With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her eldest son, 73-year-old Prince Charles, automatically succeeds to the British throne. Today the British Parliament solemnly proclaimed Charles the new king. Who is the new Sovereign of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth who is now moving from St James Palace to Buckingham Palace to take on his mother’s legacy?
Legend:
Little Prince Charles with his mother Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.
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At the coronation of the Queen
Charles has been familiar with coronations since childhood. When his mother was anointed and crowned on June 2, 1952, four-year-old Charles sat in the gallery of Westminster Abbey and yawned.
Charles was born into a unique world. In a house with 779 rooms, 800 employees and full of privileges. In Buckingham Palace he was not – as is usual for royal offspring – tutored, but attended a school and later a university. Following royal tradition, he then made a career in the military. He became a pilot, a sailor and eventually a minesweeper captain. But his real destiny was to succeed his mother.
In 1969, at the age of 21, he was proclaimed Prince of Wales by the Queen. This was the beginning of his apprenticeship as a future king. This should last more than 50 years. In order to bridge this waiting period, the prince looked for meaningful activities. “All my life I’ve wanted to heal things, be it the earth, the landscape or the soul,” Charles once said. The prince found his salvation in nature.
What I love most is going for an evening walk through my garden and pottering around, pulling weeds or cutting branches. It’s good for me, keeps me healthy and gives me a lot of joy.
In addition to natural gardens, Charles is also interested in homeopathy. He’s a respectable watercolourist, a feared architecture critic, but also a public figure – and thus part of the entertainment industry. His marital problems, his infidelity – it was all in the public eye. “No one but me can understand how awful it is to be the Prince of Wales,” Charles once complained to British historian Max Hastings.
Legend:
Dream wedding with Diana in 1981.
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Diana – an unhappy marriage with a tragic end
His marriages made headlines: His first choice fell on the then 19-year-old kindergarten teacher Diana Spencer. In 1981, 850 million viewers worldwide watched this royal fairy tale on the screen.
The end of the fairy tale is history. The relationship finally ended in 1996 with a divorce decree and a year later with the death of the princess. The tragic accidental death of Diana in Paris plunged the kingdom into deep mourning. Two billion people around the world are said to have watched the abdication in Westminster Abbey.
The divorce drama and the death of the princess badly damaged the reputation of the royal family. Even the otherwise highly respected queen was accused of heartlessness when she did not comment on Diana’s death for a long time.
But the tragedy also set new, questionable standards in journalism. It filled colorful pages and twenty years later even became the subject of the most expensive and most successful Netflix series: “The Crown” is worth mentioning because the fictional look behind the palace facade presents itself as a historical documentation. The members of the royal family are portrayed as a cold-hearted, aloof waxworks. The future king, who cheats on the princess of hearts with his childhood sweetheart and today’s wife Camilla, gets off particularly badly.
Working for disadvantaged young people and the environment
The prince is said to have been “not amused”, according to those around him. Charles himself remained silent and went about his day’s work of healing the world. With his “Prince Fondation”, a foundation that helps young people from difficult backgrounds to get an education, but also as an environmentalist.
For example as a speaker at the climate summit in Glasgow 2021:
The scale and scope of the threat we face calls for a global systems solution based on a radical shift from the current fossil-fuel based economy to a truly renewable and sustainable one.
A monarch has no power in Britain, but influence. He has the right to be consulted and to warn against the government. The heir to the throne eagerly claimed the last of these rights during his apprenticeship.
His letters were feared by the authorities, but Charles is more than a crude zealot, says historian Penny Junor, who has written several books on royalty.
I think King Charles is the most prepared monarch this country has ever had.
A temporary solution
Despite these advance laurels, Charles is inheriting a difficult legacy from Queen Elizabeth II. His biggest problem? He’s not like her.
Polls show he’s caught between his unforgettable mother and the younger, more glamorous generation. He’s not hated, but he’s not loved either. It is more of a well-loved temporary solution until one day his eldest son, Prince William, will take over the scepter.