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 Prince Charles
 First son of Queen Elizabeth , Charles, HRH The Prince of Wales and Duke of Rothesay, is next in line to the British throne.
Born
at Buckingham Palace on 14th November 1948, Charles Philip Arthur
George Mountbatten Windsor is the heir apparent to the United Kingdom,
succeeding his mother Queen Elizabeth. Prince Charles holds two titles
in Great Britain, throughout England and Wales, he is known as the Prince of Wales, but in Scotland
he is referred to as the Duke of Rothesay, owing to the separate
histories and lineage of the English and Scottish thrones. Charles’s
other titles include, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, Earl of
Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great
Steward of Scotland.
Prince Charles was educated at Eton, Trinity College Cambridge and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth ,
before embarking on a brief military career in the early 1970s. During
Prince Charles’ time in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy he
qualified as a fighter pilot and helicopter pilot and captained the
mine hunter ship HMS Bronington. Charles also remains the Colonel in
Chief of a number of prestigious regiments in the British, Canadian and
Australian armed forces and is also patron of the youth charity the
Princes’ Trust.
In 1981 Prince Charles was married to
lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral and the televised wedding was
watched by millions of people around the world. Young, beautiful and
innocent, HRH Princess of Wales or Princess Diana as she was popularly
known was an instant hit with the public and at first it seemed the
fairytale wedding. But after five years the couple separated, following
allegations of infidelity on both parts. The marriage produced two sons
and heirs, Prince William and Prince Harry, but in 1996, the Prince and
Princess of Wales divorced. A year later Princess Diana died in a
tragic car crash in Paris.
In 2005 Charles was
married for the second time, to his long-term consort Camilla Parker
Bowles, with whom he had had an affair during his first marriage.
Camilla Parker Bowles takes the title Duchess of Cornwall and upon,
Charles succession to the throne will be known as Princess Consort,
rather than Queen Camilla.
Charles will become the
oldest person to succeed to the British throne. It is also speculated
that rather than be known as King Charles III, he will take the title
King George VII.
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