[b] Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and became heir apparent when his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952.

[21] Though Charles reportedly described Gordonstoun, noted for its especially rigorous curriculum, as "Colditz in kilts",[17] he later praised the school, stating it had taught him "a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities".

[50] Charles's great-uncle Lord Mountbatten advised him to "sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down", but, for a wife, he "should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for ...

Both fathers, however, objected; Prince Philip feared that his famous uncle[h] would eclipse Charles, while Lord Brabourne warned that a joint visit would concentrate media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple.

While Charles and Diana were sitting together on a bale of hay at a friend's barbecue in July, she mentioned that he had looked forlorn and in need of care at the funeral of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten.

Early the following year, the British press published transcripts of a passionate, bugged telephone conversation between Charles and Parker Bowles that had taken place in 1989, which was dubbed "Camillagate" and "Tampongate".

In an interview in the film, Charles confirmed his own extramarital affair with Parker Bowles, saying that he had rekindled their association in 1986, only after his marriage to Diana had "irretrievably broken down".

[101] In 1983, Christopher John Lewis, who had fired a shot with a .22 rifle at the Queen in 1981, attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital in order to assassinate Charles, who was visiting New Zealand with Diana and William.

[121] He was invited by Prime Minister Mia Mottley as the future Head of the Commonwealth;[122] it was the first time that a member of the royal family attended the transition of a realm to a republic.

[126] Charles gave his first speech to the nation at 6 pm on 9 September, in which he paid tribute to his mother and announced the appointment of his elder son, William, as Prince of Wales.

Other realms signed and read their own proclamations, as did Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, the Crown Dependencies, Canadian provinces, and Australian states.

[132][133] Reports before his accession suggested that Charles's coronation would be simpler than his mother's in 1953,[134] with the ceremony expected to be "shorter, smaller, less expensive, and more representative of different faiths and community groups – falling in line with the King's wish to reflect the ethnic diversity of modern Britain".

[137] In July 2023, Charles asked for the profits from Britain's growing fleet of offshore windfarms to be used for the "wider public good" rather than as extra funding for the monarchy.

[138][139] In November 2022, the King and Queen hosted the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, during the first official state visit to Britain of Charles III's reign.

[170] Charles uses his tours of Canada as a way to help draw attention to youth, the disabled, the environment, the arts, medicine, the elderly, heritage conservation, and education.

[177] In February 2022, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the cash-for-honours allegations linked to the foundation,[178] passing their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service for deliberation in October.

[187] From young adulthood, Charles encouraged the understanding of Indigenous voices, saying they held crucial messages about preservation of the land, respecting community and shared values, resolving conflict, and recognising and making good on past iniquities.

[195] The reaction was largely supportive of Charles, with little criticism of him;[196] the press variously described the memos as "underwhelming"[197] and "harmless",[198] and concluded that their release had "backfired on those who seek to belittle him".

"[205] In a speech given for the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects in May 1984, he described a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved friend" and deplored the "glass stumps and concrete towers" of modern architecture.

The village of Poundbury was built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall to a master plan by Léon Krier, under the guidance of Charles and in line with his philosophy.

[236] Charles delivered a speech at the 2021 G20 Rome summit, describing COP26 as "the last chance saloon" for preventing climate change and asking for actions that would lead to a green-led, sustainable economy.

[237] In his speech at the opening ceremony for COP26, he repeated his sentiments from the previous year, stating that "a vast military-style campaign" was needed "to marshal the strength of the global private sector" for tackling climate change.

[244] Similarly, the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH) attracted opposition from the scientific and medical community over its campaign encouraging general practitioners to offer herbal and other alternative treatments to NHS patients.

That year, Ernst published a book with Simon Singh called Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial and mockingly dedicated to "HRH the Prince of Wales".

[249] Charles's Duchy Originals produced a variety of complementary medicinal products, including a "Detox Tincture" that Ernst denounced as "financially exploiting the vulnerable" and "outright quackery".

[268] Charles is Honorary President of the Royal Academy of Arts Development Trust[270] and, in 2015, 2022, and 2023, commissioned paintings of 12 D-Day veterans, seven Holocaust survivors, and ten members of the Windrush generation, respectively, which went on display at the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace.

[307] Charles, "so often a target of the press, got his chance to return fire" in 2002, when addressing "scores of editors, publishers, and other media executives" gathered at St Bride's Fleet Street to celebrate 300 years of journalism.

[309][92] Charles and Camilla were named in 2011 as individuals whose confidential information was reportedly targeted or actually acquired in conjunction with the news media phone hacking scandal.

[318][319] As Prince of Wales, Charles's primary source of income was generated from the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns 133,658 acres of land (around 54,090 hectares), including farming, residential, and commercial properties, as well as an investment portfolio.

[321] The Duchy is named in the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment that were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.