His Majesty The King
The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, was safely delivered of a Prince at 9.14 p.m. today. Her Royal Highness and her son are doing well.
Announcement of The King’s birth, 14 November 1948
Christening family portrait featuring King George VI (left); Queen Elizabeth (right); their daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II; centre) and son-in-law Prince Philip (behind).
The King was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather King George VI on 14 November 1946. He is the first child, and eldest son, of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
His Majesty’s christening took place in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury with water from the River Jordan in the silver gilt Lily Font.
The King’s infancy was largely spent at Clarence House, where the three-strong family moved in in 1949. His Majesty’s nursery was overseen by Helen Lightbody - who was an experienced Scottish nanny - and Mabel Anderson, her assistant.
The late Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were absent for extended periods of time during His Majesty’s infancy, with his father - Prince Philip - serving as First Lieutenant (second in command) of HMS Chequers in the Mediterranian Fleet.
A Princess is born
On 15 August 1950 The Princess Royal was born, christened Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise.
The siblings are said to have become playmates, with The King being referred to as “thoughtful, shy and sensitive” and The Princess “high-spirited.”
Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II at the City of London’s Royal Exchange, 1952.
King George VI died on 6 February 1952, aged just 56. His 25-year-old daughter became Queen Elizabeth II and Charles, aged just three years old, was heir apparent.
On the accession of his mother, The King acquired six new hereditary titles: Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
A Queen is crowned
On 2 June 1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place at Westminster Abbey. The King, aged just four, was deemed old enough to attend the solemnity and received a special hand-painted invitation.
His Majesty was seated in the royal gallery between The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. He is said to have been absorbed by the ritual, often turning to his grandmother to ask questions.
A new way of life.
Queen Elizabeth II in uniform as Colonel Chief of the Grenadier Guards, with Prince Charles, Princess Anne and The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, in London, June, 1953.
On her accession to the throne, the new Queen and her family moved into Buckingham Palace. Shortly before The King turned five, the Palace’s nursery was converted into a classroom where he was taught by governess Catherine Peebles.
It is said that His Majesty worked hard and was responsive to kindness, but he did not show any of the intellectual curiosity that would define his adulthood.
Shortly after his eighth birthday, it was deemed that The King would benefit from the company of other children and so started at Hill House School in Knightsbridge.
He is said to have settled quietly into life as a schoolboy, being the first heir to the throne to attend school beyond the confines of palace walls. His Majesty showed an aptitude for several subjects, including art; his school report the following year recorded that he ‘simply loves drawing and painting’.
Boarding school
In September 1957, The King became a boarder at Cheam School in Hampshire. The late Prince Philip had attended the same school at the same age and thought that it would help him develop his own resilient character.
He became terribly homesick and found it difficult to make friends. His Majesty had been taught to box and could defend himself in a tussle - but as a result of such behaviour he was beaten by the headmaster.
“I am one of those people for whom corporal punishment actually worked. I didn’t do it again.”
— His Majesty The King
School For Prince Charles (1962) Credit: British Pathé
The late Prince Philip also chose His Majesty’s secondary school: Gordounstoun, located on the Morayshire coast in an isolated part of north-east Scotland. The school had a 17th-century building at its centre, with prefabricated wooden huts - previously used as RAF barracks - for accommodation.
The boys would rise at 7.15 am with a run and a cold shower before breakfast. The King participated in all activities without complaint but found solace in classical music and pottery classes. His Majesty also acted in several Shakespeare plays, including as the Duke of Exeter in Henry V and the lead in Macbeth.
Timbertop, Australia
One of The King’s more formative experiences was during his latter school years when he spent two terms at Timbertop in a remote part of Victoria, Australia. His Majesty felt liberated by the informality of a country where he was not judged by his royal heritage.
He embraced the physical challenges with enthusiasm, undertaking cross-country expeditions of up to seventy miles in three days of relentless heat. The King returned to Gordonstoun for his final year in July 1967 with a greater steeliness and strength of purpose.
The King as a young university student (Picture: Central Press/Getty Images)
In 1967, The King became the first heir to the throne to be enrolled for a University degree. His Majesty had taken a keen interest in anthropology, stimulated by his visit to Papua New Guinea whilst at Timbertop. He rejected a specially crafted course set for the heir to the throne for Anthropology and Archaeology.
The King’s living quarters included accommodation for his detective and equerry.
“If more people can be assisted to appreciate and understand their own social behaviour, the better and more healthier our society will be”
— His Majesty The King, on how studying Anthropology would prepare him for kingship.
His Majesty also took a keen interest in religion whilst at University, which is said to have been influenced by the Dean of the Chapel at Trinity. Reverend Harry Williams introduced The King to the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud and had regular, deep theological discussions with him. Of his “grace and humility”, Reverend Williams praised The King and said he had a “burning desire to help other people.”
Graduation
The Master of Trinity College Richard Butler reported that The King wrote “useful and thoughtful essays” and that “he is interested in discussions between the people we study and ourselves.”
His Majesty graduated on 23 June 1970.
Prince of Wales.
We do ennoble and invest with the said Principality and Earldom by girting him with a sword and placing a Coronet on his head
Letters Patent creating Charles, Prince of Wales, 1969
The King wearing the Coronet of The Prince of Wales, arrayed in an ermine cape, and holding the mantle.
On 1 July 1969, The King was invested by the late Queen Elizabeth as Prince of Wales at the medieval Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. His Majesty enrolled for a nine-week term before the investiture at the University College of Wales, which exposed him to the Principality’s language, history, culture and traditions.
His Majesty carried off the entire event with great composure, including speeches made in both English and Welsh.
Following His Majesty’s investiture as Prince of Wales, he embarked on a four-day-long royal tour of the entire length of the country and was deeply touched by the support he received from ordinary Welsh people wherever he went.
“The demands on a Prince of Wales have altered, but I am determined to serve and to try as best I can to live up to those demands, whatever they might be in the rather uncertain future.”
“I have never forgotten the masses of people all the way for three days. I have never forgotten it.”
— His Majesty The King speaking about his tour of Wales following his investiture.
Military Service.
The King flew The Chipmunk T.10 (WP903) during his training at RAF Cranwell.
In 1971, The King - then Prince of Wales - started his military career at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Training usually applied over the course of one year was compressed into just five months, and His Majesty received his wings on 20 August of the same year.
“In Britain, The King is an air force pilot and in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.”
Naval career
The King commenced training at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth the following month. His Majesty’s training was again condensed from three months to just six weeks. On 5 November 1971, he joined HMS Norfolk, a destroyer, and spent seven months at sea living in a small cabin. From May until December 1972, His Majesty studied on land at various naval schools before setting off in January 1973 aboard HMS Minerva, a smaller destroyer, as a naval officer.
The King’s third naval tour took him to Singapore, where he served as HMS Jupiter’s communications officer. His Majesty was charged with 15 non-commissioned officers.
“It is vital that those of us who find ourselves in this extraordinary position understand something of what our armed forces are expected to do. It is much easier then to look them in the eye”
— His Majesty The King
The King - then Prince of Wales - was granted permission to train as a helicopter pilot, and qualified in December 1974. His Majesty then left England for HMS Hermes, an aircraft carrier, the following March.
“I like flying low. It’s more stimulating and there is that superb mixture between fear and supreme enjoyment which comes over me. That marvellous panic where you do not know quite where you are, but you have to sort it out for yourself.”
His Majesty The King - then Prince of Wales - aboard HMS Bronington.
The King’s final tour in the Royal Navy was the command of a coastal minesweeper, HMS Bronington, commencing in February 1976. When His Majesty left the Royal Navy in December of the same year, he had achieved an ‘excellent level of professional competence.
“He was a good leader, really good at understanding that it’s not about ‘top-down and telling’, but listening, helping people to be the strongest they can.”
“Although I cannot forget who I am, I never believed for one minute that I should use who I was to get my way… I believe the only way you can do anything is through respect people have for you as a person.”
— His Majesty The King