Charles III

Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.

Charles was born at 21:14 (GMT) on 14 November 1948, 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.

He was delivered by Caesarean section at Buckingham Palace.

On 15 December 1948, at four weeks old, he was christened Charles Philip Arthur George in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.

His parents had three more children, Anne (born 1950), Andrew (born 1960) and Edward (born 1964).

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.

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.

On 2 June the following year, Charles attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey.

When Charles turned five, a governess known as Catherine Peebles, was appointed to oversee his education at Buckingham Palace.

Charles then commenced classes at Hill House School in west London in November 1956.

He was the first heir apparent to attend school, rather than be educated by a private tutor.

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.

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.

Charles subsequently attended two of his father's former schools: Cheam School in Hampshire, from 1958, followed by Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland, beginning classes there in April 1962.

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.

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.

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".

Charles broke royal tradition when he proceeded straight to university after his A-levels, rather than joining the British Armed Forces.

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.

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 1973, Charles described his time at Timbertop as the most enjoyable part of his whole education.

He said in a 1975 interview he was "glad" he had attended Gordonstoun and that the "toughness of the place" was "much exaggerated".

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 on 8 September 2022.

At the age of 73, he became the oldest person to accede to the British throne, after having been the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British history.

His coronation took place at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023.

In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer.

They had two sons, William and Harry.

In 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.

Though Charles reportedly described Gordonstoun, noted for its especially rigorous curriculum, as "Colditz in kilts", he later praised the school, stating it had taught him "a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities".

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.