A Heir of pluralist personality & incomparable records: CHARLES, Prince of Wales AT 70
Charles, Prince of Wales, the elder son & first child of UK's Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, heir apparent to the British throne since 1952, turned 70 on Wednesday, November 14, 2018. His jubilee was celebrated throughout the country that day, and apart from an evening reception at Buckingham palace with foreign monarchs & royalty in attendance, festivities & commemorative events were held across the Commonwealth all over the year. In his seven decades, His Royal Highness is well known for his charitable contributions, and though his life was often marked by controversy, he achieved some remarkable records of longevity & tenure as Heir to the throne.
CELEBRATIONS:
The 'big day' was well noticed in entire Britain. London woke up festive that Wednesday morning, with bells at Westminster Abbey ringing out for hours. The King's Troop artillery fired 41-gun salutes at High Park, while Welsh Guards of honor played "Happy Birthday" outside Buckingham Palace, shared on Twitter with a message of thanks to the Prince for his support towards British Army. Birthday celebrations kiched off the previous night (Nov. 13), when the Prince of Wales & his wife (the Duchess of Cornwall) attended a comedy show at the London Palladium, organised concurrently with The Prince's Trust (a charity he leads for over 40 years). Meanwhile more other jubilee events, mini-parties and decorations were in row for about half-a-year both in the UK and other nations of the Commonwealth, with surprises, gifts & cake presentations - especially during His Royal Highness' extended official visits to many countries of Europe, Africa and Oceania (in 2018).
On the actual Jubilee day two major events took place.
First - a tea party at the Spencer House in London, with seventy people across the UK, who made special contributions in their communities, and also turned 70 that year (2018). It was organised by The Sun - a newspaper Charles enjoys - and its royal photographer, Arthur Evans. His Royal Highness and his wife reportedly enjoyed a good time chatting with the prince's coevals, with Prince Charles giving a short speech before the event begun and later receiving a birthday cake & balloon. Second - a royal banquet at Buckingham palace that evening, hosted by Her Majesty The Queen, and attended by the entire British royal family (except children), their close non-royal relatives, and monarchs, former monarchs, heirs & royals from Europe and beyond. They included: King Harald V & Queen Sonja of Norway with Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette-Marit (of Norway), former King Juan Carlos I & Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Irene of Greece, former Tsar Simeon II & Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria Princess (former Queen) Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Philippe & Queen Mathilde of The Belgians (/Belgium), Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, former Crown Prince Alexander & (titular) Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia, Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Albert II (Prince of Monaco), Queen Rania of Jordan, Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, etc...
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 97, arriving at his son's jubilee banquet
Queen Elizabeth II's toast at the official Buckingham Palace' banquet for her son, The Prince of Wales' Jubilee, 70th birthday
The banquet was private, while royal guests & family members were spotted arriving at the palace by cars. The Prince's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 92, paid a tribute to her son, describing him "a champion of conservation and the arts, a great charitable leader... dedicated & respected heir to the throne... and a wonderful father". She also called it a great priviledge for her & Prince Philip, 97, to see him turning 70 (as her mother also saw her), citing the sustainable role of his current wife Camilla, and in conclusion comparing him with "(in every respect) a duchy original".
Thousands messages of birthday wishes were sent for the Jubilee. Prince Charles thanked everybody through a short respond issued on the social media of Clarence House (his official residence), along with a photo of himself & Duchess Camilla (taken before their departure for the royal banquet). More new pictures of the Prince of Wales' family along with official portraits, stamp photos & paintings were released in the month leading up to his birthday - to complete the formal celebrations.
With his daughter-in-law & baby grandson
With his younger grandson, Prince Louis of Cambridge (b. 2018)
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS' LIFE & DEEDS:
Prince Charles Philip Arthur George was born on November 14, 1948 at Buckingham Palace. He was the first child of then Princess Elizabeth & Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; the first (maternal) grandchild of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth. He became heir to the British throne at the age of 3, when his grandfather died on 6 February 1952, and his mother succeeded as Queen Elizabeth II. He was then created Duke of Cornwall & Duke of Rothesay (in Scotland).
Portrait of the 1970s
Prince Charles attended the same primary schools with his father, the first british heir not to be educated at the palace. He also attended the Geelong Grammar school in VIctoria, Australia, for some time. Charles was appointed Prince of Wales in 1958, with his ceremonial investiture occuring on July 1, 1969. In 1970 Charles earned a Bachelor of Arts' degree from the University of Cambrigde - becoming the first UK' heir apparent to obtain a University degree - and served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.
He married Lady Diana Spencer (thence known as Diana, Princess of Wales) on July 29, 1981. Together they had two sons: Prince William (later Duke of Cambridge - b. 1982) & Prince Henry (known as Harry; later Duke of Sussex - b. 1984). From them Charles has currently 3 grandchildren (with another on-the-way). Following 15 years of unsustainable marriage and controversial extramarital affairs from both sides, the Prince & Princess of Wales divorsed in 1996 (having separated in 1992). The following year (1997), Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, which caused an enormous outpouring of public love & grief, and also severely damaged the royal family's positive image. Prince Charles secondly married his previous partner (from the 1970's) Camilla Parker-Bowles on April 9, 2005 in a civil wedding; she was created Duchess of Cornwall.
The Prince of Wales undertakes a large number of official engamements both inside the UK, and abroad in the other 15 Commonwealth Realms (countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand & Jamaica, that have Queen Elizabeth II as their monarch & head of state). Leading up to the recent years, when the Queen reduces her public duties due to her age, Prince Charles represents her in some events, comprised in her schedule for many years, like the official trips abroad, chairing of Commonwealth Heads' meeting, and laying the wreath at Cenotaph remembrance Sunday. In April last year (2018), during the Commonwealth Heads of government meeting in London, it was decided that Charles will be the nextHead of Commonwealth upon his accession to the throne (such like his mother succeeded his grandfather in this newly-created title), something the Queen had also backed.
CHARITIES & INTERESTS:
His Royal Highness is keen in his charitable work. He founded The Prince's Trust (which helps young people to find their way in life, mental health & career) in 1976, investing the pension he received from the Royal Navy. Currently, having extended in many branches across the world, it has helped ~870,000 young people to improve their lives & contribute their society. Furthermore, Prince Charles sponsors a number of charities in Britain, Canada & Australia (known as "The Prince's Charities"), related to young people, bysiness & environement. He is additionally a patron, president, or member of over 400 other charities or organisations. An enviromentalist, The Prince of Wales has raised awarness of issues like climate change and plastic pollution, promoting alternative methods, like organic farming, which earned him various awards & recognitions. He has also been involved in the fields of alternative medicine (eg homeopathy), architecture (supporting the urban-planning), gardening, and philosophy. A religious man, open-minded to all doctrines, Prince Charles has visited a lot of Orthodox monasteries (like Athos Mount in Greece) & churches of the Balkans (especially in Romania), having contributed to religious tolerance and diversity in places of serious armed conflicts (eg Syria). The Prince enjoys painting (especially with watercolours), sports, music (he played cello & sung in choir in his youth) and comedy. He has written, or co-authored numerous books.
CONTROVERSY & Jubilee Documentary:
However, like many other influential personalities of global attention, Charles has not escaped controversy. From his disastrous marriage breakdown with Princess Diana (particularly due to the extramarital affair with Camilla) to his views on homeopathy & New Classical architecture, and attempts to influence politicians in crucial decisions, he has been often outspoken and criticised either by the media, or individual specialists of each field he tried to dispute. More concretely his support of historical buildings conservation, and sceptic view on the use of architectural styles of modernism and functionalism, led a lot of current architects to oppose his conservation projects. Similarly, his rejection of more sustainable medical methods in favor of homeopathy brought some members of the medical community to further accusations. In addition, his involvement in national and international political decisions, through speaking out his mind, or even trying to influence British governments to change their policy through personal letters (the so-called "black-spider memos") brought out fierce criticism, satira and condemnation from various sources. And Although in an documentary interview for his 70th birthday (called Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70) he rejected the option of meddling in politics as future King (recognising the common sence difference of an individual and a figurehead), his non-diplomatic approach of various situation led even to the production of a future history film (King Charles III), presenting potential threats he can bring to the nation's stability as a sovereign. Finally, Charles was recently noted as one of the leaders of world's elite, keepingbenefitialmoneyoffshore - being included into Paradise papers and sparkling further controversy.
& RECORDS:
The Prince of Wales is currently the longest-serving Heir apparent in the world and the oldest next-generation (from the monarch) heir. He is also the oldest and longest-serving Heir apparent in British history, and the longest-ever titled Prince of Wales (having held this position for a record of 60 years). Should he succeed the throne or not, only time can see. But though his possible reign would be remarkably shorter than that of his mother's (the longest-ever in British history), his legacy and contributions from his current role (of each nature), will undoubtedly remain incomparable to anyone else before (and probably after) him in the millenial history of British monarchy.
Relevant videos:
More photos of Royal guests, spotted arriving on the Jubilee banquet at Buckingham Palace:
King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
former Tsar Simeon II (Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) & titular "Tsaritsa" Margarita of Bulgaria
former King Juan Carlos I of Spain
Princess Beatrix, former Queen of The Netherlands
former Queen Sofia of Spain & her sister, Princess Irene of Greece & Denmark
King Philippe & Queen Mathilde of The Belgians
Queen Rania of Jordan
former Crown Prince Alexander & titular 'Crown Princess' Katherine of Yugoslavia
Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
Crown Prince Salman (bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa) of Bahrain
Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg
Albert II, (Sovereign) Prince of Monaco
Padmanabh Singh, pretender to the throne of Maharaja of Jaipur (in India) with his grandmother, titular Queen Mother Padmini Devi
Prince Nikolaos & Princess Tatiana of Greece & Denmark
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