (1960s), (1970s), (1980s), (2010s), (2020s)Her Majesty The Queen (formerly HRH The Duchess of Cornwall) supports her husband, formerly The Prince of Wales, now His Majesty The King, in carrying out his work and duties. She also undertakes public engagements on behalf of the charities that she supports.The Queen was born Camilla Rosemary Shand on 17th July 1947 at King’s College Hospital London, the daughter of Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand and the Hon Rosalind Maud Shand (nee Cubitt).Major Shand and the Hon Rosalind Cubitt, the daughter of 3rd Baron Ashcombe, married on 2nd January 1946 at St Paul’s, Knightsbridge.Her Majesty has a sister, Annabel Elliot, and a brother, Mark Shand. Mark Shand, a conservationist, died on 23rd April 2014.The Shand family lived in East Sussex from 1951 onwards. Major Shand, MC and Bar, was Vice Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex and Master of the South Downs Hounds for 19 years. He died aged 89 on 11th June 2006 at his home in Dorset.Mrs Rosalind Shand was 72 when she died in 1994 as a result of osteoporosis. The Queen's grandmother had died from the same condition eight years earlier. The Queen has served as President of the Royal Osteoporosis Society since 2001, having supported the charity since 1994.The Queen was first educated at Dumbrells School, in Sussex, and then at Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington. She also attended Mon Fertile school in Switzerland and studied at the Institut Britannique in Paris.On 9th April 2005, The Prince of Wales and Ms. Camilla Parker-Bowles were married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor. They were joined by around 800 guests at a Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. The Service was followed by a reception at Windsor Castle hosted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.The Queen was previously married to Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles and the marriage was dissolved in 1995. The couple had two children, Thomas Henry and Laura Rose, born in 1974 and 1978 respectively.Since her marriage to The King in 2005, The Queen has become Patron or President of over 100 charities. Her Majesty’s charity work is varied but several themes prevail: health and well-being, promoting literacy, the arts, animal welfare and supporting survivors of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.On 9th April 2012, Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had appointed The Duchess of Cornwall, as she was formerly known, to be a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).In 2016, The late Queen appointed Her (then) Royal Highness as a member of the Privy Council and more recently, in 2022, a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter.Since the change in reign, His Majesty The King has conferred a number of honours to The Queen, including Lady of the Thistle in 2023, and Grand Master and First and Principal Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2024.Her Majesty has five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.Camilla, queen of the United Kingdom (born July 17, 1947, London, England) is the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2023– ), wife of Charles III. While her affair with Charles during his marriage (1981–96) to Princess Diana caused controversy, Camilla eventually gained public acceptance. She is known for her self-deprecating humour and easy-going nature.
Early life and education
Discover how Camilla overcame controversy to become queen consort
Discover how Camilla overcame controversy to become queen consort
Learn about Camilla's life, including her unlikely path to becoming queen consort of the United Kingdom.
See all videos for this articleCamilla Shand was the eldest of three children born to Rosalind Shand (née Cubitt) and Bruce Shand. The upper-class family spent much of their time at a country estate in East Sussex. There she developed a fondness for the outdoors and became a keen horsewoman. After attending Queen’s Gate School in London, she went to finishing school in Switzerland and then briefly attended the University of London Institute in Paris. In 1965 Shand was a debutante. She subsequently worked as a receptionist while maintaining an active social life. Extremely popular, she was known for being charismatic and fun-loving.
First marriage and scandal
Prince Charles and Camilla Shand
Prince Charles (left) with Camilla Shand at a polo match, c. 1972.Shand reportedly met Prince Charles at a polo match in 1970, before either of them was married. According to various accounts, she told him that her great-grandmother Alice Keppel had been the mistress of his great-great-grandfather King Edward VII. Shand and the prince began dating, but marriage was not considered. At the time, Charles was considered too young, and some in the monarchy viewed Shand as an unsuitable bride. Objections included the fact that she was not aristocratic.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles after their wedding, July 4, 1973.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles with their wedding party, July 4, 1973.According to some reports, Shand was also still interested in Andrew Parker Bowles, an army officer she had previously dated. Parker Bowles was a friend of Charles and had dated his sister, Princess Anne. While Charles was away on an extended naval deployment in 1973, Shand and Parker Bowles rekindled their relationship. On July 4, 1973, they were married in a lavish ceremony. The couple later had two children, Tom (born 1974) and Laura (born 1978). Charles also seemed to move on, marrying Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.Following her marriage, Camilla Parker Bowles enjoyed a life of comfort. She continued horseback riding and took part in rural gentry activities, including foxhunting (an activity made illegal in 2005). Her lifestyle survived largely unscathed when she was one of the “names” (investors) in Lloyd’s of London who lost money in a scandal that engulfed many of that company’s insurance underwriters in the 1980s.During this time Camilla Parker Bowles and her husband remained in the prince’s circle of friends. By 1986 she and Prince Charles had resumed their relationship. In 1992 Prince Charles and Princess Diana separated, and the princess blamed Parker Bowles for the breakup. The following year a secretly recorded intimate phone call between Parker Bowles and Prince Charles was made public by the media. Then in a 1994 TV documentary the prince admitted to the affair. Amid the public uproar, in 1995 Camilla Parker Bowles divorced her husband (who soon afterward married his own mistress), and Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced the following year. In 1997 Princess Diana died in a car accident, causing an unprecedented outpouring of grief from the public.
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Public acceptance and royal weddingThe scandal ignited a fierce public backlash against both Parker Bowles and Prince Charles. She was especially vilified and later called it a “deeply unpleasant time.” However, the couple remained together, and Prince Charles reportedly told advisers that his relationship with her was “non-negotiable.” A campaign was launched to ease Parker Bowles into public life and hopefully rehabilitate her image. In 1998 she reportedly met Prince Charles’s sons, William and Harry. The following year Prince Charles and Parker Bowles made their first public appearance together, attending a birthday party for her sister.
Charles, prince of Wales, and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Charles, prince of Wales (later Charles III), with his second wife, Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort), after their wedding on April 9, 2005.More public appearances followed, and Prince Charles and Parker Bowles gradually came to be accepted as a couple. When their engagement was announced on February 10, 2005, Queen Elizabeth II publicly bestowed her blessing. Though the wedding was set for April 8, 2005, it had to be postponed to allow the prince to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. On April 9 Parker Bowles married Charles in a civil ceremony followed by a church service of prayer and dedication. Technically, upon her marriage she became the princess of Wales. However, she announced that she did not wish to be called princess and opted for the title of duchess of Cornwall (from one of Charles’s junior titles).
From duchess of Cornwall to queen consort
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom, visiting an elementary school in Hamburg, Germany, 2023.
Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), helping to decorate a Christmas tree during a children's charity event, 2016.
Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
(Left) Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), helping make crafts at Barnardo's Well Being Hub in Ilford, Essex, England, 2019.
Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
(Centre) Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), with (right) Tanzania's first lady, Salma Kikwete, during a royal visit to Dar es Salaam, 2011.The low-key wedding proved to be a success with the British public, and by the end of 2005 even the duchess’s critics acknowledged that she had settled into her new role in the royal family. She drew particular praise for her charitable work. She was notably involved with the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, a bone condition that affected her mother. The duchess also supported causes that promoted literacy and animal welfare, and she advocated for victims of sexual assault. In addition, she earned praise for her humour and approachability.
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom, arriving for a state banquet at the presidential Bellevue Palace, Berlin, March 29, 2023.
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom, speaking at a literacy event as Charles III looks on, London, 2023.
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom, and Charles III
Camilla, queen consort of the United Kingdom, and Charles III in Ballater, Scotland, October 2022.
British royal family in 2015
The British royal family watching the Trooping the Colour from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, June 13, 2015. (From left) Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort), Prince Charles (later Charles III), Prince George, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II (foreground), Catherine, duchess of Cambridge (later princess of Wales), Prince Harry, and James, Viscount Severn.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Prince Charles (later Charles III) and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), planting a tree in Cape Town, South Africa, 2011.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Prince Charles (later Charles III) with Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), 2013.Duchess Camilla had earlier stated that she did not wish to be called queen. Instead, she said she would adopt the title Her Royal Highness the Princess Consort. In 2022, however, Elizabeth announced that it was her “sincerest wish” that when Prince Charles took the throne, Duchess Camilla would have the title Queen Consort. Following the death of Elizabeth on September 8, 2022, the duchess assumed that title as Charles became king. In his inaugural address, Charles III acknowledged his wife’s “loving help” as well as her “loyal public service.”On May 6, 2023, she was crowned Queen Camilla after the coronation of King Charles III. It was the first coronation in seven decades.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Charles III
Table of Contents Introduction
Early life
Marriages: Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker Bowles
Coronation and health issuesReferences & Edit History
Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images, Videos & Interactives
Charles III
How long did Prince Charles wait to become King Charles III?
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Quizzes
Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Charles III
king of the United Kingdom
Also known as: Charles Philip Arthur George, prince of Wales and earl of Chester, duke of Cornwall, duke of Rothesay, earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland
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Article History
Charles III
Charles III
See all mediaFormerly called:
Prince CharlesFormerly in full:
Charles Philip Arthur George, prince of Wales and earl of Chester, duke of Cornwall, duke of Rothesay, earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of ScotlandBorn:
November 14, 1948, Buckingham Palace, London, England (age 75)Title / Office:
king (2022-), United KingdomNotable Family Members:
spouse Diana, princess of Wales
spouse Camilla
father Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
mother Elizabeth II
son William, prince of Wales
son Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
brother Prince Andrew, duke of York
brother Prince Edward, earl of Wessex
sister Anne, the Princess RoyalRecent News
July 6, 2024, 9:30 AM ET (AP)
New UK Prime Minister Starmer says controversial Rwanda deportation plan is 'dead and buried'Charles III (born November 14, 1948, Buckingham Palace, London, England) is the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from September 8, 2022. He is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh. After being the longest-serving monarch-in-waiting in British history, Charles ascended the throne at age 73. He was crowned in the first coronation in seven decades on May 6, 2023. The following year it was announced that Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.
Early life
How long did Prince Charles wait to become King Charles III?
How long did Prince Charles wait to become King Charles III?
Learn more about the life of Charles III.
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christening of Prince Charles
Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip, duke of Edinburgh, with Prince Charles (later Charles III), December 1948.
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles
Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) with Prince Charles (later Charles III), April 1949.
Prince Charles, Princess Elizabeth, and Philip, duke of Edinburgh
Prince Charles (later Charles III) with his parents, Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Philip, duke of Edinburgh, 1949.After private schooling at Buckingham Palace and in London, Hampshire, and Scotland, Charles entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1967. He took a bachelor’s degree there in 1971, the first ever earned by an heir to the British crown. He also spent a term at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, learning Welsh in preparation for his investiture as prince of Wales on July 1, 1969, at Caernarvon Castle.
Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Kings and Emperors (Part III) QuizCharles then attended the Royal Air Force College (becoming an excellent flier) and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and from 1971 to 1976 took a tour of duty with the Royal Navy. Later he became an outspoken critic of modern architecture. He expressed his views on the topic in A Vision of Britain (1989). In 1992 he founded the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture, which later evolved into the BRE Trust, an organization involved with urban regeneration and development projects.
Marriages: Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker Bowles
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
Prince Charles laughing with his fiancée, Lady Diana Spencer, outside Buckingham Palace after announcing their engagement, London, 1981.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Charles, prince of Wales, and Diana, princess of Wales, returning to Buckingham Palace after their wedding, July 29, 1981.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana
Prince Charles (later Charles III) and Princess Diana on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, while on their honeymoon, August 1981.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles with their son Prince William
The prince and princess of Wales with their newborn son Prince William outside St. Mary's Hospital, London, June 1982.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles: Australian tour
Princess Diana and Prince Charles (later Charles III) visiting Newcastle during their Australian tour, 1983.
Charles, prince of Wales
Charles, prince of Wales (later Charles III).On July 29, 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Frances Spencer, daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer. The royal wedding was a global media event, broadcast live on television and watched by hundreds of millions of people; following the ceremony, she took the title princess of Wales. The couple’s first child, Prince William of Wales, became at his birth (June 21, 1982) second in line of succession to the throne. Their second child, Prince Henry Charles Albert David (known as Harry), was born on September 15, 1984.
Discover how Camilla overcame controversy to become queen consort
Discover how Camilla overcame controversy to become queen consort
Learn about Camilla's life, including her unlikely path to becoming queen consort of the United Kingdom.
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Charles, prince of Wales, and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Charles, prince of Wales (later Charles III), with his second wife, Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort), after their wedding on April 9, 2005.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Prince Charles (later Charles III) with Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), 2013.Charles’s marriage to Diana gradually grew strained amid intense scrutiny from the tabloid press and rumours of infidelity. On December 9, 1992, it was announced that Charles and Diana had decided to separate but would continue to fulfill their public duties and to share the responsibility of raising their sons. The marital breakdown remained in the headlines, amid mutual recriminations, tell-all biographies, and admissions of infidelity on both sides. Diana told her side of the story to Andrew Morton for his controversial Diana: Her True Story (1992), and she did so again, in an unusually candid television interview with Martin Bashir, in 1995. The couple finally divorced on August 28, 1996. The couple finally divorced on August 28, 1996. A year later Diana died in an auto accident, and popular feeling for her, stronger even in death than in life, served to jeopardize the traditional form of monarchy that Charles represented. He subsequently spent much effort in modernizing his public image as the heir apparent. On April 9, 2005, he married Camilla Parker Bowles (born 1947), with whom he had a long-standing relationship; after the wedding, Parker Bowles took the title of duchess of Cornwall.
Special 67% offer for students! Finish the semester strong with Britannica.(Read Britannica’s interview with Tina Brown about Princess Di.)
Prince Charles, 1990
Prince Charles (later Charles III) visiting a rainforest in Cameroon, 1990.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall
Prince Charles (later Charles III) and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort of the United Kingdom), planting a tree in Cape Town, South Africa, 2011.Arguably, the issue that has remained closest to Charles’s heart is his concern for the environment, which dates to at least 1970, when he delivered a speech on the “horrifying effects” of all forms of pollution and called attention to the threat posed by “indestructible plastic containers.” Since then he has often highlighted the need for rapid action on global warming. He has also been a passionate champion of sustainability, not least through the efforts of his Prince’s Foundation, inspired by his philosophy of harmony: “that by understanding the balance, the order and the relationships between ourselves and the natural world we can create a more sustainable future.”
British royal family in 2015
The British royal family watching the Trooping the Colour from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, June 13, 2015. (From left) Camilla, duchess of Cornwall (later queen consort), Prince Charles (later Charles III), Prince George, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II (foreground), Catherine, duchess of Cambridge (later princess of Wales), Prince Harry, and James, Viscount Severn.
Prince Charles, 2015
Prince Charles (later Charles III) during the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, England, December 11, 2015.During the 2010s the attention of royal watchers in many ways shifted from Charles to his sons, whose high-profile “royal weddings” put them and their glamorous partners in the international spotlight. In 2011 William married Catherine Middleton, and in 2018 Harry married Meghan Markle. Tensions arose between Charles and Harry, when Harry and Meghan chose to “step back” from their royal duties and, after negotiations, ceased to be working members of the royal family. Their absence from royal affairs and later that of Prince Andrew (who gave up his military titles and royal patronages in 2021 in the wake of a scandal tied to his involvement with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein) only added to the burden on Charles, who increasingly stood in for the aging Elizabeth as her health became more fragile. Some observers even suggested that Charles had effectively become a regent for the queen. Following her death on September 8, 2022, Charles became king.
Coronation and health issues
Charles III: inaugural address
Charles III delivering his inaugural address on September 9, 2022, a day after the death of his mother, Elizabeth II.
Charles III in a vigil at Elizabeth II's coffin
Charles III (centre) joining his siblings in a vigil around Elizabeth II's coffin in St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, September 12, 2022.
Charles III and Prime Minister Liz Truss
Charles III meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace, London, September 9, 2022.Charles delivered his inaugural address on September 9, 2022. In the televised speech he paid tribute to his mother’s life and pledged “throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.” In addition, he conferred the title prince of Wales upon his eldest son, William.
Charles III
Charles III speaking to well-wishers in Glasgow, Scotland, October 2022.
Charles III
Charles III greeting people at York Minster for the Maundy Thursday service, York, England, April 6, 2023.
Charles III and Rishi Sunak
Charles III (left) shaking hands with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, November 2022.
Charles III: protesters
Demonstrators holding placards reading “Not My King” as Charles III (foreground centre) meets people in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, February 16, 2023.The new king toured the constituent units of the United Kingdom as they mourned Elizabeth’s death. He also participated with his siblings, his sons, and their families in a series of moving processions and ceremonies honouring the life and legacy of the queen. Notably, he stood vigil with his siblings by the queen’s coffin as it lay in state in Westminster Hall and attended Elizabeth’s sombre funeral ceremony in Westminster Abbey.Charles had met with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace on September 9. A little more than a month later she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party. By the end of October she was replaced as prime minister by Rishi Sunak, with whom Charles began holding a customary weekly audience. Among the foreign leaders with whom Charles met during his first months on the throne were Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, who made a two-day state visit to the United Kingdom in November, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of war-torn Ukraine, who visited Buckingham Palace in February 2023.In delivering his first Christmas message as monarch in December 2022, Charles reflected again on Elizabeth’s death and referred to his mother’s faith in people, using it as a jumping-off point from which to celebrate the selfless contributions of individuals and institutions throughout the Commonwealth. Charles’s welcome as the new king was mixed, however. While his public appearances were sometimes greeted with shouts of “God save the king” by well-wishers, on two occasions in late 2022 eggs were thrown at him by protesters.The royal family’s strained relationship with Harry and Meghan also continued to pose challenges for the king, especially after the six-part documentary series Harry & Meghan debuted on Netflix in December 2022. Similarly problematic was the publication in early January 2023 of Harry’s memoir, Spare, in which, among other tell-all revelations, the prince describes in detail his feud with Prince William.
Prince William and the future of the British throne
Prince William and the future of the British throne
The eldest son of King Charles III and Princess Diana, William is no stranger to the spotlight.
See all videos for this articleCharles’s coronation on May 6, presided over by Archbishop Justin Welby, featured a new coronation liturgy. Commissioned by Welby with the theme “called to serve,” it welcomed people of all faiths and included prayers and hymns in the Welsh, Scots Gaelic, and Irish languages. It was the first coronation service to feature female bishops, and, in recognition of the diverse communities of the United Kingdom, the presentation of the regalia was done by Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh members of the House of Lords.In January 2024 Charles underwent a procedure to deal with an enlarged prostate. The following month it was revealed that during the procedure a separate issue had been uncovered and was later determined to be cancer. While palace officials declined to specify the type, they did state that it was not prostate cancer. As he sought treatment, Charles stepped back from public-facing duties. The royal family faced additional difficulties as it was later revealed that Catherine, princess of Wales, was also undergoing treatment for cancer.
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