When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, Prince Charles became the King of England. The coronation took place on May 6, 2023, with the royal officially being crowned as King Charles III, alongside his wife Queen Camilla.
Having been born into the royal family, Charles has always anticipated his future role as the monarch of the United Kingdom, and he’s had plenty of time to consider what sort of king he’d be. In an interview with ITV, Charles explained, “I’m not that stupid. I do realize that it is a separate exercise being sovereign.” He continued, “So, of course, I understand entirely how that should operate.”
As well as struggling with his place in history as an important member of the British royal family, Charles has faced a slew of scandals and difficult situations throughout his life. From personal tragedies to familial difficulties and negative public perceptions, King Charles III has had much to contend with. Here are some of the most tragic details about King Charles III.
Being the heir to the British throne was ‘ghastly’
As the oldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, King Charles III immediately became heir to the British throne upon his birth on November 14, 1948. While many will presume that being born into the royal family would be an immense privilege, Charles dealt with huge expectations from the outset, and the presumption that he would one day become king loomed large.
In an article published in June 1969, Charles discussed the how he felt about his future role as the King of England, saying, via Time, “I think it’s something that dawns on you with the most ghastly, inexorable sense.” He continued, “I didn’t suddenly wake up in my pram one day and say ‘Yippee,’ you know.” He also revealed that he’d dreamt of having a number of rather normal occupations when he was a child, from being a train engine driver to becoming a sailor. “When I started shooting, I thought how marvelous it would be to be a big-game hunter,” he explained. “I went from one thing to the other until I realized I was rather stuck.”
Regardless of what King Charles actually wanted to be when he grew up, his fate was set from the day he was born. Bound by duty, Charles likely reckoned with the idea of becoming the monarch throughout his life, which can’t have been easy.
As well as worrying about what his future would look like as the King of England, a young Prince Charles also allegedly faced challenges in his relationships with both of his parents. Per The New Yorker, Charles’ parents, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, apparently worried that their son wouldn’t make a suitable king, particularly as he was often ill as a child, particularly as he suffered with sinus infections. Prince Philip allegedly considered Charles to be too emotional and weak, and no good at team sports, which led to the young prince being sent away to boarding school in Scotland when he was just eight-years-old.
Charles’ biographer Jonathan Dimbleby later spoke about the future king’s relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, and the idea that Prince Philip would bully Charles when he was a young boy. “Observing friends were also frustrated by the failure of the child’s mother to intervene by protective word or gesture,” Dimbleby explained, via Vanity Fair. “She was not indifferent so much as detached, deciding that in domestic matters she would submit entirely to the father’s will.” While Dimbleby noted that parenting was very different when Charles was growing up, it’s hard not to wonder if he struggled during his childhood, particularly when it came to maintaining familial relationships.
Being sent to boarding school at Gordonstoun in Scotland when he was just eight-years-old must have been quite traumatic for a young King Charles III. Per The New Yorker, not only was Charles a long way away from home, he also failed to mesh well with the other students and found himself getting bullied. As well as being physically beaten up, Charles’ bullies reportedly targeted anyone who tried to befriend the prince, according to The New Yorker. This difficult existence was only improved slightly on account of his status as a member of the royal family, meaning that he was allowed to leave the campus at the weekend to stay with family friends, the outlet recounted.
According to Sky News, Charles detailed his dislike of Gordonstoun in a letter to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. “I hardly get any sleep in the house because I snore and I get hit on the head all the time,” he reportedly wrote. “It’s absolute hell.” He also apparently compared the boarding school to a prisoner of war camp at one point, per Sky News, proving that he was incredibly unhappy throughout his time there.
Lord Mountbatten was closely linked to the British royal family as he was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, Prince Philip’s uncle, and a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, via Town & Country. As a result, he developed a close relationship with a young King Charles III, and he reportedly became known as “Uncle Dickie” to members of the royal family, per The New York Times. “I admire him almost more than anybody else I know,” Charles would say of Lord Mountbatten, via The New York Times.
Tragically, Lord Mountbatten was killed during a bomb explosion while sailing in Ireland on August 27, 1979, via History. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility for the assassination, which was allegedly part of an attempt to make British forces leave Northern Ireland, according to History. The devastating loss apparently hit Charles incredibly hard, with the king saying in 2015, via Tatler, “I could not imagine how we would come to terms with the anguish of such a deep loss since, for me, Lord Mountbatten represented the grandfather I never had.”
According to the Express, King Charles III also detailed his immense grief in his diary, discussing his feelings regarding Lord Mountbatten’s death, writing, “Agony, disbelief, a kind of wretched numbness. Life will never be the same now that he’s gone.”
King Charles III married Princess Diana on July 29, 1981. According to the BBC, the regal event was televised around the globe and watched by 750 million people in 74 countries. At the time of their nuptials, Charles was 32-years-old while Diana was just 20. Having first met when she was 16-years-old, Diana reconnected with Charles after turning 19, and according to Harper’s Bazaar, the pair only met in person on 13 occasions before they got engaged.
While the wedding seemed like a fairytale to outsiders, the truth was very different. In his book “Charles At Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes And Dreams,”biographer Robert Jobson asserted that Charles hadn’t wanted to marry Diana Spencer as the wedding approached. “I desperately wanted to get out of the wedding in 1981, when during the engagement I discovered just how awful the prospects were having had no chance whatsoever to get to know Diana beforehand,” the future king reported told Jobson, via Oprah Daily.
Sadly, Charles wasn’t exactly discreet about his doubts, either. During an interview to announce their engagement in 1981, Charles and Diana were famously asked if they were in love. While Diana responded, “Of course,” Charles told the interviewer, “Whatever in love means.” However, the fact that Diana was from an aristocratic family and was considered a suitable candidate to one day become queen likely meant that Charles felt duty bound to go through with the wedding.
On December 9, 1992, the British Prime Minister John Major announced that Princess Diana and King Charles III, then Prince Charles, had separated. In June 1994, the world was shocked when Charles admitted that he’d committed adultery while married to Diana, via The New York Times. In a televised documentary, Charles was interviewed by journalist Jonathan Dimbleby, who asked the royal if he’d remained faithful to his wife throughout their marriage.
“Yes … Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried,” he explained. Diana, too, admitted to adultery, confirming that she’d had an affair with Major James Hewitt during her interview with BBC’s “Panorama,” via Oprah Daily. “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” she famously told interviewer Martin Bashir, in reference to Camilla Parker Bowles’ ongoing relationship with Charles, via Oprah Daily.
After a period of tumult, the queen urged Charles and Diana to divorce one another in 1995. Buckingham Palace released a statement, saying (via the BBC), “After considering the present situation the Queen wrote to both the prince and princess earlier this week and gave them her view, supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, that an early divorce is desirable.” The couple’s divorce was finalized in August 1996, and per The New York Times, Diana received a financial settlement of approximately $22.5 million, but lost her right to use the title Her Royal Highness.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was a beloved member of the British royal family right up until her death on March 30, 2022. As the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother was King Charles III’s grandmother, and the pair apparently had a very special relationship. Importantly, it would seem that the Queen Mother was a source of comfort for Charles when his relationships with his parents were less than ideal.
In April 2002, Charles paid tribute to the Queen Mother in a speech, via The Guardian. “For me, she meant everything and I had dreaded, dreaded this moment along with, I know, countless others,” he explained. “Somehow, I never thought it would come … She seemed gloriously unstoppable and, since I was a child, I adored her.” While Charles allegedly often found his parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, distant or harsh, the Queen Mother was a source of joy for the young prince. “Her houses were always filled with an atmosphere of fun, laughter and affection, and I learnt so much from her of immense value to my life,” he explained in his speech. Understandably, the Queen Mother’s death was devastating for Charles, as he lost one of his most crucial familial connections.
As well as admitting to having committed adultery during his marriage to Princess Diana, King Charles III found himself in the spotlight once again when an X-rated phone call was leaked to the press. Per the Mirror, the racy conversation between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, now known as Queen Camilla, was recorded in 1989, when the prince was still married to Diana. It wasn’t until January 1993 that the transcript was published by British tabloid The People, leading to much embarrassment for the royal family.
The phone conversation between Charles and Camilla seemingly confirmed that they’d remained close, despite being married to other people. Their discussion was also infused with sexual allusions, seeming to make it clear that they had continued to be sexually intimate with one another. In one particularly horrifying excerpt, Charles said (via the Mirror), “Oh, God. I’ll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!” In response, Camilla could be heard saying, “What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers?” Charles then replied, “Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!” Later in the conversation, they repeatedly declared their love for one another, with Camilla telling Charles, “I do love you and I’m so proud of you.”
Tragically, Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France. At the time, Diana was traveling with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, a bodyguard, and a driver, and their car was being chased by paparazzi. It was later revealed that the car’s driver, Henri Paul, had consumed more than the legal level of alcohol, and none of the passengers were wearing seatbelts, besides bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones,who was the only survivor of the crash. Diana was transported to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, where she was treated for her serious injuries, but she died hours after the accident.
Per E! News, King Charles III was at the Balmoral estate in Scotland with his son, Prince William and Prince Harry, when he was given the news about Diana’s death. Author Tina Brown discussed Charles’ reaction to the devastating news during the 2017 TV documentary “Diana: 7 Days That Shook the Windsors.” “He was absolutely distraught,” Brown explained. “He fell apart.” She continued, “He knew, instantly, that this was going to be a terrible thing, that … he will be blamed, that they will be blamed, for the death of Diana.” In a mark of respect, Charles traveled to Paris to bring Diana’s body back to the United Kingdom, along with Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, via Town & Country.
Before he married Princess Diana, King Charles III was enamored with someone else. A younger Prince Charles reportedly met Camilla Shand at a polo match around 1970, and the pair bonded over their love of the sport and their similar sense of humor, per Town & Country. However, their romance was cut short when Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy and Camilla married her ex-boyfriend, Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she went on to have two children. Sadly, it would seem that Charles and Camilla never really got over one another, and they remained close friends throughout their marriages. Per Town & Country, the pair rekindled their physical relationship in 1986, cheating on both of their respective spouses for a number of years.
As a result, Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, apparently wasn’t much of a fan of Camilla. In an article for the Daily Mail, royal expert Tom Bower revealed that Charles decided to confront his mother and ask her to be nicer to Camilla. According to Bower, the conversation didn’t go well, with the queen allegedly blaming Camilla for the breakdown of Charles’ marriage to Diana. Having allegedly drunk several martinis, the queen reportedly called Camilla “that wicked woman,” showing how intense her disdain was for Charles’ partner. The queen also apparently asserted, “I want nothing to do with her,” via the Daily Mail. Basically, Charles’ romance with Camilla was an uphill battle from the start.
King Charles III’ father Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021. Charles paid tribute to his father the following day in a video posted to the Clarence House X (formerly known as Twitter) account. “My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that,” Charles said. “It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.” A funeral followed on April 17, 2021, and a then-Prince Charles solemnly led the funeral procession alongside his sister Princess Anne.
The following year, Charles had to say goodbye to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, when she died on September 8, 2021. Charles released a statement regarding his mother’s death, saying (via the BBC), “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother.” He continued, “I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.” After facing the losses of both of his parents, Charles took on his mother’s former role as the monarch of the United Kingdom. Having to take on such a huge responsibility while experiencing a period of intense grief must have been very difficult for Charles.
Throughout his life, King Charles III has faced criticism from members of the press and the general public. As reported by The New Yorker in 2017, Charles had been referred to in the press by a number of insulting monikers, including the words “prat,” “twit,” and “idiot.” The publication also quoted a columnist who had recently disparaged the then-Prince Charles by suggesting that the royal gave up his place in line to the British throne in favor of his son, Prince William.
In September 2023, Newsweek reported on a YouGov survey that revealed fifty-two percent of 18-24-year-olds disapproved of Charles, with only twenty-eight perfect viewing him positively. Meanwhile, NBC News mused that of all the reasons to argue against the monarchy, Charles was the most prominent. The article also pointed to the Sovereign Grant, the annual funding received by the royal family and paid for by British taxpayers, which amounted to £86.3 million in 2023 (approximately $107.5 million), via Statista, as another reason to abolish the monarchy, along with the fact that Charles has been known to place his money in offshore tax havens. As a public figure, Charles’ life has been under the microscope since birth, and onlookers continue to question his choices, opinions, and lifestyle.
Prince Harry released his memoir “Spare” on January 10, 2023,in which the royal made a multitude of revelations and allegations about the royal family. Sadly, since stepping back as a senior member of the royal family and moving to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, Harry has found himself somewhat estranged from his father, King Charles III.
According to the Mirror, Charles was particularly upset that his son would discuss personal family business with the general public, and release details of their private lives to the press. Meanwhile, royal expert Robert Jobson alleged in his book “Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed” (via Page Six) that Charles and Harry fell out over money. “Charles stopped taking the calls, however, after his son had sworn at him and repeatedly asked for funds in their tense calls,” Jobson alleged. “When the Queen asked him why, Charles told her that he was not a bank.”
To make matters worse, Harry wasn’t invited to King Charles III’s 75th birthday party, suggesting that there is still a rift between the pair, via People. Whether or not Charles and Harry can repair their relationship remains to be seen.
