BORN TO BE KING
THE MAKING OF A VERY MODERN MONARCH
November 14, 1948: Born to then Princess Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in London, while his father Prince Philip plays a game of squash. February 6, 1952: At just three years old, Charles becomes heir to the throne when King George VI dies and Elizabeth becomes Queen. October 1957: Becomes the first royal heir in history to attend school when he starts at Hill House prep school in Knightsbridge, London. July 1958: Queen Elizabeth bestows the title of Prince of Wales on nineyear-old Charles.
April 1962: Charles starts at Prince Philip’s old school in Scotland, Gordonstoun, which he hates. October 1967: Charles becomes the first royal heir to attend university, studying anthropology, archaeology and history at Trinity College at Cambridge.
June 1970: Graduates from Trinity College.
1971: Becomes romantically involved with Camilla Shand. They later break up. She goes on to marry Andrew Parker Bowles.
March 1971: Charles begins training to fly fighters with the Royal Air Force but transfers to naval college and serves five years with the Royal Navy. 1980: Charles and Lady Diana Spencer begin dating. They meet just 13 times before Prince Charles asks her to marry him.
February 24, 1981: Engagement of Charles and Diana is announced. He is 31 and she is only 19.
July 29, 1981: Charles s and Diana marry at St Paul’s s Cathedral in London. Camilla Parker Bowles is among the wedding guests. June 21, 1982: The future heir to the throne Prince William is born. September 15, 1984: : Charles and Diana’s second d son Prince Henry – to be known as Harry –
is born.
Sometime in 1986: Charles becomes reacquainted with Camilla Parker Bowles. Bo They begin an affair. affair Diana too is having affairs. aff
June J 15, 1992: A bombshell b book Diana, Her True Story, by author Andrew Morton is released, spilling the beans b on the problems in Charles and Diana’s marriage. mar
December Decem 9, 1992: Prime minister i i John Jh Major tells parliament Charles and Diana will separate but do not intend to divorce.
January 17, 1993: British media outlets publish a transcript of a sexually charged conversation between Charles and Camilla in 1989 in which he suggests he might be reincarnated as her tampon.
June 1994: Two years after their separation, Charles confesses adultery in a televised interview. January 19, 1995: Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorce. November 20, 1995: A now deeply estranged Diana gives an unprecedented interview to Panorama in which she admits to being unfaithful to Charles. However, the comment most remembered is when she told her interviewer there were three people in her marriage and it was “a bit crowded”. ed . December 1995: The Queen, furious at the public row, which has been dubbed the War of the Waleses, writes separate letters to Charles and Diana ordering them to divorce. August 28, 1996: Charles and Diana finalise ise their divorce. August 31, 1997: Diana dies in a car crash with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed in Paris, sparking international mourning and widespread derision at the royal roya family, who were perceived perce to be uncaring. January Jan 29, 1999: Charles C and Camilla make m their first public appearance together, at a party at the Ritz. February 2005: Charles C and Camilla announce an their engagement. eng
April 9, 2005: Charles and Camilla wed at the registry office in Windsor, followed by a blessing at St George’s Chapel. The Queen does not attend but later gives a warm speech where she notes that her son is “home with the woman he loves”. July 22, 2013: Birth of Prince George makes Charles a grandfather. April 20, 2018: Leaders who have gathered in London for CHOGM agree to make Prince Charles the head of the Commonwealth when he ascends the throne. September, 2021: A “cash-forhonours” scandal erupts, with claims middlemen took cuts for setting up meetings between wealthy donors and the Prince of Wales. Charles denies any knowledge of the scheme.