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Charles III (born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom. He became King on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022 [1], and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023 [2]. This page uses the biography published by the Royal Household on royal.uk, checked against BBC News.
Birth and education
The Royal Household records that the King was born at Buckingham Palace at 9.14pm on 14 November 1948, the eldest son of the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and was christened Charles Philip Arthur George in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace on 15 December 1948 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher [1]. BBC News gives the same date and place of birth [2].
His parents decided that he should go to school rather than be taught by a tutor at the palace. He started at Hill House school in West London on 7 November 1956, boarded at Cheam School in Berkshire, and from April 1962 attended Gordonstoun in Scotland, where he was head boy in his final year [1]. In 1967 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, to read archaeology and anthropology, then changed to history, and graduated in 1970 [1]. Before his investiture he spent a term at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, learning Welsh [1].
Prince of Wales
In 1958, aged nine, he was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by the Queen, and he was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle on 1 July 1969 [1]. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 11 February 1970 [1]. The Royal Household notes that he held the title of Prince of Wales for over 64 years [3].
Military career
He trained as a jet pilot at RAF Cranwell from March 1971 and then followed his father, grandfather and both great-grandfathers into the Royal Navy, beginning with the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth [1]. He qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974, flew with 845 Naval Air Squadron from the carrier HMS Hermes, and on 9 February 1976 took command of the minehunter HMS Bronington for his last nine months in the Navy [1].
Marriages and children
On 29 July 1981 he married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral [1]. They had two sons, Prince William, born 21 June 1982, and Prince Harry, born 15 September 1984 [1]. The separation was announced to the House of Commons on 9 December 1992 and the marriage was dissolved on 28 August 1996; Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997 [1].
On 9 April 2005 he married Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor; she was then known as the Duchess of Cornwall [1], and became Queen Consort on his accession [1].
Public work
The Royal Household states that he helped establish more than 20 charities over 40 years, including The Prince's Trust and The Prince's Foundation, and that he worked for decades on the environment, rural communities, the built environment, the arts, healthcare and education [1]. In late 2019 he launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative [1]. As Prince of Wales he travelled abroad every year at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [1].
Accession and coronation
The King succeeded his mother on her death on 8 September 2022 [1]. BBC News notes that the throne passed immediately and without ceremony, that he was 73, and that he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023 [2]. His heir is his elder son, William, Prince of Wales [3]. See GOTHA's line of succession to the British throne.
Licence: this article is original GOTHA text, released under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Its sources are summarised or briefly quoted.