King Charles III: A Modern Monarch

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The liturgy document presents this as a progressive reform, since in previous coronations homage was paid by peers alone. In fact, because it asks the public to assert their subordinate status as subjects rather than equal citizens, it is the reverse. After a six-month separation from the Queen and Philip on a royal tour in 1954, Charles and his younger sister Anne were greeted by their parents with handshakes. The outpouring of grief that followed the Queen’s death showed the depth of devotion to a royal head of state who inspired respect and admiration for her unwavering sense of duty to her country. Only three in 10 Britons think the monarchy is “very important” today – the lowest proportion on record. But a recent YouGov poll found that 58% of the public preferred the monarchy to an elected head of state. And hiding is difficult for a modern monarch. Kings and queens have been under the scrutiny of the media for several centuries now and Charles has lived his whole life in its spotlight, from his first baby photographs and outings in the pram to the mundane round of visits and duties.

During these years, he spent two terms studying in Australia at Timbertop, Geelong Grammar’s year 9 campus where students board together in a programme that puts emphasis on outdoor education. According to the King, the period was “by far the best part” of his entire schooling. It was at Timbertop that Charles was effectively removed from his royal duties and allowed to roam the High Country’s vast surrounds with his classmates. Authored by renowned King Charles biographer Robert Jobson, a number-one New York Times and Sunday Times best-selling author and royal correspondent, this coffee-table-style book chronicles His Majesty’s life – from his celebrated birth and early years, through his responsibilities as the Prince of Wales, to his accession and coronation as king.When Charles was one, the Queen and Prince Philip spent Christmas in Malta, where Philip was stationed with the Royal Navy. Charles stayed with his grandparents at Sandringham; his parents missed his first steps and his first teeth. just an enormous honour and privilege[…] and the coronation weekend is going to be a time of bringing the country together.” As the eldest child of the Queen, Charles was tutored privately until 1956, when he became the first heir apparent to go to school. During his time at Hill House School in West London, he took up football at the advice of the headmaster, who suggested the other boys would never be deferential to the young prince on the football pitch. Charles later attended Cheam Preparatory School in Hampshire from 1958 and Gordonstoun, Scotland, from 1962. Prince Philip had thrived at the institution in his teenage years but Charles, who was described as a more sensitive youth than his father had been, reportedly described the rigorous school as “Colditz in kilts” – though he did later praise it for teaching him “a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities. It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative”. It was in 1977 that Charles first met 16-year- old Lady Diana Spencer while visiting her home – Althorp – with her elder sister, Charles’s former flame Lady Sarah. Despite all the necessary flourishes, this is likely to be a coronation shorter and smaller in scale than Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953, and with a far more modest procession. More than 8,000 guests attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and Westminster Abbey had to be closed for five months to allow extra seating to be built. This time around, it seems likely the maximum number will be somewhere around 2,200; the Abbey’s normal capacity.

His charity, the Prince’s Trust, has performed valuable work in helping disadvantaged youngsters to claw themselves out of the ghettos, but it still carries the whiff of noblesse oblige. And the tales leaching out about his keen sense of his own dignity: not the apocryphal toothpaste-squeezing valet, or even the range of soft to hard boiled eggs laid out for his delectation each morning, but the large personal entourage of butlers and flunkeys and the occasionally peevish and self-pitying outbursts tell their own story. The streamlined service will likely see royal peers pledge their personal allegiance to the King in private, with only the Prince of Wales – Charles’ eldest son and heir to the throne – paying his homage to the King during the ceremony. The rest of the guestlist will include members of the British royal family, dignitaries and public figures including Prime Minister, members of the Houses of Parliament, heads of state and representatives from the King’s many charities. While some reports suggest the Queen had at first had something of a strained relationship with Camilla, by the end of her long life Her Majesty had demonstrated her unstinting support for her daughter-in-law, writing in a statement to mark her Platinum Jubilee in 2022: “When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”For over 70 years until his accession, Charles was the steward of the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate spanning 20 counties and covering some 52,449 hectares. Charles managed the estate with sustainability at the forefront, a mindset his son William has now taken on as the new steward of the Duchy. I mind about the inclusion of other people’s faiths and their freedom to worship in this country,” he said in 2015. “It’s always seemed to me that, while at the same time being Defender of the Faith, you can also be protector of faiths.” There have been suggestions that the coronation oath might be altered accordingly. New research shared with the Guardian and published last week revealed that Charles’s direct ancestors bought and exploited enslaved people on tobacco plantations in Virginia in the 17th century. Earlier this month, in response to the Guardian’s reporting, Charles signalled for the first time his support for research into the links between the British monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade. In 1986, he founded The Prince’s Foundation, an organisation dedicated to championing sustainable approaches to how we live our lives and build our communities. The foundation is inspired by Charles’ philosophy of harmony and balance. In the same year, Charles published a children’s book, The Old Man of Lochnagar. At one point, the old man meets the “king of the Gorms”, who has a “peculiar rubber mat” fastened to his bottom to “prevent him slipping off his throne all the time”.

In 2002, after the death of the queen mother, Charles flew to Greece to stay at a monastery on Mount Athos for three days. He travelled with a butler and 43 pieces of luggage.As Princess Anne put it, just before the Coronation, “I think the ‘slimmed-down’ [monarchy] was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment.” The 72-year-old princess added: “It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I have to say. I’m not quite sure what else, you know, we can do.” It worked until 1919, when the Irish declared that they were actually themselves and we’d have to fight them to keep them one of us. We did, and we lost. Since the UK had been founded for the sole purpose of making Ireland “us”, it was, at this point, logically defunct. The report, The British Monarchy, explains what the institution does and how it does it, and places the monarchy in its wider historical and comparative context. It should prove an indispensable guide ahead of the coronation, with more than a dozen leading experts delving into a broad range of issues and topics. He was said to have little aptitude for sport, but in his last year captained the football team, which scored four goals in the season, and conceded 82. The school newspaper said that “Prince Charles seldom drove himself as hard as his ability and position demanded”. The ceremony will also see Camilla, the Queen Consort similarly anointed and crowned. Part of the official coronation involves placing a special ring on the fourth finger of the monarch, representing that the sovereign is ‘wedded’ to the people, and a ring is offered to the Queen Consort in the same way.

The King founded the Trust in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people in the UK gain access to education, jobs and training. He set up the charity using his Navy severance pay to fund 21 pilot initiatives – including providing a grant to a 19-year-old woman to run a social centre for London’s Haggerston Housing Estate. The Trust’s Enterprise Programme was launched in 1983 and, within three years, had helped 1,000 young people launch their own businesses. The King has also personally chosen the music for the ceremony, which will feature 12 newly commissioned pieces, including an anthem by composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Parts of the service will be sung in Welsh, with soloists including world-famous Welsh opera singer Sir Bryn Terfel. There will also be Greek Orthodox music in memory of the King’s father, Prince Philip, who was born in Greece. A gospel choir will also perform, as will choristers from Westminster School. There will be much said on Saturday about the more pluralistic aspects of the 2023 coronation service, as well as other changes that are more personal to Charles. Jewish, Muslim and other faith leaders will have walk-on roles. The nations of the UK will have moments in the spotlight. There will be singing in Welsh and Greek. Non-Christians will have roles in presenting the king’s regalia. Our first British-Asian prime minister will read a lesson. All this sends a welcome message of national inclusivity. He once gave Ozzy Osbourne, a recovering alcoholic, a bottle of scotch as a get-well-soon present after Osbourne fractured his collarbone. A poll published by the Guardian in 1995 found that 49% of British people expected to see the end of the monarchy in their own lifetimes.Charles and Camilla’s decades-long romance culminated in their marriage on 9 April 2005 – the celebration having had to be postponed by a day so that Prince Charles could represent the Queen at the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Vatican City. Prince Philip laughed out loud watching his 17-year-old son play Macbeth (above) in the school play, later telling a tearful Charles that he “sounded like the Goons”. Charles also played the cello, and although he said he was “hopeless”, he gave recitals at local aristocrats’ homes.