Prince Charles has been declared the King of the United Kingdom following the de@th of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and acceded to the throne as King Charles III.
The Queen, Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign and the world’s oldest monarch, passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday after suffering from what Buckingham Palace has called “episodic mobility problems” which started last year.
Prior to his emergence, Charles, who is the first son of the deceased female monarch, was the heir to the British throne.
The former Prince of Wales who succeeded his mother without ceremony will still undertake some traditional procedures to be crowned King.
King Charles is 73 years old and was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948. After being named the Prince of Wales in 1969, Charles went on to train with the Royal Air Force as a pilot in 1971.
He has held substantive ranks in the Armed Forces of a number of countries since he was made a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force in 1972. His first honorary appointment in the Armed Forces was as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969; since then, he has also been decorated with several military honorary titles.
On 16 June 2012, the Queen awarded him the highest honorary rank in all three branches of the British Armed Forces, installing him as Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force.
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.
According to the Prince of Wales website, Charles first attended the Hill House School in 1956, and in 1962, he moved to the Gordonstoun School in Scotland. 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 got married to Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981, in what was heralded at the time as a fairy tale wedding, and the union produced two sons: Prince William and Prince Harry.
However, in 1992, Charles and his wife separated, and their marriage was officially dissolved in 1996. A year later, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.
In 2005, Charles remarried Camilla Parker Bowles, who, according to the Royal Family, became known as Her Royal Highness. In 2016, the Queen honored Camilla with a place on the Privy Council, an advisory board to the monarch. This was also seen as a way of prepping her as the wife of the King of England.
From his youth until 1992, King Charles was an avid player of competitive polo. He continued to play informally, including for charity, until 2005. Charles also frequently took part in fox hunting until the sport was banned in the UK in 2005.
While he officially became a king the moment his mother passed, Charles will be proclaimed as a King by the accession council on Friday.
Afterward, he’ll meet with Prime Minister Liz Truss and other government officials for a briefing.
Source: Punch