Charles ascended the throne upon Queen Elizabeth II death and is now King Charles III.
The first-born son of the HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Charles was next in line for the throne from the time he was 3 years old, making him the longest serving, and the most prepared, heir to the throne in British history. HRH. Queen Elizabeth II was the reigning monarch from February 1952, when she was 25, up until her death at 96. Now that Charles has become king, the world is asking questions about who he is, his role in the royal family and what he is expected to do during his reign. Here's everything to know about King Charles III. Who is King Charles III of the United Kingdom? Born, Nov. 14, 1948, Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband, Prince Philip. Upon the death of the queen on Sept. 8, 2022, Charles, formerly known as Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, became king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. King Charles is known for his previous marriage to the late Princess Diana.The couple had two children, Prince William, and Prince Harry. When will Charles be crowned? Legally, Charles became king from the moment of the queen's death, meaning he is head of state for the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and a dozen other countries. He's also the titular head of the Church of England, head of the military and the judiciary, and carries a host of other royal titles and duties. The name he chose as his regnal, or reign, name is his own first name, Charles, and it is followed by the Roman numeral III because he is the third king Charles in British history. In the days following the queen's death, Charles was formally proclaimed as monarch in an accession ceremony and gave his first formal address as king. Charles will be crowned on the 6th May 2023; the ancient ritual of the coronation requires advance planning, although a lot of that has already been done. But there hasn't been a coronation since June 1953 when the late queen was crowned. How old is King Charles III? He is 73, the oldest monarch to ever take the British throne. Who is first in line to become king after Charles? Prince William, King Charles' elder son and formerly the Duke of Cambridge, is next in line for the throne under the British line of succession.
Charles named William, 40, the new Prince of Wales in an announcement on his first full day as king. As a result, William's wife Catherine, or Kate as she is widely known, also 40, became Princess of Wales. She is the first to hold that title since the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
After Prince William, the line of succession turns to Prince William and Princess Kate's children. The succession is as follows:
Prince William, the Prince of Wales (Charles and Diana's first-born son)
· Prince George of Wales (Will and Kate's first-born son)
· Princess Charlotte of Wales (Will and Kate's second-born daughter)
· Prince Louis of Wales (Will and Kate's third-born son)
· Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex (Charles and Diana's second-born son) Charles is married to the former Camilla Parker Bowles, who was known as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. She is now the Queen Consort. Legally, Camilla was the Princess of Wales when she married Charles in 2005 but it was decided at the time, she would assume one of the Charles' lesser titles instead. Diana long blamed Camilla for the breakup of her marriage to Charles and public fury remained when Camilla and Charles married eight years after Diana's death in a car crash in Paris. When did Charles marry Camilla? Charles married Camilla in 2005 in two ceremonies in Windsor. Right after the reception for 800 guests at Windsor Castle, the couple left for a honeymoon in Scotland. Few people thought the wedding would happen. A future king had never married a divorced woman. Plus, at that time Camilla was once the most despised woman in Britain, the alleged home-wrecker who broke up the marriage of Charles and Diana. But by the couple's 10th wedding anniversary, public perception of Camilla began to change as the royal family, including the queen, embraced her. Charles once said she would never be called Queen Camilla when he assumed the throne. His wishes on that later changed, and the late queen made it official in February 2022 when she announced she wanted her heir's second wife to be known as Queen Consort. When Prince Charles and Princess Diana married? Charles was first married to Lady Diana Spencer, later known as the beloved Princess Diana. They were married for 15 years from 1981 to 1996. Diana was 20 and Charles was 32 at the time of their nuptials.The wedding was billed as a fairy tale, but their married life was not. As the public would learn later, Charles had always been in love with Camilla, a woman he’d met over a decade prior in 1970. During the marriage of Charles and Diana, there were affairs on both sides. The royal couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. What will Camilla be called now? People could call her just Queen Camilla, but her official title is Queen Consort Camilla, or Camilla, the Queen Consort.
The vexing question of what to call her once Charles assumed the throne was resolved when the late queen announced during festivities marking her seven decades on the throne that the then-Duchess of Cornwall should be known as Queen Consort, as opposed to Princess Consort, when Charles became king. "Queen Consort" is the fancy name for the wife of a reigning king. In general, a queen consort's job is to support the king in any way she can, there's no job description, no official duties, and no salary. But there's high visibility, high pressure, and high expectations from the public whose taxes pay for the monarchy. If King Charles dies, will Camilla be queen? While we call her Queen Camilla, she will never be the reigning queen. Only members of the royal family who are born in the direct line of succession can become the monarch. With Prince William and his son Prince George, 9, the next two in line for the throne after King Charles, a reigning queen is unlikely to come anytime soon. (There have only been six reigning queens in British history since 1066.) Who are King Charles’ siblings? King Charles has three siblings: From oldest to youngest, Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, 72, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, 62, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, 58. They are all children of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Charles' only sister, Princess Anne, is a full-time working royal, currently 16th in line for the throne. She appears in line after her younger brothers because she was born before the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, which ended the system of male primogeniture. Before the rules changed, younger sons would displace an elder daughter in the line of succession. Now the succession is based on birth order, not gender: Thus, Princess Charlotte, 7, is now third in line and ahead of her younger brother Prince Louis, 4, who is fourth. Prince Andrew is eighth in line for the throne despite his scandal-ridden history. He's been under fire in Britain since at least 2011 for his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted American sex offender who died in jail in 2019.After a disastrous 2019TV interview about his relationship with Epstein,Andrew officially stepped back from public duties and as a senior working royal. Earlier this year, Andrew settled a lawsuit with an American sexual assault accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had been airing allegations against him publicly since 2015. Charles' youngest brother, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, is a full-time working royal and is 13th in line for the throne. What is King Charles III known for? Beyond his role in the royal family as William and Harry's father, the queen's son and the new king, Charles is known for his long and steady service as the Prince of Wales, as he carried out his official and ceremonial duties and established more than 20 charities, including The Prince's Trust,The Prince's Foundation and The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund. As Queen Elizabeth's mobility waned in the months before her death, Charles stepped in for the monarch, including standing in for her for the first time at the state opening of Parliament this year, when he delivered what has long been called "the Queen's Speech." Now it will be called "the King's Speech."
What are King Charles' interests? Did he serve in the military? King Charles has shown keen interest in environmental causes including organic farming, architecture, and urban planning, and fighting climate change. He served in the military, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Navy in the 1970s, and will no doubt be on hand for many military parades and events during his reign. As king, Charles is expected to "slim down" the monarchy – reduce the number of working senior royals supported by taxpayers – and reduce the overall multimillion-pound annual cost of the royal show. King Charles III, much like his mum before him, does not rule, he reigns. The key difference: He cannot issue decrees or anything that remotely resembles an edict. Rather, he is seen as a figurehead whose behaviour reflects suitable decorum and grace. The monarch remains the titular head of the Church of England and the armed forces. As described on the king's official website, royal.uk, the main task of the monarch is to undertake constitutional and representational duties developed over 1,000 years of British history. "Although The Sovereign no longer has a political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part in the life of the nation," the site says. "The Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service. In all these roles The Sovereign is supported by members of their immediate family." In 1689, Great Britain officially became a constitutional monarchy. That means the power to pass legislation resides with an elected body known as Parliament. King Charles possessed so-called reserve powers, also known as prerogative powers or personal prerogatives. As the keeper of the nation's Constitutional flame, the monarch can use said powers to appoint and dismiss ministers; to summon Parliament and give royal assent to bills passed by Parliament. Notably, the king or queen can remove a prime minister who will not resign, despite losing the confidence of Parliament's House of Commons. While those powers seem vast, they come with asterisks. The royal assent to bills is considered automatically granted when it passes both Houses of Parliament, and any summoning is typically done on the advice of ministers, advice that is expected to be followed by the sovereign. At her coronation in 1953, Queen Elizabeth, who drew comfort from her Christian faith, took an oath to "maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England." It is expected that Charles will carry on this tradition. Since 1970, Queen Elizabeth addressed a convocation of Church of England leaders, a body known as the General Synod, and continued to do so every five years for the rest of her reign, according to royal.uk. Another of her traditions was distributing coins to pensioners every Maundy Thursday, the day Christians commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus. She did so at churches and cathedrals through the realm. The king or queen is the titular leader of the British Armed Forces, and military members – who over the years have included many members of the House of Windsor – swear allegiance to the sovereign. But in terms of the actual ability to deploy military forces, that power is transferred from sovereign to the prime minister and secretary of defence, who in turn, system of government, pass those responsibilities on to career officers. "Years ago, the monarch certainly had broad powers, but now that's delegated to people who are elected," says Myko Clelland, Scotland-based royal historian with genealogy website MyHeritage. "A monarch today could declare war and peace, but that's happening on the advice of government." King Charles III, who served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy in the 1970s, will no doubt be on hand for many military parades and events, and will likely continue his mother's tradition of handing out the Elizabeth Cross, given to families of those killed because of military operations or terrorism. The sovereign also officially dissolves previous governments ahead of national elections. But he or she will steer far clear of political opinions. "The queen notably had no official opinion on Brexit," the successful vote that saw England leave the European Union, says Clelland. "The monarchy is still here precisely because they've remained above those kinds of decisions." For decades, the queen served as a trusted adviser to prime ministers dating back to Winston Churchill, offering a unique sounding board to them all. Where there once was a far-flung and often exploitative British Empire, today there is a Commonwealth of Nations, 56 independent countries that were part of that empire. Many of those have broken entirely from the monarchy, most recently Barbados, which last fall, with then-Prince Charles present, became a republic. Instead of being tied to the British king or queen, they elect their head of state but remain as members of the Commonwealth. But Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, among a dozen other nations, still consider themselves constitutional monarchies.While the king is regarded as head of state there, the sovereign’s role remains largely symbolic.
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