King Charles III - the new British monarch who runs his cars on English wine

Sep 9, 2022

By: soniya.tiwari@timesinternet.in

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From Prince to King – tracing Charles’ journey to the throne

After the demise of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral on Thursday, her son Charles will be crowned the King of Britain at age 73. Charles will now be referred to as King Charles III. After 70 years of Elizabeth’s rule, King Charles will now take over the Crown. He was the longest-serving heir apparent in British history.

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Prince Charles to King Charles III

King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday, at the St James's Palace in London, in front of a ceremonial body known as the Accession Council, BBC reports. More than 700 people are entitled to attend the coronation but the actual number is likely to be far fewer.

Credit: UK House of Lords

Prince Charles to King Charles III

King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday, at the St James's Palace in London, in front of a ceremonial body known as the Accession Council, BBC reports. More than 700 people are entitled to attend the coronation but the actual number is likely to be far fewer.

Credit: Wikimedia commons

Groomed to be King

Born on 14 November, 1948, Charles was the first in line to take over the crown. He has also become the head of the Commonwealth – a consortium of 56 independent countries and 2.4 billion people.

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The first royal to earn a degree

Charles attended Hill House school in West London and later was sent to a boarding school in Cheam School and Gordonstoun. He attended Trinity College and studied archaeology and social anthropology as well, making him the first British royal to earn a degree.

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Married to the people’s princess

In 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer – who came to be known as the ‘people’s princess’. They had two children Prince William and Prince Harry.Their contentious divorce made headlines all over the world. Diana passed away in a car crash in 1997, a year after their divorce.

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The Duchess of Cornwall turns Queen consort

Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. After his accession to the throne, the East Sussex born Duchess of Cornwall will be the Queen consort. Charles is known to have dated Camilla before he met and married Diana.

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Quirks of the new king

He runs his cars on English wine and uses biofuel to run his Jaguar cars. He is also a children’s book writer and wrote The Old Man Of Lochnager. In 1975, he had also reportedly become a member of the Magic Circle, a society of stage magicians founded in London.

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Official duties with the Queen

As the Prince of Wales, Charles has oftentimes undertaken official duties on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. He founded the Prince’s Trust in 1976, serving as a patron to 400 charities and organisations.

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Served in the Royal Air Force

He served with the Royal Air force in 1971. The Daily Telegraph has described him as “the hardest-working member of the royal family”.

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The environment is close to his heart

Unlike most members of the royal family, Charles has been speaking about climate change, green energy and biodiversity loss since the 1990s. He is expected to use his ‘soft power’ to advocate climate change action.

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