The UK, along with the rest of the world, is a mourning for the loss of the longest reigning monarch in British history. Queen Elizabeth II, her son Charles is getting ready to be crowned King Charles III. It will take some time for us to know what kind of King King Charles III will be, but till then here are 30 things you never knew about King Charles III.
He was the longest heir in waiting
King Charles III, was more than ready for the role when it came to him at the age of 73. This makes him the longest serving Heir in British history. Charles was just three when his grandfather, King George VI, died and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended to the throne, Matthew Halton of CBC Radio, told listeners that he wouldn’t be king anytime soon, if his grandfather, the king and his mother, the princess both live, the full span of life, he may well be 50 or 60 years old before he ascends the throne.
Charles was 73 when Queen Elizabeth died, ending the longest ever reign in British history.
He received the title of Prince of Wales when he was only 9 years old
The title Prince of Wales is only given to a male Heir, but it is not an automatic appointments. When his father King George VI, died in 1952, King Charles went from third to second in line to the throne in 1958.
When King Charles was nine years of age, he was given the title of Prince of Wales and its conjoining title Earl of Chester, although he Was the longest-serving prince of Wales, he might have held the title even longer if he had been appointed earlier.
He was the first British Royal heir to earn a degree
King Charles III was the first British royal not to be homeschooled. He went to Gordonstown a private boarding school in Scotland, his father, the late Prince Philip, had also studied at the same school. He then attended the University of Cambridge in 1967.
He studied archeology and anthropology later changing it to history. He graduated in 1970. He was the first heir to the throne to get a University degree.
He was bullied at school
Just because you’re royalty doesn’t guarantee that you are immune to bullying. Children can be vicious. King Charles went to boarding school in Scotland and his classmates often picked on him. Charles didn’t retaliate, but it was open about it with his family.
The people in my dormitory are foul. He wrote in a 1963 letter, goodness they are horrid. I don’t know how anybody could be so foul.
At 14, Charles caused a national scandal
When Charles was 14 years of age, he wrote on a Gordon stone school sailboat to the Isle of Lewis pup. He ordered a Cherry Brandy for two Shillings and a Sixpence.
It was illegal for people under 18 years of age to be served alcohol. It may not have been a big deal. A reporter was sitting at the bar, unfortunately for Charles naturally, it caused a royal scandal. Charles’s bodyguard Don green lost his job as a result.
He once built a town
King Charles III, built a town of poundbury in Dorchester England. Charles, has always been very interested in urban planning and developments. He wanted the town to blend traditional architecture and Modern urban planning.
Construction of the Town began in 1993, based on the principles of new urbanism. Charles appointed renowned Architects Leon Cryer to work on the 400 acres of land. Today, the town has a population of around 4 200 people.
“When I set out on this Venture, I was determined that poundbury would break the mold of conventional housing developments in this country and create an attractive place for people to live work and play. People said that it could never succeed, but I am happy to say that the skeptics were wrong and it is now a thriving Urban Development alongside Dorchester”, said King Charles III.
He is an accomplished painter
Charles is an accomplished painter. In fact, he is one of the most popular living painters in the UK. Today, King Charles mainly creates watercolor landscapes.
Since 1997, his artwork has generated nearly three million dollars in sales. His lithographs sell for anywhere between three thousand six hundred dollars and twenty one thousand dollars. The money from the sale is donated to the Prince of Wales charitable Foundation.
He has a green thumb
King Charles loves farming and gardening. In fact, he has quite the Green Thumb. He once said about his gardening. I happily talked to the plants and trees and listen to them. I think it’s absolutely crucial.
Clarence House also has tweeted that after Charles plants a tree, he often gives a branch a friendly shake to wish it well.
He does not let food go waste
Charles is entirely against food waste. “If we made roasted lamb and there were leftovers, we’d probably go make shepherd’s pie the next night”, former Royal Chef Carolyn Rob told a biographer.
The prince was very economical and very much believed that nothing should go to waste. If there were leftovers, they’d be used. One way or another, if not for him, then rehashed and used for a meal the following day.
According to his former private secretary Clive alderton Charles, would even pack up leftovers from tea time and reuse them until they were over.
He has established an organic food brand
Charles is passionate about providing good quality food to the masses and established his own company Dutchy Organics in 1990.
He donates all the monetary profits from the company to charity during a soil Association event. He announced that the very future of humanity may depend to a very large extent on a mainstream transition to more sustainable farming practices, based, of course, on organic principles. He is known for bringing organic food to the Royal Family’s Christmas celebrations according to a former Royal Chef, Darren McGrady.
His car runs on wine
We are really not kidding you guys. For his 21st birthday. Charles was gifted an Aston Martin by the queen, as incredible as it was the car burned a lot of fuel creating a lot of carbon emissions.
This was a sore point for Charles who was very passionate about the environments, so Charles went to the engineers at Aston Martin and discovered that the car could run on white wine or Waveland, although they advised him not to use this blend for fuel in his vintage Car Charles explained, “well, I don’t drive it then”, so they got on with it, and now they admit that it runs better and is more powerful on that field than it is on petrol and also it smells delicious as you’re driving along.
He is part of a mysterious magic club
Charles has a love for magic tricks. In 1975, he was even inducted into a magic club, the magic circle. After performing a cup and ball strick, he was invited by his great Uncle Earl mountsbaton, who had himself been a member of the secretive Association for more than two decades.
However, the decision to induct him into the club had already been made and his certificate was awarded to him that night.
He has published a children’s book
In 1980, Charles wrote, The Old Man of Loch nagar, based on a story about a Scottish man that he told his younger brothers Andrew and Edward, when they were little, the book was an instant classic. It has even been adapted into an animated film, a musical and a ballet.
The proceeds from the book go to Charles’s charity for at-risk kids and young adults The princess Trust.
Charles first met Lady Diana Spencer when he was dating her older sister
In his 20s, Charles had quite the reputation as a player. Any girl with a family pedigree was considered a potential princess in June 1977, Charles met Lady Sarah Spencer, at a party at Windsor Castle.
The two invited each other to Polo and shooting events in November on one such trip. Charles went to the Spencer estate althorpe, where he met Sarah’s younger sister Diana who was 16. In Bedell Smith’s 1999 biography Dana in search of herself portrait of a troubled princess. Sarah, after going on a Swiss ski vacation with Charles in 1978, told the media, there’s no question of me being the future Queen of England. I don’t think he’s met her yet.
He didn’t really want to marry Diana. Charles and Diana had just met 13 times before they got married and nothing changed the fact that Charles never got over his first love, Camilla Parker bows.
When Charles was 23, he was introduced to Camilla and fell in love with her, but soon after he left for the Navy and by the time he came back, Camilla was engaged to her former flame Andrew Parker bows had even told his friends that he wanted to Get out of the wedding. Diana was famously known for saying there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded in reference to Charles’s love for Camilla. .
He was the first heir to the throne to get a divorce
After a wedding that had been Rocky right from the start, Charles and Diana finally separated after their engagements, an interviewer asked them whether they were in Love. Diana said, of course, Charles added, whatever in love means. In 1996, they were granted a divorce.
Charles was the first heir to the British throne to have been ever granted a divorce. One year later, Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris.
Charles is not the best at giving gifts
In 2003, Ozzy Osbourne had an almost fatal quad bike crash in early December as a get well soon presence Charles gifted him a bottle of whiskey. That’s a nice gesture. The only problem Ozzy Osbourne was a recovering alcoholic at the time. Naturally, Ozzy’s wife Sharon wasn’t very pleased.
Charles helped launched a clothing line
In 2020, while his fashion game has always been on point. You might be surprised to learn that the king is partially responsible for Neta Porter clothing collection.
Charles partnered, with the modern Artisan project to support fashion students through his foundation. The aim was to launch a sustainable clothing line using the latest technology.
Charles said in his statement that he was enormously impressed by the work produced and was hopeful about the vision shown by the designers. Hopefully they will take away a great deal of skill, an understanding of sustainable approaches to design and Manufacturing that they can apply to their own businesses or future careers.
He shared the key for me is to rediscover the importance that nature plays, understand where natural materials come from and how they can be used in exciting and innovative ways, he said.
He can play the cello
Charles is very skilled when it comes to music, he knows how to play the piano when trumping. Also, he learned how to play the cello, although he considered himself hopeless at it, he continued to learn how to play the cello. He even participated in the Trinity College orchestra when he was an undergraduate.
Secret service nickname is unicorn
When certain dignitaries visit the US they are given their own code names.
Charles’ secret service nickname was unicorn. This mythical name is somehow apt for the king. The Unicorn is the national animal of Scotland and has been part of its coat of arms for more than 600 years. The first recorded example of a Scottish Monarch using a unicorn as a symbol of strength, was in the late 1300s.
Robert II and the third used unicorns as part of the arms and Gateway of rothasay Castle on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, one of King, Charles III’s, Earliest titles is Duke of Rothesay.
Richard Nixon tried to set King Charles III up with his daughter Trisha
When Charles was 21. He and his sister Princess Anne, who was 19 at the time, took a trip to Washington DC being Royal dignitaries.
They were shown the sights taken to museums and given rooms to stay in the White House. During this trip, President Nixon tried to set the then Prince up with his eldest daughter Trisha. He tried to have Tricia seeden next to Charles on every occasion which annoyed him, even though nothing happened there Charles found it amusing, badel Smith’s 2017 biography States.
Many years later, on a visit to Washington with Camilla, he was still laughing about Nixon’s attempt at matchmaking.
He has a frog named after him
In 2012 a new and endangered species of Ecuadorian tree frog was discovered and it was announced as the Hilo skirtus Prince Charles or Prince Charles stream tree frog in the Journal of zutaxa.
The Frog was named after Charles to recognize his rainforest conservation work. Charles has always been very outspoken about the dangers of climate change and the need for conservation. He also established the princess rainforest project in 2007 as a charity and awareness campaign.
He is a very picky eater
Charles is known to be a picky eater. He needs to have his eggs boiled for precisely four minutes. He also asks to be served tea, muffins and seven boiled eggs every day between 4 and 5 PM Sharp.
His breakfast consists of eggs or wheat germ and cereal, with honey fruits and tea there’s more. He asks his chefs to put poached eggs on top of every meal steam his vegetables in a specific type of mineral water and make his orange and damson gin from the fruits grown at Highgrove. One of his favorite meals is lamb with wild mushroom risotto
He is a workaholic King
Charles III is a workaholic as a prince. He used to work all seven days a week. He often started work after breakfast and finished up around midnight and the BBC documentary Prince sun and Heir Charles at 70, Prince Harry said he does need to slow down referring to his father in the documentary.
This is a man who has dinner ridiculously late at night and then goes to his desk later that night and will fall asleep on his notes to the point where he’ll wake up with a piece of paper stuck to his face, his wife, Camilla, says. His extreme work ethic is because he would like to change the world.
He has performed in Shakespeare plays
Charles supports the Arts and has quite a soft spot for Shakespeare.
This might go back to when he was a teenager and stole the show after he played Exeter in his school’s play Henry V. He also played the lead in Macbeth in 1991. Charles referred to The Bard as the world’s greatest playwrights, perhaps the world’s greatest poets. In 2016, Charles also appeared in a skit for BBC’s Shakespeare live.
He got in trouble for a plane crash
Kin Charles was interested in aviation and requested Flight Training from the Royal Air Force, while studying at Cambridge. He then trained as a Jet Pilot in 1971 and qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974, while serving in the Royal Navy.
Charles was once a passenger on a queen’s flight passenger jet when Captain Graham Laurie, let him take the controls, the plane faced. High winds and Charles instinctively brought the plane down at Port Ellen a bit too fast. The aircraft crashed and the Damage cost around 1 million pounds.
He survived an avalanche in 1988
Charles was skiing, with a group of friends in Switzerland in 1988, when an avalanche came tearing down the mountain. Due to sheer luck, Charles escaped without a single bruise.
However, this natural disaster did kill one member of his group and a former Royal aide major, Hugh Lindsay when he was rescued by a helicopter. Charles was reportedly weeping. It does sound like a major enough incident to shake someone up, but things got even more complicated.
Later, as Charles was investigated in the aftermath of major Lindsay’s death, it turned out that an avalanche warning had gone out earlier in the day, but Charles ignored it and the rest of the group followed Charles, wasn’t charged for any involvements, but it clearly did not portray Him in a good light in the media.
So, how many of these facts did you know? Which fact surprised you the most?
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