106 Facts About Charles III

Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms since 2022.

Charles III was created Prince of Wales in 1958 and his investiture was held in 1969.

In 2005, Charles III married his long-term partner, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Charles III founded The Prince's Trust in 1976, sponsored the Prince's Charities, and became patron or president of more than 800 other charities and organisations.

Charles III advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of traditional architecture in society.

An environmentalist, Charles III supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change during his time as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, earning him awards and recognition as well as criticism; he is a prominent critic of the adoption of genetically modified food, while his support for alternative medicine has been criticised.

Charles III was delivered by Caesarean section at Buckingham Palace.

Charles III was christened Charles Philip Arthur George on 15 December 1948 in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace by the archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.

When Charles III turned five, Catherine Peebles was appointed as governess to oversee his education at Buckingham Palace.

Charles III then commenced classes at Hill House School in west London in November 1956.

Charles III was the first heir apparent to attend school, rather than be educated by a private tutor.

Charles III did not receive preferential treatment from the school's founder and headmaster, Stuart Townend, who advised the Queen to have Charles train in football, because the boys were never deferential to anyone on the football field.

Charles III subsequently attended two of his father's former schools: Cheam School in Hampshire, from 1958, followed by Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland, beginning classes there in April 1962.

Charles III later became patron of Gordonstoun in May 2024.

In 1966, Charles III spent two terms at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia, during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a school trip with his history tutor, Michael Collins Persse.

In 1973, Charles III described his time at Timbertop as the most enjoyable part of his whole education.

On his education, Charles III later remarked, "I didn't enjoy school as much as I might have; but, that was only because I'm happier at home than anywhere else".

Charles III broke royal tradition when he proceeded straight to university after his A-levels, rather than joining the British Armed Forces.

Charles III became the first British heir apparent to earn a university degree, graduating in June 1970 from the University of Cambridge with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts degree.

Charles III was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958, though his investiture was not held until 1 July 1969, when he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle; the investiture was controversial in Wales owing to growing Welsh nationalist sentiment.

Charles III took his seat in the House of Lords the following year and he delivered his maiden speech on 13 June 1974, the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884.

Charles III began to take on more public duties, founding the Prince's Trust in 1976 and travelling to the United States in 1981.

Charles III served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy in the 1970s.

Charles III retired from active military service in 1976 at the rank of Commander.

Charles III gave up flying after crash-landing a BAe 146 in Islay in 1994, as a passenger who was invited to fly the aircraft; the crew was found negligent by a board of inquiry.

Charles III's girlfriends included Georgiana Russell, the daughter of Sir John Russell, who was the British ambassador to Spain; Lady Jane Wellesley, the daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington; Davina Sheffield; Lady Sarah Spencer; and Camilla Shand, who later became his second wife.

Charles III wrote to Amanda's mother, Lady Brabourne, who was his godmother, expressing interest in her daughter.

Charles III first met Lady Diana Spencer in 1977, while he was visiting her home, Althorp.

Charles III was then the companion of her elder sister Sarah and did not consider Diana romantically until mid-1980.

Charles III proposed to Diana in February 1981, with their engagement becoming official on 24 February; the wedding took place in St Paul's Cathedral on 29 July.

In 1986, Charles III had fully resumed his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Charles III subsequently sought public understanding in a television film with Dimbleby, Charles III: The Private Man, the Public Role, broadcast in June 1994.

Charles III flew to Paris with Diana's sisters to accompany her body back to Britain.

In 2003, Diana's butler Paul Burrell published a note that he claimed had been written by Diana in 1995, in which there were allegations that Charles III was "planning 'an accident' in [Diana's] car, brake failure and serious head injury", so that he could remarry.

When questioned by the Metropolitan Police inquiry team as a part of Operation Paget, Charles III told the authorities that he did not know about his former wife's note from 1995 and could not understand why she had those feelings.

Charles III was the only member of the royal family to have a civil, rather than a church, wedding in England.

Charles III's parents did not attend the marriage ceremony; the Queen's reluctance to attend possibly arose from her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In 1965, Charles III undertook his first public engagement by attending a student garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Charles III officiated at investitures and attended the funerals of foreign dignitaries.

Charles III made regular tours of Wales, fulfilling a week of engagements each summer, and attending important national occasions, such as opening the Senedd.

Charles III represented his mother at the independence celebrations in Fiji in 1970, The Bahamas in 1973, Papua New Guinea in 1975, Zimbabwe in 1980, and Brunei in 1984.

In 1995, Charles III became the first member of the royal family to visit the Republic of Ireland in an official capacity.

At the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Charles III caused controversy when he shook hands with the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who had been seated next to him.

Charles III represented the Queen at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

Commonwealth heads of government decided at their 2018 meeting that Charles III would be the next Head of the Commonwealth after the Queen.

Charles III tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time in February 2022.

Charles III attended the November 2021 ceremonies to mark Barbados's transition into a parliamentary republic, abolishing the position of monarch of Barbados.

Charles III was invited by Prime Minister Mia Mottley as the future Head of the Commonwealth; it was the first time that a member of the royal family attended the transition of a realm to a republic.

Charles III acceded to the British throne on his mother's death on 8 September 2022.

Charles III was the longest-serving British heir apparent, having surpassed Edward VII's record of 59 years on 20 April 2011.

Charles III was the oldest person to succeed to the British throne, at the age of 73.

In July 2023, Charles III asked for the profits from Britain's growing fleet of offshore windfarms to be used for the "wider public good" rather than as extra funding for the monarchy.

In Samoa, Charles III attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time as head of the Commonwealth.

In March 1998, Charles III had laser keyhole surgery on his right knee.

In January 2024, Charles III underwent a "corrective procedure" at the London Clinic to treat benign prostate enlargement, which resulted in the postponement of some of his public engagements.

Charles III released a statement espousing his support for cancer charities and that he "remain[ed] positive" on making a full recovery.

In March 2025, Charles III was briefly admitted to hospital after experiencing temporary side effects during his cancer treatment.

Ahead of Christmas dinner in 2022, Charles III confirmed to animal rights group PETA that foie gras would not be served at any royal residences; he had stopped the use of foie gras at his own properties for more than a decade before becoming king.

Charles III uses his tours of Canada as a way to help draw attention to youth, the disabled, the environment, the arts, medicine, the elderly, heritage conservation, and education.

Charles III has set up the Prince's Charities Australia, based in Melbourne, to provide a coordinating presence for his Australian and international charitable endeavours.

Charles III has supported humanitarian projects; for example, he and his sons took part in ceremonies that marked the 1998 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Charles III was one of the first public figures to express strong concerns about the human rights record of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, initiating objections in the international arena, and subsequently supported the FARA Foundation, a charity for Romanian orphans and abandoned children.

From young adulthood, Charles III encouraged the understanding of Indigenous voices, saying they held crucial messages about preservation of the land, respecting community and shared values, resolving conflict, and recognising and making good on past iniquities.

Charles III dovetailed this view with his efforts against climate change, as well as reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and his charitable work in Canada.

At CHOGM 2022, Charles III, who was representing his mother, raised that reconciliation process as an example for dealing with the history of slavery in the British Empire, for which he expressed his sorrow.

The Times reported in June 2022 that Charles III had privately described the British government's Rwanda asylum plan as "appalling" and he feared that it would overshadow the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda that same month.

Charles III has continued to campaign for traditional urbanism, human scale, restoration of historic buildings, and sustainable design despite criticism in the press.

In 1999, Charles III agreed to the use of his title for the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, awarded by the National Trust for Canada to municipal governments that have committed to the conservation of historic places.

Whilst visiting the US and surveying the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Charles III received the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize in 2005 for his efforts in regard to architecture; he donated $25,000 of the prize money towards restoring storm-damaged communities.

Charles III has occasionally intervened in projects that employ architectural styles such as modernism and functionalism.

Rogers claimed that Charles III had intervened to block his designs for the Royal Opera House and Paternoster Square.

Charles III became involved with farming and various industries within it, regularly meeting with farmers to discuss their trade.

The holy chrism oil used at Charles III's coronation was vegan, made from oils of olive, sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, and benzoin, along with amber and orange blossom.

Charles III delivered a speech at the 2021 G20 Rome summit, describing COP26 as "the last chance saloon" for preventing climate change and asking for actions that would lead to a green-led, sustainable economy.

In 2022, the media alleged that Liz Truss had advised Charles III against attending COP27, to which advice he agreed.

Charles III, who is patron of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, introduced the Climate Action Scholarships for students from small island nations in partnership with University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, McMaster University, and University of Montreal in March 2022.

Charles III personally wrote at least seven letters to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency shortly before it relaxed the rules governing labelling of such herbal products, a move that was widely condemned by scientists and medical bodies.

The FIH was re-branded and re-launched later in 2010 as the College of Medicine, of which Charles III became a patron in 2019.

From his youth until 2005, Charles III was an avid player of competitive polo.

Charles III frequently took part in fox hunting until the sport was banned in the United Kingdom, in 2005.

Charles III suffered several polo and hunting-related injuries throughout the years, including a two-inch scar on his left cheek in 1980, a broken arm in 1990, a torn cartilage in his left knee in 1992, a broken rib in 1998, and a fractured shoulder in 2001.

Charles III has been a keen salmon angler since youth and supported Orri Vigfusson's efforts to protect the North Atlantic salmon.

Apart from hunting, Charles III has participated in target rifle competitions, representing the House of Lords in the Vizianagram Match at Bisley.

Charles III became President of the British National Rifle Association in 1977.

Charles III has been involved in performance since his youth, and appeared in sketches and revues while studying at Cambridge.

Charles III is president or patron of more than 20 performing arts organisations, including the Royal College of Music, Royal Opera, English Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company, British Film Institute, and Purcell School.

Charles III is Honorary President of the Royal Academy of Arts Development Trust and, in 2015,2022, and 2023, commissioned paintings of 12 D-Day veterans, seven Holocaust survivors, and ten members of the Windrush generation, respectively, which went on display at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace.

Charles III is the author of several books and has contributed a foreword or preface to numerous books by others.

Charles III has been featured in a variety of documentary films.

Shortly after his accession to the throne, Charles III publicly described himself as "a committed Anglican Christian"; at age 16, during Easter 1965, he had been confirmed into the Anglican Communion by Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Charles III attends services at various Anglican churches close to Highgrove and attends the Church of Scotland's Crathie Kirk with the rest of the royal family when staying at Balmoral Castle.

From van der Post, Charles III developed a focus on philosophy and an interest in other religions.

Charles III expressed his philosophical views in his 2010 book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, which won a Nautilus Book Award.

Charles III has visited Eastern Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos, in Romania, and in Serbia, and met with Eastern Church leaders in Jerusalem in 2020, during a visit that culminated in an ecumenical service in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and a walk through the city accompanied by Christian and Muslim dignitaries.

Charles III attended the consecration of Britain's first Syriac Orthodox cathedral, St Thomas Cathedral, Acton.

Charles III is patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and attended the inauguration of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, which is dedicated to Islamic studies in a multicultural context.

Charles III stated in 2015 that he would retain the title of Defender of the Faith, whilst "ensuring that other people's faiths can be practised", which he sees as a duty of the Church of England.

In line with his multi-faith approach, Charles III has served as a patron of the Council of Christians and Jews and of the Jewish Museum London.

In 2006 Charles III filed a court case against The Mail on Sunday, after excerpts of his personal journals were published, revealing his opinions on matters such as the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China in 1997, in which Charles III described the Chinese government officials as "appalling old waxworks".

Charles III previously shared apartments eight and nine at Kensington Palace with Diana before moving to York House at St James's Palace, which remained his principal residence until 2003.

Charles III owns a property near the village of Viscri in Romania.

Charles III has held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, is sovereign of many orders in his own countries and has received honours and awards from around the world.

Charles III's office asserted in 2005 that no decision had yet been made.

Charles III, who left active military service in 1976, was awarded the highest rank in all three armed services in 2012 by his mother: Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force.

When Charles III became king, he inherited the royal coats of arms of the United Kingdom and of Canada.

King Charles III, before becoming a king, wrote four books and was a co-author of other works.