Charles, Prince of Wales Biography
Summary
"The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales" (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has held the title of Prince of Wales since 1958, and is styled 'His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales,' except in Scotland, where he is styled 'His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay.' The title 'Duke of Cornwall' is often used for the Prince in relation to Cornwall.
Charles is Heir Apparent, equally and separately, to the thrones of sixteen sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms; he will most likely reside in and be directly involved with the United Kingdom. He will not, however, necessarily inherit the title Head of the Commonwealth. Though the Prince is first in line to the thrones, in the United Kingdom order of precedence he is third, after his parents, and is typically fourth or fifth in other realms' precedence orders, following his mother, the relevant vice-regal representative(s), and his father.
The Prince of Wales is well known for his extensive charity work, particularly for The Prince's Trust, The Prince's Drawing School, The Prince's Regeneration Trust, and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. He also carries out a full schedule of royal duties and, increasingly, is taking on more duties from his elderly parents as official representative of the Queen and deputy for his father. The Prince is also well known for his marriages to the late Diana, Princess of Wales and, subsequently, to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Birth
Prince Charles was born on 14 November 1948 at Buckingham Palace, London, England, son of the then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, now Queen Elizabeth II, and The Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Charles was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 15 December 1948, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher. The Prince's godparents were: King George VI, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, David Bowes-Lyon, Lady Brabourne, King Haakon VII of Norway (for whom the Earl of Athlone stood proxy), and Prince George of Greece (for whom Prince Philip stood proxy).
Under letters patent issued by the Prince's great grandfather, King George V, the title of a British prince or princess and the style 'Royal Highness' was only available to the children and grandchildren in the male-line of the sovereign, and children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. As Charles was a female-line grandchild of the sovereign, he would have taken his title from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, and would have been styled by courtesy as Earl of Merioneth. However, the title of Prince and Princess, with the style Royal Highness, was granted to all the children of Princess Elizabeth and Philip by letters patent of George VI on 22 October 1948. In this way the children of the heiress presumptive had a royal and princely status not thought necessary for the children of King George VI's other daughter, Princess Margaret. Thus, from birth Charles was known as 'His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Edinburgh.'
Early life
In 1952, his mother assumed the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II, immediately making Prince Charles the Duke of Cornwall, under a charter of King Edward III, which gave that title to the sovereign's eldest son, and was then referred to as 'His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall.' He also became, in the Scottish Peerage, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
He attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey, sitting with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and his aunt, The Princess Margaret. The Duke of Cornwall was now the heir apparent to the thrones of sixteen countries.
School
As with royal children before him, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed to look after the Prince; the governess was responsible for educating the Prince between the ages of 5 and 8. In a break with tradition, Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that the Prince would attend school, rather than have a private tutor; making Charles the first heir apparent to do so. He first attended Hill House School in West London, and later the Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, which the Duke of Edinburgh had also attended.
The Prince finished his education at Gordonstoun, a private boarding school in the north east of Scotland. It is often reported that the Prince despised his time at the school, where he was a frequent target for bullies. ('Colditz in kilts' he reportedly said.) The Prince would later send his own children to Eton College, rather than Gordonstoun.
In 1966 Charles spent two terms at Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a history trip with his tutor Michael Collins Persse. On his return to Gordonstoun he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming Head Boy. In 1967 he left Gordonstoun with two A levels, in History and French.
University
Traditionally, the heir to the throne would go straight into the military after finishing school. However, in another break with tradition, Charles attended university at Trinity College, Cambridge, on the recommendation of Robin Woods, Dean of Windsor, who himself was a former student of the college. He was admitted despite only gaining a B and a C in his A-levels. At Trinity, he read anthropology and archaeology, and later history, earning a 2:2 (lower second class) Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree on 23 June 1970, making Charles the third member of the Royal Family to earn a university degree. For one term he also attended the Old College, part of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he studied the Welsh language and Welsh history. The intention was specifically to learn the Welsh language, and as such he was the first English-born Prince (of Wales) ever to make a serious attempt to do so. He subsequently learnt enough to be able to deliver his investiture speech in Welsh.
On 2 August 1975, per Cambridge tradition, the Prince was awarded a Master's degree, entitling him to use the postnominal MA (Cantab).
Created Prince of Wales
Prince Charles was created The Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958, though his actual investiture did not take place until 1 July 1969. This was a ceremony with symbolically political overtones, held at Caernarfon Castle in north Wales. The ceremony at Caernarfon has traditionally been associated with the subjugation of Welsh people since the 13th century, when Edward I deposed the last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Previous investitures had taken place at various locations, including the Palace of Westminster, the seat of Parliament. The Welsh borough of Swansea was granted city status to mark the occasion.
The investiture also aroused considerable hostility among many Welsh people, and some were under constant police surveillance and were the subject of much intimidation from the secret services. Threats of violence ensued and a short bombing campaign, although these acts were generally more related to the greater nationalist campaign for Welsh independence. The nationalist campaign against the investiture culminated with an attempted bombing of the royal train by two members of the Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru as it passed through Abergele on the eve of the investiture, resulting in the two bombers' deaths.
In the late 1970s, the Prince of Wales established another first when he became the first member of the Royal Family since King George I to attend a British cabinet meeting, being invited to attend by Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan so as to see the workings of cabinet government at first hand.
In the early 1980s, Charles privately expressed an interest in becoming Governor-General of Australia. Commander Michael Parker explained: 'The idea behind the appointment was for him to put a foot on the ladder of monarchy, or being the future King and start learning the trade.' However, nothing came of the proposal. The Prince accepted the decision of his mother's Australian ministers, if not without some regret; he reportedly stated: 'What are you supposed to think when you are prepared to do something to help and you are told you are not wanted?'
The British expert in Romanian politics and history and "Encyclopaedia Britannica" editor Tom Gallagher, wrote that Charles was offered the Romanian throne, supposedly by Romanian monarchists; an offer that he reportedly turned down.
If he ascends to his mother's thrones after 20 September 2013, the Prince, who turned 58 in November 2006, would become the oldest successor to do so. Only William IV and Edward VII were older than Charles is now when they became monarchs of the United Kingdom. He is both the third-longest serving heir apparent and third-longest serving Prince of Wales in British history, in each case behind Edward VII and George IV. The Prince will be the first Commonwealth realms monarch to be descended from Queen Victoria through two lines: from his mother's side through Edward VII, George V and George VI; and through his paternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg who is the eldest daughter of Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, who as a daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine is a female line grandchild of Queen Victoria.
Romances
The Prince of Wales's love life has always been the subject of speculation and press fodder. In his youth he was linked to a number of women including: Georgiana Russell (daughter of the British Ambassador to Spain); Lady Jane Wellesley (daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington); Davina Sheffield; "Penthouse" model Fiona Watson; the actress Susan George; Lady Sarah Spencer; Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg; Dale, Baroness Tryon (wife of Anthony Tryon, 3rd Baron Tryon); Janet Jenkins; and divorcée Jane Ward, among others. Irrespective of the truth of the romantic rumours, the hurdles of marriage made some of these matches manifestly implausible.
As heir apparent to the Commownealth realms' thrones, the Prince of Wales would be expected to father future monarchs; also, like other members of the Royal Family, he was legally obliged to obtain his mother's approval before marriage. Apart from her support, his choice of a future wife would also need to survive the immense popular interest it would immediately arouse.
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Charles, Prince of Wales.
