Charles, Prince of Wales

The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George;[2] born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has held the title of Prince of Wales since 1958, and is styled His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, except in Scotland, where he is styled His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay. The title Duke of Cornwall is often used for the Prince in relation to Cornwall.
Charles is Heir Apparent, equally and separately, to the thrones of sixteen sovereign states known as the Commonwealth Realms; he will most likely reside in and be directly involved with the United Kingdom. He will not, however, necessarily inherit the title Head of the Commonwealth.[3] If Charles ascends to the throne, he will be the first British monarch to be descended from Queen Victoria through two lines: First, from his mother's side, through Edward VII, George V and George VI. And, second, through his paternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg who is the eldest daughter of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven (formerly Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine), who as a daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine is a female line grandchild of Queen Victoria. Though the Prince is first in line to the Thrones, in the United Kingdom order of precedence he is third, after his parents, and is not included in the other Realms' precedence orders at all, though typically he would be fourth or fifth, following his mother, the relevant vice-regal representative(s), and his father.
The Prince of Wales is well known for his extensive charity work, particularly for the Prince's Trust, the Prince's Regeneration Trust, and the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. He also carries out a full schedule of royal duties and, increasingly, is taking on more duties from his elderly parents as official representative of the Queen and deputy for his father. The Prince is also well known for his marriages to the late Diana, Princess of Wales and, subsequently, to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Contents
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1 Birth
2 Early life
2.1 School
2.2 University
3 Created Prince of Wales
4 Romances
4.1 Amanda Knatchbull
5 First marriage
5.1 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
6 Relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles
6.1 Second marriage
7 Personal interests
7.1 Alternative medicine
7.2 Architecture
7.3 Arts
7.4 Cars
7.5 Canadian First Nations
7.6 Environment
7.7 Organic products
7.8 The Orthodox Church
7.9 Philosophy
7.10 Youth
8 Personality and image
9 Military career
10 Official residence
11 Titles, styles, honours and arms
11.1 Titles
11.2 Styles
11.3 Honours
11.4 Arms
12 Controversy
13 Ancestry
14 Legacy
14.1 Popular culture
15 See also
16 References
17 External links
[edit] Birth
Prince Charles was born on 14 November 1948 at Buckingham Palace, London, UK. At the time of his birth his mother, now Queen Elizabeth II, was The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, wife of Charles's father, The Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Charles was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 15 December 1948, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher. The Prince's godparents were: King George VI, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, David Bowes-Lyon, Lady Brabourne, King Haakon VII of Norway (for whom the Earl of Athlone stood proxy), and Prince George of Greece (for whom Prince Philip stood proxy).
Under letters patent issued by the Prince's great grandfather, King George V, the title of a British prince/princess and the style Royal Highness was only available to the children and grandchildren in the male-line of the sovereign and children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. As Charles was a female-line grandchild of the sovereign, he would have taken his title from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, and would have been styled by courtesy as Earl of Merioneth. However, the title of Prince and Princess, with the style Royal Highness was granted to all the children of Princess Elizabeth and Philip by letters patent of George VI on 22 October 1948. In this way the children of the heiress presumptive had a royal and princely status not thought necessary for the children of King George VI's other daughter, Princess Margaret. Thus, from birth Charles was known as His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Edinburgh.
[edit] Early life
In 1952, his mother assumed the throne, becoming Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles immediately became Duke of Cornwall under a charter of King Edward III, which gave that title to the Sovereign's eldest son, and was then referred to as His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall. He also became, in the Scottish Peerage, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
The Duke of Cornwall was now the heir apparent to the throne. He attended his mother’s coronation at Westminster Abbey, sitting with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and his aunt, The Princess Margaret.
[edit] School
As with royal children before him, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed to look after the Prince. The governess was responsible for educating the Prince between the ages of 5 and 8. In a break with tradition, Buckingham Palace announced in 1955, that the Prince would attend school, rather than have a private tutor, the first heir apparent to do so. He first attended Hill House School in West London, and later the Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire which the Duke of Edinburgh had also attended.
The Prince finished his education at Gordonstoun, a private boarding school in the north east of Scotland. It is often reported that the Prince despised his time at the school, where he was a frequent target for bullies. ("Colditz in kilts" he reportedly said.) The Prince would later send his own children to Eton College rather than Gordonstoun.
In 1966 Charles spent two terms at Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a history trip with his tutor Michael Collins Persse. On his return to Gordonstoun he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming Head Boy. In 1967 he left Gordonstoun with two A levels, in History and French.
[edit] University
Traditionally, the heir to the throne would go straight into the military after finishing school. However, in a break with tradition, Charles attended university at Trinity College, Cambridge, despite only gaining a B and a C in his A-levels where he studied anthropology and archaeology, and later history, earning a 2:2 (lower second class) Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree on 23 June 1970,[4] making Charles the third member of the Royal Family to earn a university degree. For a term he also attended the Old College, part of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he studied Welsh and Welsh History. The intention was specifically to learn the Welsh language, and as such he was the first English-born Prince (of Wales) ever to make a serious attempt to do so. He subsequently learnt enough to be able to deliver his investiture speech in Welsh.
On 2 August 1975,[4] per Cambridge tradition, the Prince was awarded a Master's degree, entitling him to use the postnominal MA (Cantab.).