Prince Charles
Prince Charles in his youth
Prince Charles and Camilla
Princes Charles and Harry
Text: Valeria Ovchinnikova
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Prince Charles
1. Full name Prince - Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor. He is a field marshal, fleet admiral and marshal Royal Air Force Great Britain. It is Charles who is listed first on the list of heirs to the throne. Also the prince - absolute record holder in terms of the length of wait for accession to the throne: for more than 60 years he has been in the status of heir, therefore he is the oldest (by age) of all the princes of Wales. There are frequent rumors in the press that he will never become king of the United Kingdom.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with newborn Prince Charles
2. According to his father, the former Greek Prince Philip of the Glucksburg dynasty, Charles is a great-great-great-grandson Russian Emperor Nicholas I through his granddaughter, Olga Konstantinovna - the wife of King George I of Greece. And in 2011, the prince stated that he was related to the family line of Vlad III the Impaler, who is also known as Vlad Dracula:
Transylvania is in my blood. Genealogy shows that I am descended from Vlad the Impaler, so I also partly belong to this country,” Charles joked.
Now Romania, using this saying, is actively trying to attract British tourists to its resorts. But the prince does not hide his love for this country, and in 2006 he even purchased a farm in the Transylvania region, which during certain months acts as a hotel and receives guests.
3.Originally, Charles should not have had the current title of Prince. His mother, Elizabeth II, was a princess, and his father, Philip, was the Duke of Edinburgh. According to the rules in force at that time, the title of prince was assigned only to the king's sons and their sons, as well as to the sons of the eldest son of the heir to the throne (we agree, a complex scheme). But literally three weeks before Charles was born, King George VI changed these instructions, extending the right to bear the title of prince to all future children of Elizabeth and Philip.
Thus, Charles's first title is His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Edinburgh. In 1958, he was granted the title "Prince of Wales" along with the additional title "Earl of Chester". The full official title began to sound like this - His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester. But popularly he is simply called Prince Charles, Prince of Wales or Charles. If he ascended the throne, he would become King Charles III.
4. As a child, Charles dreamed of becoming a train driver, but his fate and future “profession” were determined once and for all by his origin. Once the Prince of Wales even said bitterly:
The misfortune of being the heir to the throne is that, in fact, you have no real business in life, work in the full sense of the word. I seem to be stuck...
Prince Charles in his youth
5.When the prince was 14 years old, he attended Gordonstoun School in northeast Scotland. On one of his class trips, Charles tried to order cherry brandy from a local bar. He later said that it was the only drink that came to his mind. The years of study at this school were full of suffering for Charles; in his letters he complained:
It's like hell here, especially at night. The people living with me here are disgusting! By the way, it cannot be said that Charles himself showed himself in any special way in school years, even he received an average certificate.
6.Prince Charles on this moment lives at Clarence House in London, but he has other residences in Scotland, Wales and Gloucestershire in England.
Prince Harry with his children - little William and Harry
7. It is known that the Prince of Wales treats great love to gardening - at his Highgrove House estate in Gloucestershire, he cares for a variety of flowers and grows various products. Both the prince’s house and his gardens are created on an organic basis, which indicates their environmental friendliness, cleanliness and the absence of pesticides, which are very harmful to environment. Also on this estate, Charles has a small chapel at the bottom of the garden, where he likes to be alone.
Prince Charles loves gardening
8. By the way, if we talk about the prince’s love for nature, we cannot help but recall that for his services in the field of its protection, a species of frog was named in honor of Charles - Hyloscirtus princecharlesi.
9. Any heir’s jacket always has a handle and small notepad to make a to-do list for the day.
If I don't write the task down, it won't get done. I will only do this if it is on the list. In the prince's right pocket there are always blank pieces of paper, and in the left he leaves all his notes.
10.The Prince of Wales hates fast food. One day, in a conversation with a nutritionist at a diabetes center in Abu Dhabi, he said:
You have McDonald's everywhere here, have you tried to ban them? This is the key to solving problems! 11.Prince Charles, it turns out, is partial to movies, TV series and books for young people. He has been a big fan of the British fantasy series Doctor Who since he was 15, but after visiting the Roath Lock studios where the episodes are being filmed in 2013, Charles turned down an offer to appear in a cameo role. The Prince of Wales also said that he really loves films and books about Harry Potter, actress Julia Walters, who played the role of Molly Weasley in the film adaptations, and even visited the monument to the legendary Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station in London.
12.In 1971, an unpleasant incident happened to the prince: during a parachute jump at a Royal exercise air force In Great Britain, Charles literally went head over heels. The heir turned upside down, getting entangled in the ropes. In a 1972 book he recalled:
The first thing I thought then: I was not warned about this. But this is not the only traumatic incident in Charles’ biography. In 1990, the prince broke his arm while playing polo, and in 2001, the energetic player was knocked unconscious after falling from his horse after it tripped during a match.
13. The prince is known for his charitable activities: he founded more than 20 similar organizations and allocates over 119 million pounds a year for them.
14. Charles's first love was Lucia Santa Cruz, with whom he communicated in student years in Cambridge. However, the prince was always surrounded big amount women, his circle of university friends included Georgiana Russell, daughter of the British ambassador to Spain, Lady Sarah Spencer, elder sister Lady Di, Camilla Schnad, who became the second wife of the monarch. By the way, at the university all the girls called him “sir”. In 1979, he proposed to his second cousin Amanda Knatchbull - granddaughter legendary commander, the last Viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten, but Amanda refused him.
Prince Charles and Camilla in their youth
15. On 29 July 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St Peter's Basilica. The ceremony was watched by 750 million people around the world.
16. In 1994, in an interview on one of the TV channels, Charles publicly admitted to the whole Kingdom of cheating on Diana, where he became the first and only future king who proclaimed his own adultery.
17. Charles broke 80 years of tradition by giving Camilla Parker Bowles, his second wife, a Cornish wedding ring rather than Welsh gold. Also, the wedding ceremony was performed in a civil, and not in a church order - for the first time in the history of British royal family.
Prince Charles and CamillaEngagement ring of Prince Charles's wife, Duchess Camilla
18. The prince stopped wearing wedding ring from his marriage to Diana the day after the announcement of his engagement to Camilla. In keeping with royal tradition, he wore it on the little finger of his left hand. He first took it off after his divorce from the princess in 1996, but the following year he was so shocked and upset by her death that he started wearing it again.
Princes William, Harry and Charles at Princess Diana's funeral
19. Prince Charles and Prince William never fly on the same plane to avoid double tragic event. By the way, Charles himself knows how to drive this type of transport, since he military service completed training to become a fighter and military helicopter pilot. He also served in the Navy.
Princes Charles and Harry
20. One day in 2003, the prince sent a message to someone recovering from alcohol addiction to the famous British rocker Ozzy Osbourne a bottle of whiskey, which infuriated the performer's wife, Sharon Osbourne.
21. In 1980, a book written by Charles for his younger brother Edward. It was called The Old Man of Lochnagar. He is also the author of books on cooking, architecture, painting and gardening, and once even wrote a script for documentary film about ecology. In addition to writing, Charles enjoys polo, fox hunting (but this activity was banned in 2005), fishing and watercolor painting.
Book written by Prince Charles - The Old Man of Lochnagar
22. Like his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, Charles was recognized as a trendsetter and in 2009 was named "The Most Stylish Man in the World" by Esquire magazine.
23. Charles sometimes calls himself "Carrick" because one of his titles is "Earl of Carrick". Sometimes he signs his notes with this name, and on the prince’s watercolor drawings you can see the signature “A.G. Carrick, hand charitable foundation Prince of Wales."
24. Prince Charles was never as loved by his subjects as his wife Diana. Despite the fact that it was the prince who was the heir to the throne, his late wife was always more popular, Charles, a modest person by nature, albeit with an not always appropriate sense of humor, was given second roles. Also, no one can forget that he divorced this charming princess.
However, we must not forget that it was Charles who became the first royal son to graduate from school and receive a university degree. In addition to his interests in cars, polo, architecture, gardening and other hobbies, he heads many foundations, fights for the rights of British farmers and conservation tropical forests, is at war with genetically modified foods and endlessly expanding corporations, not caring about how this will affect his own ratings.
Duchess of Cornwall Camilla became famous general public in the early 90s, thanks to an extramarital love affair with the heir British throne Prince Charles. This article is dedicated to her life story.
Duchess of Cornwall Camilla: who is she (origin)
The current wife of Prince Charles comes from a noble family, one step below the peerage. Her father, Bruce Shand, rose to the rank of major in the British Army, and her mother, Rosalind Cubitt, was a baroness.
After birth eldest daughter Camilla gave birth to two more girls. The father was very sad about the lack of an heir, but he saw that his favorite Milla, thanks to her courage and self-confidence, would outshine any boy.
Childhood
Camilla Parker Bowles' journey from tomboy to duchess took almost half a century. Surely the boys, whose company she preferred to playing with girls her own age, would never have believed that Milla would one day become “Her Highness,” riding around in the queen’s landau and greeting people from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The girl liked to dress up in shorts and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and could hardly be persuaded to wear a dress for the traditional Sunday church visit.
At the age of 5, Milla Shand was sent to primary school Dumbrells, where corporal punishment was common. However, if Charles Windsor, who at the same time studied at a privileged boarding school for boys, wrote tearful letters home with complaints about teachers, then the parents did not hear a single complaint from Camilla. Moreover, she did not even allow herself to cry in front of her classmates.
At the age of 10, the girl was transferred to Queens Gate School, where she was friends mainly with the boys, taking part in all their pranks. Around this time, Milla learned that her great-grandmother Alice Keppel was an "adviser" to King Edward the Seventh. She was terribly proud of her “great-grandmother,” and asked adults for details of this “chaste” romance.
First novel
At seventeen, the future Duchess of Cornwall Camilla met Kevin Burke at her first ball. This 19-year-old Eton University student was the heir of a wealthy businessman. Although this was not welcomed in those days, the young people became lovers within a couple of days. According to Camilla, she did this out of pure curiosity to find out “what all the fuss is about.” The couple did not even hide their too “close” relationship, which shocked all their acquaintances.
First marriage
The affair with Burke did not last long, as the handsome officer Andrew Parker-Bowles appeared on the horizon for Miss Shand. He was always surrounded by girls who dreamed of getting this heartthrob as their husband. Camilla also found herself under Andrew's spell. However, this romance also turned out to be short-lived, as she found young man in the arms of another.
Meet Charles
As already mentioned, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was not a beauty in her youth, but she knew how to attract the attention of men. They say that when she was introduced to Charles, she asked him if the prince knew about the connection between his ancestor and her great-grandmother, and also joked, suggesting that he try to follow their example. The meeting of young people took place on the initiative ex-girlfriend Prince, Lucia Santa Cruz, who was the daughter of the Chilean Ambassador to London. Shortly before this, this sultry Latina told Charles that she had found the perfect girlfriend for him, who, like him, loves fishing, hunting, horse riding and gardening.
The prince and Camilla’s romance was supported by the young man’s relative, Lord Mountbatten. He encouraged this connection in every possible way, as he dreamed of marrying the prince to his 14-year-old granddaughter in the future. According to the lord, Camilla was an ideal “temporary girl” for the heir to the throne, since she could not lay claim to his hand and heart.
Marriage
Despite Mountbatten's confidence in Charles's prudence, he nevertheless proposed to Camilla, but it did not even require the intervention of the Queen and Duke Philip to prevent this marriage from taking place. The fact is that Camilla was not going to exchange her freedom for a golden cage, so she refused herself eligible groom Europe. Immediately after this, Charles was forced to leave on business, and Andrew Parker-Bowles, who was on a business trip in Germany, returned to London. Rumors that Camilla refused herself crown prince, made her desirable in Andrew's eyes.
In 1973, the wedding took place, which marked the beginning strange marriage, which lasted for 22 years. Charles grieved for a long time, and 6 years later, when the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, already had two children, he proposed to her again. He could not help but know that if such a wedding took place, he would be excluded from the list of heirs to the throne. After all, his grandfather’s brother once paid with the crown for his marriage to a “divorcee.” However, this did not stop the prince, who again received a refusal from his beloved, who had no intention of leaving her husband.
Lady Diana
When Charles turned 30, his parents began to insist on marriage, especially since they had an ideal bride in mind for him - Diana Spencer. The young people did not have a romance as such, especially since only Camilla reigned in Charles’s heart. Shortly before the wedding, Diana found out about what connected her fiancé and Mrs. Parker-Bowles, but she could not cancel the celebration.
After the marriage, the Princess of Wales constantly tormented herself with suspicions of her husband’s infidelity and created scandals for him. Charles, of course, found consolation from family hardships in the arms of the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, whose life story resembles a love story.
Love triangle
Many years after her second marriage, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, admitted that she considered herself guilty of the divorce of Charles and Diana. Although their marriage was officially dissolved in 1996, the couple began living separately from each other after the birth of Prince Harry. It was then that Charles moved from Kensington Palace to the Highgrove estate and, according to servants, regularly met with Camilla. The Parker-Bowles family lived 10 minutes' drive from the prince's home, and on the days when its head was away on business, the prince visited his beloved. The visits stopped only when Camilla's children came for the holidays.
Scandal
Over time, the lovers became so bold that Milla went to visit Charles to paint with watercolors and sunbathe in a bikini. The situation got out of control, as the connection between the prince and married woman the yellow press began to write. Diana was not satisfied with the status of a rejected and deceived wife, so she persuaded one of the security officers to give her a recording of a very frivolous conversation between Charles and Camilla. His printout got into the press, and the prince was disgraced throughout the world. They say that he even thought about suicide. However, after long thoughts Charles decided to admit his relationship with Camilla, which was perceived as a courageous act. As a result, the Parker-Bowles family fell apart. Moreover, Andrew got married almost immediately. Things turned out completely differently for Diana. Queen for a long time did not consent to her divorce from her son. It was received only after the princess spoke about the current situation in an interview, which had the effect of a bomb exploding.
Second marriage
When Charles finally got his divorce, the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, finally felt that her dream of uniting with the love of her life was finally close to coming true. However, all her plans collapsed, after tragic death Diana. In the eyes of the public, Charles and Camilla were indirectly responsible for the death of the princess, who had millions of fans around the world.
Only a year and a half later, the Prince of Wales risked turning to his royal mother for permission for a second marriage. However, Elizabeth the Second stated that she did not even want to hear about “this woman.” Almost another 7 years had to pass for the queen to change her mind.
The civil wedding ceremony took place on April 9, 2005. Since then, Milla Shand has become known as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Biography of this strong woman in subsequent years - this is a story about quiet family happiness, charity and participation in various official events. Most likely, her life will continue to be like this in the future.
Now you know who the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla is. The biography and family of this woman more than once became the subject of discussion in the press, but she stubbornly pursued her goal, not paying attention to public opinion.
You can have different attitudes towards Lady Camilla, but it is impossible not to admire her intelligence and ability to be the mistress of her destiny.
1. Prince Charles has a unique position at court: he is 67 years old, became a pensioner two years ago (with a pension of £110 15p), but is still called the future king. The eldest son of Elizabeth II has been waiting for his turn to the throne since February 6, 1952, from the day when his mother ascended the throne and he, a three-year-old baby, became the official first contender. 64 years old- no British heir has ever waited so long.
To be fair, Prince Charles has enough self-irony to put on a good face when bad game and don’t show any disappointment. In his distant youth, he used to shout at own father, Duke of Edinburgh, during an argument: “Don’t forget what’s in front of you future king!” - but today he is far from these thoughts. According to polls, Most Britons believe that the Queen's grandson, Prince William, should be the next king. Let it go! Charles has enough worries and joys even without a crown.
2. His Royal Highness participates in all official state rituals and foreign tours, in which his bright personality is fully demonstrated. Charles patronizes more than 400 charitable organizations and his own foundation, The Prince's Trust, which helps young people start their own businesses.
3. In the fight for a clean environment, Charles is the first in the kingdom. His passion for the ideas of organic farming, which he implements on his own Highgrove estate, has become the talk of the town and has given Charles a reputation as... an eccentric. Especially after His Royal Highness admitted publicly that talks to plants.“It's very important to talk to them. They answer…” the prince smiled mysteriously during the interview.
The heir adheres to high environmental standards in everything. " Just because science has invented something doesn't mean we should use it.“,” he once remarked, touching upon issues of chemistry and genetic engineering in a conversation.
4. Charles fuels his rare Aston Martin - his mother's gift for coming of age - with biofuel produced from a certain type of English wine; Jaguar, Range Rover and other cars use biodiesel produced from vegetable oil. The prince tries to eat only food from the Highgrove farm and takes with him on trips abroad... a snow-white toilet seat made of genuine leather - “for hygiene and comfort.” At one time, the prince’s statement about the British health care system, which he compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, caused a lot of noise.
5. Charles himself is a supporter alternative medicine and homeopathy. There is a known case when His Royal Highness tried to get rid of a runny nose by smearing his nostrils with toothpaste.
6. Eccentric, prone to extravagant actions and controversial statements, Charles had a playful disposition since childhood. At the royal residence of Balmoral in Scotland, there is a memory of how a very young prince, not allowed to attend a party with adults, tried to eavesdrop on what the guests were saying by putting his ear to a power socket.
7. During school excursion When Charles was 14, he separated from a group of classmates, walked into a bar and asked the bartender pour him some sherry brandy.
8. At school, the prince enjoyed participating in all types of amateur performances: he sang in the choir, played the cello, trumpet and electric guitar, and performed in theatrical productions (they say he was especially good in the role of Macbeth). His classmates respected him and affectionately called him Big ears And Dumbo, named after the baby elephant from the Disney cartoon.
However, Charles did not immediately manage to find the keys to the hearts of his peers. In one of his school letters home, he wrote: “It’s real hell here. I'm surrounded by idiots in the dorm. They throw slippers and hit me with pillows all night.”
9. As an adult, the first contender for the throne turned out to be far from the most popular figure in the kingdom. The sad story of Princess Diana, who suffered from his unlove, turned the whole society against him. The inhabitants of the kingdom could not forgive Charles for his infidelity to Diana and were surprised how he could exchange everyone’s favorite princess for the “no one” Camilla Parker-Bowles.
But the fact is that Charles did not change anyone. He always loved only Camilla, but was forced to marry another at the behest of his mother, who believed that Camilla, experienced in love, who changed lovers, was not best couple to the future king. The passion that Charles and Camilla felt for each other was nevertheless irresistible. Cunning newspaper men got hold of a recording of them telephone conversation- in an intimate conversation with his beloved, the future king expressed such unexpected and bold wishes that his subjects could hardly believe their ears. They came up with a new affectionate nickname for Charles - Mr. Tampon.
10. After the tragic death of Lady Diana in a car accident on August 31, 1997, Charles and Camilla fell out of favor around the world. There was no question of Mrs. Parker-Bowles becoming a member of the royal family. But... time passed, the grievances were forgotten, and why, in fact, was Charles alone denied the right to live with the woman he loves?
In April 2005, Charles and Camilla got married. What they had been talking about for so long has come true... However, it doesn’t matter who said anything about it: they became husband and wife, and life for them turned into an endless honeymoon. They have been together for more than ten years. Happy and inseparable, like a pair of parrots in love: smiling and waving on the balcony Buckingham Palace, dancing samba in Brazil, beating drums in Jamaica, enjoying a show of half-naked natives in New Zealand. And it seems that any ceremony and reception is a reason to laugh for them. When you have a loved one next to you who understands and shares your sense of humor, isn’t this happiness and a privilege worthy of a king? Yes, it would not be a pity to give up the crown for this! However, Charles may have a different opinion on this matter.
On November 14, Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor, Prince of Wales and number one contender to the British royal throne, celebrates his 65th birthday. In this collection you will find selected images and facts from the life of Prince Charles.
(Total 30 photos)
1. Prince Charles was born on November 14, 1948 at the residence of the royal family - Buckingham Palace. In the photo, Queen Elizabeth II holds the prince in her arms after the baptism ceremony, which took place on December 15. During the ritual, the baby was dipped in water taken from the Jordan River.
2. In the photo, Elizabeth is seen with her husband Prince Philip and two children Prince Charles and Princess Anne at the Westminster residence of members of the British royal family, Clarence House, in August 1951. Anna was only 1 year old at that time.
3. In 1952, Charles's mother became Queen Elizabeth II. She is pictured here with the Prince and Countess Edwina Mountbatten arriving at a polo game in Malta. Later Charles will become an excellent polo player.
4. In 1960, Charles discovered another exciting activity - and became a frequent visitor to equestrian events. In the photo he walks along the edge of the field during a show jumping competition in Badminton. This event is considered one of the most important in the life of equestrian sports enthusiasts.
5. In 1965, Prince Charles had a brother, Prince Andrew. In the photo they are riding go-karts with their sister Princess Anna.
6. Prince Charles stands next to a horse during a polo match in Jamaica in 1966. He played until 1992, when he had to leave the sport due to injuries. Until 2005, the prince participated in charity games.
7. As heir to the throne, Charles received many titles and titles, for example, when he was only 9 years old he was proclaimed Prince of Wales. In 1968, Charles was made a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, pictured here at a ceremony held at Windsor Castle.
8. When the prince turned 21, he was given some official duties. Pictured here in August 1968, he visits Tilbury Docks in East London, which was being refurbished.
9. With the advent of the prince's responsibilities, he instantly became the center of attention of the press. He is pictured being interviewed by David Frost for the documentary A Prince for Wales.
10. Queen Elizabeth II places the crown on Charles's head during the ceremony in 1969 where he was named Prince of Wales.
11. In 1970, Charles met Camilla Shand. The royal family and those around them were not particularly happy about this acquaintance. The photo shows Charles and Camilla at a polo game. Shand later married Andrew Parker Bowles and Charles married Diana Spencer. Despite this, Camilla and the prince continued to communicate, and eventually resumed their close relationship.
12. The Prince acted as honorary commander of the Welsh guards regiment and donned a fur shako in July 1975 during the Horse Guards Parade in London.
13. Charles joins his father Prince Philip at the funeral of his uncle and mentor Earl Louis Mountbatten, who was killed in an Irish Republican Army attack in 1979.
14. In the summer of 1980, Prince Charles began a relationship with Diana Spencer. In the photo she is on the right with Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom Charles continued to communicate. In February 1981, Charles and Diana got married.
15. Charles and Diana pose for photographers after announcing their engagement in 1981. Judging by the photo, it looks like Charles is taller than his fiancée, but that's only because he's a step above Diana. In fact, he is half an inch shorter than his future wife.
16. On July 29, 1981, a magnificent wedding ceremony of Diana and Charles took place in London's St. Paul's Cathedral. The ceremony was broadcast on television and was seen by about a billion people. In the photo, the prince and the new princess kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. To the right of the couple is Charles' mother.
17. Diana and Charles spent their honeymoon not somewhere in the Caribbean, but at the royal castle in Balmoral, Scotland. The photo shows the couple relaxing on the banks of the River Dee.
18. The Prince and Princess of Wales are surrounded by the press at the entrance to St Mary's Hospital a few days after the birth of their first child William, who was born on June 21, 1982. Charles became the first member of the British royal family to attend the birth of his child.
19. Charles and William in Kensington Palace in December 1982. This palace was given to Charles by his mother Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen herself lived nearby at Buckingham Palace.
20. In September 1984, Prince William had a brother -. The brothers were jokingly called “heir and spare.” In the photo, Charles and Harry are walking near Highgrove House, a country house in Gloucestershire.
21. An avid polo fan, Charles took part in games whenever time allowed. Pictured is the Prince playing for the Diables Blues at Cowdray Park in Sussex in August 1985.
22. Princes Harry and William with their parents at the parade in London in August 1995. It was during this period that relations between Charles and Diana were strained. The Prince lived primarily at Highgrove, and the Princess at Kensington Palace. A year later they divorced.
23. On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car accident that occurred in an underground tunnel under Place Alma in Paris. Her companion Dodi al-Fayed and the driver of their car were also killed. The picture shows Diana's brother, her sons and ex-husband, while the coffin is carried through the streets of London. An estimated 2.5 billion people watched the broadcast of Princess Diana's funeral. This event attracted the most a large number of viewers throughout history.
24. Prince Charles serves at the tomb of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth (who was commonly known as the Queen Mother) in London on April 8, 2002. Charles was very close to his grandmother, who had a cheerful personality and open opposition to the Germans during World War II. She died at the age of 101.
25. After the death of Diana and the Queen Mother, Charles's former lover Camilla Parker Bowles moved into the prince's house in 2003 and began to often appear on television cameras. The picture shows the couple at the Highland Games competition in Scotland in August 2004.
26. Before the couple Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles announced their engagement on February 10, 2005, their photographs never left the covers of newspapers.
27. Since both Charles and Camilla were divorced, they had to limit themselves to a regular wedding ceremony, which took place on April 9, 2009. After they were officially married and the union was blessed in the Church of St. George at Windsor Castle, where this photograph was taken.
28. On official photo All family members are photographed from the wedding ceremony of Charles and Camilla. From left to right, back row: Prince Harry, Prince William, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles. From left to right bottom row: Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla's father Major Bruce Shand.
29. Charles in a group photo of the Royal Black Watch Regiment after the ceremony of presenting commemorative medals for his participation in military operation January 20, 2010 in Fort George, Scotland. The regiment lost 5 people during the military operation in Afghanistan, which lasted seven months.
30. Prince Charles visited a bison reserve in Poland on March 16, 2010. A visit to this country was part of his 3-day tour of Eastern Europe. Unlike his mother, Charles intends to increase the influence of the royal family in society.
1. Prince Charles has a unique position at court: he is 67 years old, became a pensioner two years ago (with a pension of £110 15p), but is still called the future king. The eldest son of Elizabeth II has been waiting for his turn to the throne since February 6, 1952, from the day when his mother ascended the throne and he, a three-year-old baby, became the official first contender. 64 years old- no British heir has ever waited so long.
To be fair, Prince Charles has enough self-irony to put a good face on a bad performance and not show disappointment in any way. In his distant youth, he used to shout at his own father, the Duke of Edinburgh, during an argument: “Don’t forget that this is the future king!” - but today he is far from these thoughts. According to polls, Most Britons believe that the Queen's grandson, Prince William, should be the next king. Let it go! Charles has enough worries and joys even without a crown.
2. His Royal Highness participates in all official state rituals and foreign tours, in which his bright personality is fully demonstrated. Charles patronizes more than 400 charities and his own foundation, The Prince's Trust, which helps young people start their own businesses.
3. In the fight for a clean environment, Charles is the first in the kingdom. His passion for the ideas of organic farming, which he implements on his own Highgrove estate, has become the talk of the town and has given Charles a reputation as... an eccentric. Especially after His Royal Highness admitted publicly that talks to plants.“It's very important to talk to them. They answer…” the prince smiled mysteriously during the interview.
The heir adheres to high environmental standards in everything. " Just because science has invented something doesn't mean we should use it.“,” he once remarked, touching upon issues of chemistry and genetic engineering in a conversation.
4. Charles fuels his rare Aston Martin - his mother's gift for coming of age - with biofuel produced from a certain type of English wine; Jaguar, Range Rover and other cars use biodiesel produced from vegetable oil. The prince tries to eat only food from the Highgrove farm and takes with him on trips abroad... a snow-white toilet seat made of genuine leather - “for hygiene and comfort.” At one time, the prince’s statement about the British health care system, which he compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, caused a lot of noise.
5. Charles himself is a supporter alternative medicine and homeopathy. There is a known case when His Royal Highness tried to get rid of a runny nose by smearing his nostrils with toothpaste.
6. Eccentric, prone to extravagant actions and controversial statements, Charles had a playful disposition since childhood. At the royal residence of Balmoral in Scotland, there is a memory of how a very young prince, not allowed to attend a party with adults, tried to eavesdrop on what the guests were saying by putting his ear to a power socket.
7. On a school trip when Charles was 14, he separated from a group of classmates, walked into a bar and asked the bartender pour him some sherry brandy.
8. At school, the prince enjoyed participating in all types of amateur performances: he sang in the choir, played the cello, trumpet and electric guitar, and performed in theatrical productions (they say he was especially good in the role of Macbeth). His classmates respected him and affectionately called him Big ears And Dumbo, named after the baby elephant from the Disney cartoon.
However, Charles did not immediately manage to find the keys to the hearts of his peers. In one of his school letters home, he wrote: “It’s real hell here. I'm surrounded by idiots in the dorm. They throw slippers and hit me with pillows all night.”
9. As an adult, the first contender for the throne turned out to be far from the most popular figure in the kingdom. The sad story of Princess Diana, who suffered from his unlove, turned the whole society against him. The inhabitants of the kingdom could not forgive Charles for his infidelity to Diana and were surprised how he could exchange everyone’s favorite princess for the “no one” Camilla Parker-Bowles.
But the fact is that Charles did not change anyone. He always loved only Camilla, but was forced to marry another at the behest of his mother, who believed that Camilla, experienced in love, who changed lovers, was not the best match for the future king. The passion that Charles and Camilla felt for each other was nevertheless irresistible. Cunning newspapermen got hold of a recording of their telephone conversation - in an intimate conversation with his beloved, the future king expressed such unexpected and bold wishes that his subjects could hardly believe their ears. They came up with a new affectionate nickname for Charles - Mr. Tampon.
10. After the tragic death of Lady Diana in a car accident on August 31, 1997, Charles and Camilla fell out of favor around the world. There was no question of Mrs. Parker-Bowles becoming a member of the royal family. But... time passed, the grievances were forgotten, and why, in fact, was Charles alone denied the right to live with the woman he loves?
In April 2005, Charles and Camilla got married. What they had been talking about for so long has come true... However, it doesn’t matter who said anything about it: they became husband and wife, and life for them turned into an endless honeymoon. They have been together for more than ten years. Happy and inseparable, like a pair of parrots in love: smiling and waving on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, dancing samba in Brazil, beating drums in Jamaica, enjoying a show of half-naked natives in New Zealand. And it seems that any ceremony and reception is a reason to laugh for them. When you have a loved one next to you who understands and shares your sense of humor, isn’t this happiness and a privilege worthy of a king? Yes, it would not be a pity to give up the crown for this! However, Charles may have a different opinion on this matter.
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