He is finally king. At 73, Prince Charles took over from his mother, Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday September 8 at the age of 96. Proclaimed queen on February 6, 1952, then crowned the following year, the monarch reigned for nearly 70 years. A figure that his son, now called Charles III, will never be able to reach. But will he be able to reach his mother’s popularity rating?
A turbulent love life
Born November 14, 1948 in London, Charles Philip Arthur George is the first of four siblings. Three years later, his mother Elizabeth becomes the new Queen of the United Kingdom. He then becomes his direct heir. And as such, he was named Prince of Wales in 1958. Charles was very quickly sent to boarding school in the northeast of Scotland. He thus becomes the first member of the royal family to graduate from university.
Young, sporty… Charles met Camilla Shand in 1970. Love at first sight between the two young Britons is indisputable. But the Prince of Wales is 21 years old and joins the army, also putting an end to his relationship with the one who will be many decades later, his wife.
And if Camilla marries Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, the two lovers do not really leave each other and lead a hidden relationship. In 1977, Prince Charles met Diana Spencer. The young woman, from the British nobility, quickly frequents the future king of England. A few months later, on February 24, 1981, Charles and Diana, who was just 19, announced to the press that they were officially engaged. An appearance long awaited by the British, but which quickly turns to tragedy for the young couple.
Long decline in popularity
When a journalist asks them if they are in love, the young Diana hastens to answer “of course”. An enthusiasm hardly shared by Charles, who retorts: “It all depends on what you mean by ‘being in love’. It’s open to interpretation”. The discomfort in front of the camera is immense. Despite a first awkwardness, the two lovebirds married on July 29, 1989, in front of nearly 35,000 guests. Diana becomes “the princess of hearts”, her popularity explodes. In front of the lenses, the two lovers live an almost perfect love the first years of their marriage, punctuated by the birth of William, on June 21, 1982, then of Harry on September 15, 1984.
But Prince Charles continues to nurture his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. And the repeated clumsiness of the Prince of Wales with Diana ends up being right about this marriage. Diana and Charles separated in 1992. From November 30, 1995, Lady Diana revealed Charles’ adulteries to the camera. “There were three of us in this marriage,” she explained to the press.
The divorce of the parents of William and Charles is finalized in 1996. But a year later, while she is pursued by paparazzi in the heart of Paris, Princess Diana dies in a car accident, touching Great Britain in the heart .
Sadness quickly gives way to anger and the British accuse Prince Charles and Camilla of being responsible for the death of “the princess of hearts”. The popularity rating of Charles and Camilla, who no longer hide, collapses. It will take them several years to regain the confidence of the English.
Climate commitment
If the love life of King Charles III will have been particularly eventful, the son of Elizabeth II will have been a precursor on a highly important subject today: the climate. From the 1980s, the prince cared about the environment. In 1985, he created an organic farm on his Highgrove estate. Five years later, he unveiled a brand of organic products: “Duchy Originals”, which has since become “Waitrose Duchy Organic”. And while the English press does not hesitate to nickname him “the prince of potatoes”, Charles III persists in this way.
A few years later, he launched an eco-village project: Pounbury. The village, by favoring high density, breaks with the classic pattern of the suburbs. The area is thus designed for pedestrians and not for cars.
Having become a climate ambassador, Prince Charles continues to speak on the subject, as in 2015 during COP 21. “All of nature is crying out to denounce the mistreatment we inflict on it. would have cared for her a long time ago”, he had stressed to the representatives of the States of the whole world.
Now king, there is no doubt that Charles III will continue to commit to the climate, alongside his wife Camilla Rosemary Shand, who is also sensitive to the climate cause.