The Prince of Wales, eldest son of The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace at 9.14pm on 14th November 1948, weighing 7lb and 6oz.
A proclamation was posted on the Palace railings just before midnight, announcing that Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth had been safely delivered of a son who had been named Charles Philip Arthur George.
On 15th December, the young Prince Charles was christened in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher.
The Prince's mother was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 25, when her father, King George VI, died aged 56 on 6th February 1952. On The Queen's accession to the throne, Prince Charles - as the Sovereign's eldest son - became heir apparent at the age of three.
The Prince, as Heir to The Throne, took on the traditional titles of The Duke of Cornwall under a charter of King Edward III in 1337; and, in the Scottish peerage, of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
The Prince was four at his mother's Coronation, in Westminster Abbey on 2nd June 1953. Many who watched the Coronation have vivid memories of him seated between his widowed grandmother, now to be known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and his aunt, Princess Margaret.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh decided that The Prince should go to school rather than have a tutor at the Palace and so The Prince started at Hill House school in West London on 7th November 1956.
After 10 months, the young Prince became a boarder at Cheam School, a preparatory school in Berkshire. In 1958 while The Prince was at Cheam, The Queen created him The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. The Prince was nine-years-old.
In April 1962 The Prince began his first term at Gordonstoun, a school near Elgin in Eastern Scotland which The Duke of Edinburgh had attended.
The Prince of Wales spent two terms in 1966 as an exchange student at Timbertop, a remote outpost of the Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.
When he returned to Gordonstoun for his final year, The Prince of Wales was appointed school guardian (head boy). The Prince, who had already passed six O Levels, also took A Levels and was awarded a grade B in history and a C in French, together with a distinction in an optional special history paper in July 1967.
The Prince went to Cambridge University in 1967 to read archaeology and anthropology at Trinity College. He changed to history for the second part of his degree, and in 1970 was awarded a 2:2 degree.
He was invested as Prince of Wales by The Queen on 1st July 1969 in a colourful ceremony at Caernarfon Castle. Before the investiture The Prince had spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, learning to speak Welsh.
On 11th February 1970, His Royal Highness took his seat in the House of Lords.
On 8th March 1971 The Prince flew himself to Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell in Lincolnshire, to train as a jet pilot. At his own request, The Prince had received flying instruction from the RAF during his second year at Cambridge.
In September 1971 after the passing out parade at Cranwell, The Prince embarked on a naval career, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and both his great-grandfathers.
The six-week course at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was followed by service on the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and two frigates.
The Prince qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974 before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, which operated from the Commando carrier HMS Hermes. On 9th February 1976, The Prince took command of the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington for his last nine months in the Navy.
On 29th July 1981, The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral who became HRH The Princess of Wales.
The Princess was born on 1st July 1961, at Park House on The Queen's estate at Sandringham, Norfolk. She lived there until the death in 1975 of her grandfather, the 7th Earl, when the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.
Lady Diana's father, then Viscount Althorp and later the eighth Earl Spencer, had been an equerry to both George VI and The Queen. Her maternal grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a close friend and lady in waiting to The Queen Mother.
The Prince and Princess of Wales had two sons: Prince William, born on 21st June 1982; and Prince Harry, born on 15th September 1984.
From the time of their marriage, The Prince and Princess of Wales went on overseas tours and carried out many engagements together in the UK.
On 9th December 1992, The Prime Minister, John Major, announced to the House of Commons that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate.
The marriage was dissolved on 28th August, 1996. The Princess was still regarded as a member of the Royal Family. She continued to live at Kensington Palace and to carry out her public work for a number of charities.
When The Princess was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997, The Prince of Wales flew to Paris with her two sisters to bring her body back to London. The Princess lay in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace until the night before the funeral.
On the day of the funeral, The Prince of Wales accompanied his two sons, aged 15 and 12 at the time, as they walked behind the coffin from The Mall to Westminster Abbey. With them were The Duke of Edinburgh and The Princess's brother, Earl Spencer.
The Prince of Wales asked the media to respect his sons' privacy, to allow them to lead a normal school life. In the following years, Princes William and Harry, who are second and sixth in line to the throne, accompanied their father on a limited number of official engagements in the UK and abroad.
On 9th April 2005, The Prince of Wales and Mrs Parker Bowles were married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor.
After the wedding, Mrs Parker Bowles became known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall 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 The Queen.
The Duchess supports The Prince of Wales in his work. Through the years, His Royal Highness developed a wide range of interests which are today reflected in The Prince of Wales's Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is Patron or President.
These interests are also reflected in the list of more than 400 organisations of which His Royal Highness is Patron or President.
The Prince's interest in fields such as the built environment, global sustainability, youth opportunity, education and faith have been elaborated over many years in a large number of speeches and articles.
Prince Charles lived in Buckingham Palace, where he was born, until he was eight months old.
His parents, Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh, then moved to Clarence House.
Princess Anne, now The Princess Royal, was born on 15th August 1950, and the children had two nannies, Helen Lightbody and Mabel Anderson.
King George VI died on 6th February 1952, and his elder daughter Princess Elizabeth became Queen. The three-year-old Prince was now Heir to the Throne.
The Prince's new status made him The Duke of Cornwall. He was also automatically given the Scottish titles Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
Shortly after Easter 1952, The Queen and her family moved back to Buckingham Palace. On 2nd June 1953, The Prince attended his mother's Coronation at Westminster Abbey.
He sat between The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret and later joined The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The Queen appointed a governess, Catherine Peebles, shortly before The Prince's fifth birthday.
On 10th May 1955, Buckingham Palace announced that The Prince would go to school, rather than have a private tutor as had previous Heirs to The Throne. On 7th November 1956, a week before his eighth birthday, Miss Peebles accompanied The Prince to Hill House, a pre-preparatory school in West London. This would be followed by life as a boarder at Cheam School in Berkshire, and then Gordonstoun in Scotland.
Prince Andrew, now The Duke of York, was born on 19th February 1960, and Prince Edward, now The Earl of Wessex, was born on 10th March 1964.
Life during the holidays at The Queen's Scottish estate Balmoral, and the Norfolk estate Sandringham, gave The Prince the opportunity to develop a love of the countryside and the natural environment.
During visits to Windsor, the young Prince found evidence, in state rooms lined with great paintings and a library full of historic treasures, of the Royal and national heritage he was born to protect.
On 10th May 1955, Buckingham Palace announced that The Prince would go to school, rather than have a private tutor as had previous Heirs to The Throne.
The Prince, who had received private tuition in the Palace nursery for 18 months from his governess Catherine Peebles, attended Hill House School in West London full time from 28th January 1957.
On 14th August 1957, Buckingham Palace announced that The Prince would attend Cheam, the preparatory school at Headley, near Newbury, Berks, which had been attended by his father from 1930 to 1933. The Prince began his first term on 23rd September 1957.
The school days began at 7.15am with the rising bell, prayers were at 7.45, breakfast was at 8 and lessons began at 9. After a 6pm high tea, bedtime for the younger boys was 6.45pm.
During five years at Cheam, The Prince played cricket for the First Eleven, joined in school games of football and rugby, and took part in amateur dramatics. He was appointed head boy in his final year. The Prince had started his time at Cheam as the eight-year-old Duke of Cornwall. He left on 1st April 1962 as the 13-year-old Prince of Wales.
Buckingham Palace announced on 23rd January 1962, that The Prince of Wales would attend Gordonstoun, the public school on the shores of the Moray Firth in Scotland. The Prince's father, The Duke of Edinburgh, had been among the first pupils when the school was opened in 1934 by Dr Kurt Hahn.
Dr Hahn had developed a regime founded on belief in an egalitarian society, with firm principles of human conduct: the strong must be courteous to the weak, and service to others is more important than self-service.
On 1st May 1962, The Prince was taken to Gordonstoun by The Duke of Edinburgh, who piloted a Heron of the Queen's Flight from Heathrow to RAF Lossiemouth before the final drive to the school.
From February to July 1966, The Prince of Wales spent two terms at Timbertop, a remote annexe of Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.
While attending Timbertop, The Prince joined in a school trip to Papua New Guinea, led by his history tutor Michael Persse. After seeing examples of the folk art of the Papuan people, The Prince expressed concern in an essay that traditions there were being allowed to wither, a theme he took up later in his life.
When The Prince returned to Gordonstoun for his final year, he was made school guardian, or Head Boy and, after years of communal living, was given his own study bedroom.
In March 1967 he played the Pirate King in a school production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.
The Prince, the first Heir to The Throne to sit public examinations, took his GCE O Levels at the age of 16, passing English language, English literature, Latin, French and history - and later mathematics.
He took his A Levels in July 1967, getting a B in history and a C in French, also gaining a distinction in an optional special paper in history.
The Prince went on to university, rather than straight into the Armed Forces, and in Autumn 1967 he arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge.
The Prince’s grandfather, King George VI, had studied history, economics and civics for a year at the same college, from October 1919.
The Prince chose to take a first year course in archaeology and physical and social anthropology and arrived at Trinity College on 8th October 1967.
In March and April 1968, The Prince of Wales spent time studying archaeological sites in France and taking part in excavations in Jersey.
On 8th April 1968, it was announced that The Prince had decided to change from archaeology and anthropology to history from the next academic year starting in October.
In his first examination at Cambridge, the results of which were published on 14th June 1968, The Prince was awarded a 2:1 in the first part of the archaeology and anthropology exams.
In April 1969, The Prince of Wales left Cambridge to spend a term at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth, where he studied Welsh and the history of the Principality.
The Prince left the University College of Wales in June 1969, a week before his Investiture as Prince of Wales by The Queen at Caernarfon on 1st July.
As part of the social side of university life The Prince joined Trinity's drama group, the Dryden Society, in November 1968 and appeared in two of the society's annual revues. In the 1970 revue, Quiet Flows the Don, The Prince played a sports commentator, an antiques expert and a weather forecaster and in another played the part of a church padre in the society's production of Joe Orton's black comedy Erpingham Camp.
On 10th March 1970, The Prince flew from Heathrow Airport to visit New Zealand, Australia and Japan, returning on 15th April in time for the start of his final term at Trinity. Other royal duties during The Prince's final year at Cambridge included attending the State Opening of Parliament, being formally introduced into the House of Lords and attending his first Privy Council.
On 12th May 1970, The Prince of Wales raised in public some of his concerns about the environment and conservation which were to remain central to his thinking over the coming decades. In his debut at a Cambridge Union debate, he spoke to the motion that "This house believes that technological advance threatens the individuality of man and is becoming his master".
The Prince made it clear that he was not formally for or against the motion. "I am in a slightly difficult position," he said. He expressed concern at the extent to which people had become creatures of technology, and of the pollution which could be the result, and suggested there was sometimes a need for the purpose of new developments to be questioned.
On 23rd June 1970 The Prince of Wales - the first Heir to The Throne ever to take a degree - was awarded a 2:2.
On 2nd August 1975 His Royal Highness, piloting a Royal Air Force helicopter, returned to Cambridge to receive his MA.
On 29th July 1981, The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral. She became known as HRH The Princess of Wales.
The Princess was born on 1st July 1961, at Park House on The Queen's estate at Sandringham, Norfolk, and lived there until the death of her grandfather, the 7th Earl, in 1975, when the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.
Lady Diana's father, then Viscount Althorp and later the eighth Earl Spencer, had been an equerry to both George VI and The Queen. Her maternal grandmother, Ruth, Lady Fermoy, was a close friend and lady in waiting to The Queen Mother.
The Prince and Princess of Wales had two sons, Prince William, born on 21st June 1982, and Prince Harry, born on 15th September 1984.
From the time of their marriage, The Prince and Princess of Wales went on overseas tours and carried out many engagements within Britain together.
On 9th December 1992, Prime Minister John Major announced to the House of Commons that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The marriage was dissolved on 28th August 1996. Diana, Princess of Wales was still regarded as a member of the Royal Family. She continued to live at Kensington Palace and to carry out her public work for a number of charities.
When The Princess was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997, The Prince of Wales flew to Paris with her two sisters to bring her body back to London. The Princess lay in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace until the night before the funeral.
On the day of the funeral, The Prince of Wales accompanied his two sons - aged 15 and 12 at the time - as they walked behind the coffin from The Mall to Westminster Abbey. With them were The Duke of Edinburgh and The Princess's brother, Earl Spencer.
Their two children, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, are second and sixth in line of succession to the throne.
Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21st June 1982 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, in London. He was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Henry Charles Albert David (known as Prince Harry before his marriage) was born on 15th September 1984 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. He was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, on December 1984 in St George's Chapel, Windsor.
On 10th February 2005, Clarence House announced the marriage of The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles, the daughter of the late Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand and the late Hon Rosalind Maud Shand (nee Cubitt).
The wedding was a largely private occasion for family and friends and took place at the Guildhall in Windsor on Saturday 9th April 2005.
It comprised a civil ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall followed by a service of prayer and dedication conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
After the service, Her Majesty The Queen hosted a reception at Windsor Castle for 800 guests. Their Royal Highnesses spent their honeymoon at Birkhall on the Balmoral Estate.
Mrs Parker Bowles became known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. Since their marriage The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have carried out hundreds of engagements together both in the UK and abroad in support of The Queen, their patronage charities or British interests abroad.
Correct as of 14th November 2018.
To mark The Prince of Wales's 70th birthday on 14th November 2018, here are 70 facts that you may not know about His Royal Highness.
Early Life and Family
1. HRH Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was born at Buckingham Palace on 14th November 1948 at 9.14pm, weighing 7lbs 6oz.
2. The Prince was christened on 15th December 1948 at Buckingham Palace.
3. The Prince has been the heir apparent since he was three years old and is the longest serving Prince of Wales.
4. He is the 21st Prince of Wales and the first since 1936.
5. The Prince is the first heir to see his mother crowned as Sovereign.
6. The Prince of Wales became the 24th Duke of Cornwall on The Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952. At the age of 21, in 1969, HRH took over the management of The Duchy of Cornwall, the estate of The Duke of Cornwall.
7. The first formal photograph of The Prince was taken by Cecil Beaton in December 1948.
8. The Prince has three siblings: TRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, and Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex.
9. The Prince has two sons: The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William), born on 21st June 1982; and The Duke of Sussex (Prince Harry), born on 15th September 1984.
10. The Prince has four grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.
11. The Prince’s first official visit abroad was to Malta, when he was five years old.
12. From February to July 1966, The Prince spent two terms as an exchange student at Timbertop, a remote annexe of Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.
13. The Prince spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth (April to June 1969) learning Welsh. HRH still often uses Welsh phrases in speeches in Wales.
14. The Prince studied archaeology and anthropology in his first year at The University of Cambridge, switching to history for the remainder of his degree. His studies finished in 1970.
15. While at school, The Prince played the piano, trumpet and cello. While an undergraduate at Cambridge, he played the cello, performing in a symphony concert by the Trinity College Orchestra on 4th December 1967.
16. In November 1965, while a pupil at Gordonstoun School, The Prince played the lead in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
17. The Prince became the first heir to the throne to earn a university degree in 1970. He earned his Bachelor's Degree from Cambridge University's Trinity College, and he also earned his Master's from the same university in 1975.
18. The Prince learned to ice skate at the Richmond Ice Rink, receiving a Certificate of Merit in March 1962.
19. The Prince’s favourite tea is Darjeeling with honey and milk.
20. The Prince does not eat lunch.
Military and Titles
21. The Prince holds the titles of The Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles, Baron of Renfrew and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
22. The Prince is affiliated to 18 military regiments.
23. The Prince took up his first Service appointment in 1969 as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales.
24. The Prince obtained his RAF wings as Flight Lieutenant Wales in August 1971. He was the first member of The Royal Family to do so.
25. The Prince is a qualified jet and helicopter pilot.
26. The Prince first rode at The Queen's Birthday Parade as Colonel of the Welsh Guards aged 26 years old in June 1975.
27. The Prince is Admiral of the Fleet of The Royal Navy
28. In 1975, as an accomplished diver The Prince spent 47 minutes underwater examining the wreck of King Henry VIII’s flagship, The Mary Rose. HRH became President of the Mary Rose Trust the same year.
29. The Prince commanded HMS Bronington in 1976 while in the Royal Navy.
30. The Prince was the first member of The Royal Family to successfully complete the Parachute Regiment’s training course before being appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment in 1977.
31. The Prince is an Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force.
32. The Prince was given the title, "Keeper of the Cows", by the Masai in Tanzania in 2011 to recognise his work as a farmer.
33. The Prince was given the title Mal Menaringmanu (High Chief), when he visited the Pacific Island of Vanuatu in 2018.
34. The Prince has a frog named after him: Hyloscirtus Princecherlesi or Prince Charles Magnificent Tree Frog.
35. The Prince’s name in Pidgin English is ‘Nambawan pikinini bilong misis kwin’ which translates as ‘The number one child of The Queen.’
Charities
36. The Prince is President or Patron of over 420 charities.
37. The Prince started his charity The Prince's Trust with his Navy severance pay of just over £7,000 in 1976.
38. The Prince has founded nearly twenty charities in areas including youth opportunity, environmental sustainability, education and the arts.
39. Each year his charities raise more than £140m for good causes.
40. An independent study reported that £1.4 billion has been added in value to the UK economy by The Prince’s Trust in the last ten years alone.
41. To date The Prince's Trust has helped over 875,000 disadvantaged young people into employment or business.
42. Waitrose Duchy Organics (Founded as Duchy Originals 26 years ago) contribute more than £3m a year to The Prince’s Charitable Fund, which The Prince donates to good causes.
43. In the last ten years, The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) has given more than £50m in small and medium sized grants for issues including sustainable farming methods, flood damaged communities, wildlife anti-poaching initiatives and humanitarian relief.
44. The Prince is Chairman of The Royal Collection Trust, commissioning paintings for the Royal Collection including portraits of the last remaining D-Day Veterans called "The Last of the Tide".
45. A champion of environmental issues for over 50 years, The Prince first spoke publicly about his concerns about pollution and plastics and their impact on the natural world in 1970.
Official Duties
46. In the reporting year, 2017-18, The Prince and The Duchess undertook over 600 engagements in the UK and around the world.
47. The Prince has visited nearly 100 countries around the world.
48. Since 1969, The Prince has visited 44 Commonwealth countries, many of them on several occasions.
49. The Prince undertook his first official Royal duty in June 1965, attending a student garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
50. The Prince made his first public speech in Welsh in May 1969, on the final day of the Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Welsh League of Youth) Eisteddfod at Aberystwyth.
51. The Prince laid the nation’s wreath on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen during the Remembrance Day Service in 2017 at the Cenotaph.
52. During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018, Commonwealth Leaders elected The Prince of Wales to succeed The Queen as the next Head of the Commonwealth. Unlike The Throne, Head of the Commonwealth is not a hereditary position.
Interests
53. The Prince is an author. He wrote The Old Man of Lochnagar, based on stories he used to tell his younger brothers growing up. He has also written books on the natural world and the environment including 'Harmony' and 'Climate Change', a Ladybird Expert Book.
54. The Prince is a keen painter and had a watercolour displayed in the Royal Academy's 1987 summer exhibition, after it was submitted anonymously.
55. In 1975, The Prince became a member of the Magic Circle, a society of stage magicians founded in London in 1905, after passing his audition with a "cup and balls" trick.
56. In 1980, The Prince rode in the Ludlow steeplechase and finished second. The Prince has been a keen equestrian throughout his life and played polo until 2005.
57. The Prince made a cameo appearance in popular comic The Beano alongside The Duchess of Cornwall in 2013.
58. The Prince also made a cameo appearance on Coronation Street in 2000.
59. The Prince has presented the weather forecast on the BBC.
60. The Prince marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth by appearing in ‘Shakespeare Live! From the RSC’.
61. The Prince has his own brand of whisky, Barrogill.
62. The Prince’s first car was a MGC GT, purchased in January 1968.
63. Contrary to popular belief, The Prince purchased his Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Volante in November 1970 himself. It was not a 21st birthday present from Her Majesty The Queen. TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left Buckingham Palace in HRH's Aston Martin in April 2011.
64. The Aston Martin was converted to run on E85 bioethanol made from by-products of the wine and cheese industries in 2008.
65. The Prince uses a fully electric Jaguar to travel to engagements in London.
66. Clarence House, The Prince of Wales's official London residence, had solar panels installed on the roof in 2010.
67. Llwynywermod, near Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, is The Prince of Wales's Welsh home. Bought in 2007 by the Duchy of Cornwall, the farmhouse was refurbished using local materials and the skills of Welsh craftsmen and women. It is used as the base for Their Royal Highnesses’s engagements in Wales.
68. The Prince was given a quartet of huge olive-oil jars from Italy. The terracotta jars were intended to be sent to HRH’s Highgrove House in Gloucestershire and were shipped in a crate tagged "The Prince of Wales, Tetbury". The jars ended up being mistakenly delivered to the local pub of the same name.
69. The Prince keeps Burford Brown and Maran chickens in his garden at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
70. The Prince often carries out tree planting ceremonies during engagements. After planting each tree, HRH gives a branch a friendly shake to wish them well.
