London — After Queen Elizabeth II passed away, her first son Charles has taken the throne. Charles, 73, had held the title of Prince of Wales—reserved for aspiring British kings—for the longest period of time in the monarchy’s history.
King Charles III will be the new monarch, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.
In a statement, Charles said, “The passing of my dear Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a period of the deepest anguish for me and all members of my family.”
“My family and I will be comforted and sustained during this period of mourning and change by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, as well as by countless people around the world.
Charles has been the first modern successor to the British throne in many aspects, including the fact that he attended school rather than receiving private tutoring at the palace and later completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Cambridge.
The young prince later served in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, spending the 1970s aboard a number of vessels.
Prince Charles’ position up to this point, though, has mostly been an exercise in waiting and in carving out a significant role while doing so, according to CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
Rock-and-roll, mission-critical love life of Charles
The ladies he has shared his public life with have had a significant role in shaping Charles’ life in various ways. Finding a woman and bearing children was the boy-who-would-be-most king’s important responsibility from an early age.
Although there were clues of the problems that would arise right away, Lady Diana Spencer seemed to be the ideal match. He was 32, she was 20, and their wedding made international headlines.
Princes William and Harry were duly followed by two sons.
But it soon became clear to everyone that the royal couple wasn’t content with each other. The tabloids dubbed them “The Glums” as more and more images of them revealed them to be distant.
Prince Charles frequently unintentionally portrayed himself as the villain for a greedy tabloid press in their highly public divorce drama.
Diana responded, “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” when asked if she believed Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles’ longtime confidante and love interest, had contributed to their breakup.
Charles’ reputation was so damaged after Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 that many people questioned if he would ever be king at all. The prince didn’t come out from beneath the cloud until he had established himself as a loving parent to his two sad sons over a period of years.
But Charles did survive, and in 2005, he married Camilla in England in the first nonreligious civil marriage ever for a British royal.
Early in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II declared that when Charles did become king, it was her “sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service” to Britain. It was obvious that she didn’t want any room for doubt regarding her intentions.
Charles and Camilla were “very cognizant of the honour reflected by my mother’s wish,” according to a statement they released.
A prince’s “crazy” interests
Prince Charles focused his attention on the various charities and other causes he’s supported, not all of them very popular movements in their day, after his life partner and prospective heirs were determined.
He claimed in 2016 that he had “spent much of my life trying to suggest and initiate things that, frankly, very few people could see the point of.” “Perhaps some of them are now beginning to notice a bit of pioneering amid all this apparent madness?”
The remark made by the man who would eventually become King Charles III was both an example of his endearingly wry sense of humour and an arguably acceptable humblebrag by a royal who had been a pioneer in embracing ideas like organic farming, nature preservation, and the urgency of addressing climate change.
Through his charitable efforts, he has continued to be a fervent supporter of causes ranging from environmental protection to community empowerment. More than 400 nonprofit groups have benefited from the Prince of Wales’ support as their patron or president.
He once said to an interviewer, “I find myself born into this particular situation.” “I’m determined to make the most of it, do everything I can to help, and, maybe, leave things a little bit better than I found them,” the speaker said.
The presidents and the prince
Prince Charles is accustomed to navigating the political hierarchy on the other side of the Atlantic. He has met every president of the United States since Jimmy Carter and has made at least 20 trips to Washington.
At the COP26 climate meeting in Scotland in November 2021, he crossed paths with President Biden. Commending Charles for starting “the whole thing rolling,” Mr. Biden complimented the prince for his environmental leadership and reportedly told him: “We need you badly… and I’m not just saying that.”
During his state visit to the United Kingdom, former President Donald Trump Charles and the American president were supposed to have a 15-minute meeting in 2019, but they ended up conversing for an hour and a half.
The prince “did most of the talking,” according to Trump, who subsequently claimed, but he called the prince “a really fine person” who was “very into climate change.”
Trump remarked, “What touched me is his commitment for the next generation.” “He wants to make sure that future generations have a pleasant climate rather than a tragedy, and I agree with him.”
During a three-day trip to the United States in 2015, Charles had a second meeting with then-President Barack Obama. Obama stated in the Oval Office that the American people “enjoy the royal family quite a bit,” even joking that they “like them far better than they like their own politicians.”
I don’t believe that,” the prince retorted.
