Following his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles will become the thirteenth British monarch.
All his life, he has been prepared for this function: Elizabeth's eldest son has been heir to the throne since his mother's coronation 70 years ago, a record in the history of this monarchy.
When he was born on November 14, 1948, his mother was not yet queen.
He was four years old in 1952 when his grandfather, King George VI, died of a thrombosis and Princess Elizabeth succeeded him.
The following year, he also attended the sumptuous coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
>> To read, our web documentary "Elizabeth II, a life for the crown"
After growing up at Buckingham Palace alongside his sister Anne and brothers Andrew and Edward, he becomes the first heir to go to school, like any other subject, according to his mother's wishes.
He notably attended Gordonstoun School, a rather rough boarding school in the northeast of Scotland, where his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, studied.
Charles will keep a very bad memory of it.
He then entered the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a degree in anthropology, archeology and history, making him the first graduate of the royal family.
At the same time, at the age of 21, he officially received the title of Prince of Wales, traditionally given to the first son of the monarch.
His mother then gave him the crown of the Princes of Wales during a ceremony broadcast on television.
At the end of his university studies, he was assigned to the Royal Navy in which he was an officer for five years, from 1971 to 1976. He also passed the helicopter pilot's license.
A fairy tale wedding that turns sour
During his youth, the prince is known to have had several affairs with women of very good family.
He finally decides to marry in 1981, at the age of 32, Lady Diana Spencer, aged 20 and from the British aristocracy.
More than 750 million viewers attend the event on channels around the world.
The couple have two sons, William in 1982 and Harry in 1984, but the fairy tale turns into a nightmare a few years later.
The princely couple separated with a bang in 1992, shortly after Diana revealed that her husband had a long-standing extramarital affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, one of his childhood sweethearts.
For several years, the princess and the prince of Wales no longer hide their disagreement.
Charles' image is permanently tarnished.
The divorce was officially pronounced in 1996.
A year later, on August 31, 1997, Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris, under the Alma bridge, alongside her companion at the time, Dodi Al-Fayed.
A strong emotion seizes the whole world.
Prince Charles travels to France to repatriate the body of his ex-wife.
The heir to the crown then shows himself very close to his sons and takes part in the state funeral, walking behind Lady Di's coffin.
A green prince
The one who has long been considered the unfaithful husband is trying to restore his image.
Eight years after Diana's tragic death, he finally marries his great love, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Passionate about botany and gardening, he maintains his reputation as an ecology enthusiast and sponsors several environmental associations.
In 2007, he notably created the Prince's Rainforests Project to raise awareness of deforestation.
He is also the chairman of WWF in the UK.
At the head of the huge Highgrove House estate, he also leads a fight in favor of organic farming.
Even if he has to wait before finally acceding to the throne, Prince Charles also fulfills his functions within the monarchy.
On behalf of the Queen, he officiates at investitures and attends the funerals of foreign dignitaries.
In 2013, he represented his mother for the first time at a meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government.
In 2022, for the first time, when Elizabeth II was experiencing health concerns, he read the Speech from the Throne during the traditional opening ceremony of Parliament.
A stubborn unpopularity
Considered eccentric and quirky, Prince Charles also sometimes arouses controversy.
In 2005, during the funeral of Pope John Paul II, he created controversy by shaking hands with dictator Robert Mugabe.
Ten years later, letters made public and addressed to members of Tony Blair's government also reveal a certain interference by the heir to the throne in political affairs - contrary to the tradition of neutrality of the royal family.
In 2017, he was also splashed by the Paradise Papers scandal, which shows in particular that the Duchy of Cornwall, which manages its private funds, would have invested around 3.5 million euros offshore in the Cayman Islands.
In July 2022, he still finds himself in turmoil, accused of having accepted, for his charitable works, a million euros from members of the family of Osama Bin Laden.
His popularity then fell from 50% to 42% favorable opinions according to the YouGov polling institute, far behind his eldest son William.
Having become king, the prince could choose not to take the name of Charles, considered cursed in British history.
Some evoke the name of George VII, which would constitute a tribute to his grandfather, the father of Elizabeth II.
In the absence of his mother, the one who is said to be unloved by his subjects and much less popular than William will in any case have to keep the crown afloat.
His reign will anyway be much more ephemeral than the previous one, leaving him little time to leave his mark.
Elizabeth II, a life for the crown © Graphic studio France Media World
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