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.