PORTRAIT - Charles III, a life finally crowned

Highlights: Crown Prince at three, King at 73 and finally crowned at 74: the coronation on May 6 of Charles III in London. He has spent his life waiting for his destiny, with multiple passions often overshadowed by the vagaries of his private life. He is passionate about the environment, sustainable development, alternative medicine, rurality, religions. He was enthroned Prince of Wales at the age of 20 in a grandiose televised ceremony. He married without love Diana Spencer in 1981. A year later, Diana died in a car accident in Paris. In 2005, he remarried Camilla.

Crown Prince at three, King at 73 and finally crowned at 74: the coronation on May 6 of  Charles III in London consecrated an unloved old king, who spent his life waiting for his destiny, with multiple passions often overshadowed by the vagaries of his private life.

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: DANIEL LEAL / AFP 11:00 am, May 04, 2023

Crown Prince at three, King at 73 and finally crowned at 74: the coronation on May 6 of Charles III in London consecrates an unloved old king, who has spent his life waiting for his destiny, with multiple passions often overshadowed by the vagaries of his private life.

Born on November 14, 1948, he was three years old when his mother became queen on the death of King George VI. As the eldest son, Charles became crown prince. He was four years old when he attended the coronation of his mother Elizabeth II, bored between his aunt Margaret and his grandmother the Queen Mother.

A sensitive and left-handed child

At the age of nine, his mother named him Prince of Wales. Very young, this sensitive and left-wing child is sent to boarding school. He suffers in silence, often abused by other students, including at the boarding school of Gordonstoun in Scotland, chosen by his father Prince Philip to harden this timid son he does not understand.

Elizabeth II, before whom he had learned to bow at a very young age, was too busy with his duties. "She was more distant than indifferent," Charles said of a mother who, on his return from a six-month official trip when he was five, shook his hand.

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Inducted Prince of Wales at 20

At the age of 20, he was enthroned Prince of Wales in a grandiose televised ceremony. He studied anthropology, archaeology and history at Cambridge, and as early as 1970 became concerned about pollution and plastic waste, in a speech that was a precursor to his constant interest in the future of the planet.

Diana and Camilla

During this period, he met Camilla Shand at a polo match. Coming from the big bourgeoisie close to royal circles, she is relaxed, funny, loves nature like him. An idyll ensued, which the prince's involvement in the Royal Navy would shatter a few months later.

Camilla married another relationship, Officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973. Charles married without love Diana Spencer in 1981. She's 20, he's 32.

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Charles finds Camilla's arms

After the birth of William, the heir, in 1982, and Harry, the deputy, in 1984, his duty accomplished, Charles finds the arms of Camilla, who divorces in 1995.

After years of ruthless warfare that British tabloids feasted on, Charles and Diana divorced in 1996. A year later, Diana died in a car accident in Paris. Charles' popularity rating falls to an all-time low.

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He earned the nickname Prince Activist.

Crown Prince, whose vague role is to support the Crown, he creates a life for himself. He is passionate about the environment, sustainable development, alternative medicine, rurality, religions. He earned the nickname of activist prince, and some worried about a future king who would not respect the strict political neutrality expected of the sovereign.

For years, the publicized crises of his private life overshadowed the actions of this wealthy man with a hushed voice, always impeccably dressed.

In 2005, he remarried Camilla, in a civil ceremony at Windsor City Hall. The queen does not come, but organizes a reception for the bride and groom.

A father who works a lot, a grandfather who likes to read stories

Charles III, who replaced her more and more in recent years, traveled to nearly a hundred countries, met many of the great of this world, shook millions of hands. His sons told of a father who worked a lot, sometimes falling asleep at night on his desk.

Sure of himself, he does not like to be contradicted. He gets carried away quickly, sometimes against a simple leaky pen. Impatient, "he wants things done by yesterday," said Camilla, now queen consort. But she also told the story of a grandfather who reads Harry Potter to his grandchildren, imitating the voices of the characters. "He's a warm man, very good to people," said former British ambassador to France Peter Ricketts.

A king less popular than his mother

Like his mother who died in September, he promised to serve for the rest of his life. Since then, Charles III has been cautiously navigating between tradition and modernization of a monarchy strongly criticized in recent months by his son Harry, who will however come to the coronation, but without his wife Meghan.

The king remains less popular than his mother, or son William, and arouses little enthusiasm among young people, according to polls. "It's hard to inspire when you're over 70, and you've been there for so long, with ups and downs," said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.