Thomas of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands

Thomas
Duke of Hanover Grand Duke Emeritus of the Luxembourgers Prince of the Netherlands
King of the British and of the People of his other Realms Canada 1997-2017 Australia 1997-2017 New Zealand 1997-2017 Jamaica 1997-2017 Barbados 1997-2017 The Bahamas 1997-2017 Grenada 1997-2017 Papua New Guinea 1997-2017 Solomon Islands 1997-2017 Tuvalu 1997-2017 St. Lucia 1997-2017 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1997-2017 Belize 1997-2017 Antigua and Barbuda 1997-2017 St. Kitts and Nevis 1997-2017 Puerto Rico 1997-2017
Reign	15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017
Coronation	20 March 1997
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Alexandra
Prime Ministers	See list John Major Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron
King of the Dutch Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
Reign	15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017
Inauguration	1 January 1998
Predecessor	Charles III
Successor	Alexandra
Born	(1953-12-17) 17 December 1953 Balmoral Castle, Scotland
Spouse	Christy Turlington (m. 1995)
Issue	William Smith Jacqueline Smith Queen Alexandra Prince Richard Princess Nicole Princess Elle Princess Vivian
Full name Thomas Frederick Francis Albert Charles
House	Amsterdam-Windsor (until 2007) Hanover (from 2007)
Father	Charles III
Mother	Lauren Bacall
Religion	Protestant
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1979-1997 (active service)
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Battles/wars	The Troubles Falklands War Multinational Force in Lebanon Gulf War

Thomas (English: Thomas William Frederick Francis Albert Charles; German: Thomas Wilhelm Friedrich Franz Albrecht Carl; Dutch: Thomas Willem Frederik Frans Albert Karel; born 17 December 1953) was King of the British, King of the Dutch, and Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers from 15 January 1997 to 13 October 2017.

A decorated Royal Navy officer in his youth, Thomas initially served in the country's naval forces for an almost two-decades-long period during which he saw involvement in several notable conflicts, namely the Falklands War, The Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland, and the Gulf War in which a US-led coalition successfully repelled Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein from neighbouring Kuwait. Besides this, Thomas also enjoyed a roughly two-decades-long successful career as a "charming" and "suave" Hollywood action star, having starred in several critically acclaimed films including Saving Private Ryan, Top Gun, The Hunt for Red October, The Last Tycoon, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Three Days of the Condor, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Marathon Man, Excalibur, and A Few Good Men. Over the course of his career, he won the Academy Awards five times, the BAFTA Film Awards four times, and the Golden Globe Awards thrice.

In January 1997, Thomas ascended to the throne upon his father's abdication. In his early years, he came to acquire a reputation as a vocal figure for reform in the United Kingdom with his most notable success in that regard being the passage of the Succession to the Crown Act 1995 which lifted restrictions on marriages to Roman Catholics, instituted absolute primogeniture, and abolished the requirement for the first six persons in line to the throne to seek the monarch's permission to marry. In addition, Thomas was also somewhat of a fierce critic of the controversial Iraq War, a conflict he privately opposed, and was a leading figure behind the creation of the United Kingdom Supreme Court which assumed judicial functions previously undertaken by the House of Lords. In October 2017, following a health crisis in the final year of his reign, an ageing Thomas ultimately abdicated the throne in favour of his daughter who subsequently ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra, while otherwise styling himself as Duke of Hanover, as well as being given the title Grand Duke Emeritus in Luxembourg. Following his abdication, the Duke has since come to devote himself to both philanthropic and entrepreneurial causes.

In his youth, Thomas was initially romantically involved with the American actress Jaclyn Smith, with whom he had two children William and Jacqueline, with the former later becoming one of the world's most successful footballers of all time while the latter became a highly-regarded figure in the media industry. In December 1995, he married the American supermodel Christy Turlington, with whom he had five children including the reigning Queen Alexandra.

As one of the major shareholders of the multi-billion dollar holding company Atlantic Connection, Thomas is estimated to be worth around $24.2 billion, making him one of the richest monarchs in the world.

Early Life

Thomas was born on 17 December 1953 to the then Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren, Princess of Wales, formerly known as Lauren Bacall, during the reign of his grandfather, King Frederick. His godparents, in a manner previously unknown to that of his predecessors, consisted of both British and American nationals, whilst also including both members of royalty and non-royalty, such as his great-uncle and aunt, Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden, then-British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, then-New York governor and his namesake Thomas E. Dewey, and American Hollywood figures, actor Frank Sinatra, and actress Katharine Hepburn.

Christened Thomas William Frederick Francis Albert Charles upon his birth, his given name was derived from the Republican politician and New York governor Thomas E. Dewey, a two-time presidential nominee and who is both his godfather and a close friend of his father's. On the other hand, his middle names were reportedly chosen in honour of his maternal grandfather William Perske, the American singer Frank Sinatra, and his own father himself.

Heir Apparent

Soon after his birth, Thomas, being his father's heir apparent to the throne was immediately made Duke of Cornwall, which lasted until January 1st the following year, when he was then formally Prince of the Welsh by his father's behest. Notably, Thomas became the first heir apparent in British history to have ever used the princely title's much older styling, as his predecessors have all used the more common styling of Prince of Wales as opposed to Prince of the Welsh.

Mirroring that of his own father's upbringing, Thomas' upbringing in Buckingham Palace was reportedly said to have been somewhat restrictive in the early years, as a consequence of fringe rumours espousing harmful plots targeting the royal family. Nevertheless, the prince was able to benefit from both of his parents' more modern and liberal parenting styles, with his father in particular emphasising qualities of "individuality, self-dependent, and survivability" in the young prince, while his mother generally added onto the efforts of Thomas' father in "liberalising" the young heir to the throne.

The American Prince

As his parents had previously been involved in the Hollywood industry as actors themselves, Thomas also grew up with a firm passion for American movies and films, an interest helped by his parents' convenient associations with various Hollywood celebrities. At the same time, he also became fond of locally-made British films as well, with the famed English actress Audrey Hepburn, being a personal favourite and later a close friend of his.

Owing to his parents' close association with the American actress Katharine Hepburn who had consistently been a close friend of the royal couple and also the prince's own godmother, Thomas would also occasionally spend some time living under the actress's care at her family residence in Fenwick, Connecticut. Later on, in his memoirs, Thomas himself described his time of living in Hepburn's family home as a "wholly wild and fascinating experience". He also generally described the actress in a wholly positive light, having written in one instance, "While there were some minor, and understandable blunders from her, I could feel that we generally appreciated and cared for one another". Moreover, when living at the actress's Connecticut family home, Thomas was said to have generally fancied "dipping his toes every morning on the shores of the cold water", whilst also having much interest in sports such as golf and tennis, an interest made convenient with the presence of nearby golf courses and alike.

Interestingly, the supposed state of their "mother and son" relationship proved quick to gain a sizable degree of notoriety among the local community, so much so that Thomas was initially mistaken to be an alleged secret lovechild between Hepburn and her known romantic partner at the time, namely the actor Spencer Tracy, although these were quickly refuted by Hepburn's own family members who were already aware of the royal family's connections to the actress. Nevertheless, when the two were mostly apart, both Thomas and Hepburn maintained their lifelong friendship through the extensive use of telephones, and to a certain extent, an exchange of gifts, particularly during Christmas or during their own respective birthday celebrations. In later years, Thomas himself would often refer to Hepburn as "my mother on the other side of the pond" and sometimes as "my great Aunt Kate".

Moreover, while pursuing his university studies in the United States, Thomas himself largely lived together with the actress who essentially acted as the prince's de facto guardian overseeing his welfare and security while the latter was preoccupied with his academic studies, with Thomas himself having enrolled at the prestigious Yale University under the alias George White. Eventually, in 1975, Thomas graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in international relations, making him the first royal to ever earn an academic degree. Since then, one former educator of his at the university later recounted Thomas as a "bright and energetic young student always on the verge of asking important questions whenever possible". Similarly, a former friend of Thomas' at the university described the royal as a "very unassuming, talkative, and intelligent young man".

Military Career

In 1979, Thomas attended the Britannia Royal Navy College in Dartmouth, after which he was subsequently commissioned as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. However, with the exception of a few months or so, during which he played a largely minor role in The Troubles conflict in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, the prince would largely see minimal combat throughout most of his career in the Royal Navy. At the same time, in benefiting from the fact that he was less likely in general to ever see active combat, the prince, who in his capacity as a Royal Navy officer opted to otherwise embark on a long naval trip aboard, which he later did so onboard the Royal Navy flagship HMS Lauren, thereby allowing him to personally visit a number of countries located east of the European continent, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Australia, and Japan.

Eventually, in 1982, with the onset of the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, an opportunity for the prince to see his first active combat in the years since he was commissioned in the Royal Navy finally came about. However, the controversial decision to have Thomas on board the British task force sent to the Falkland Islands was initially met with considerable opposition by both the prince's father, King Charles III and then-Prime Minister Edward Heath, both of whom were said to have opposed the prince's involvement in the conflict out of the need to protect the heir to the British throne. However, after a brief, but overall contentious argument between Thomas himself and the prime minister, it was ultimately decided that the prince would be allowed to set sail on board the task force headed for the Falkland Islands, in exchange for the prince agreeing to be under strict supervision by a fellow Royal Navy officer who in a later interview claimed that the prime minister ordered him to "protect the prince at all costs" and "have him be the first to be evacuated in case the ship sinks by enemy fire". Regardless of this, with the conclusion of the war, Thomas was subsequently granted his first promotion as an officer in the Royal Navy, having been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Then, he subsequently joined an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which earned him another promotion, this time to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

From 1990 to 1991, Thomas would see his final active combat experience as a Royal Navy officer, when he was deployed to the Middle East as part of an international coalition force, which in the span of a few months, managed to successfully push Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein out of neighbouring Kuwait. For his actions during the conflict, he was promoted to the rank of Commodore. Later on, shortly after his ascension to the throne, he promptly resigned his commission in the Royal Navy, although he was nonetheless made an Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom as the ceremonial head of the Royal Navy itself.

Acting Career

Having been exposed to the acting industry from an early age by his parents, both of whom were former actors, and also by the influential and successful American actress Katharine Hepburn, in preparation for adulthood, Thomas took up private acting lessons with the eventual hope of becoming a successful actor in his own right with his early inspirations and idols being Cary Grant, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, and Gary Cooper. Meanwhile, in order to hone his acting skills, Thomas went to the recently established Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, United States where he was taught in method acting in which actors seek to bring out expressive performances by connecting with their characters' emotions and purposes in a story. Meanwhile, it was also during this period that, in order to conceal his true identity, he adopted the alias of "Charles Lawrence" in which the given name refers to his own father while the surname refers to British actor Laurence Olivier who is highly regarded by Thomas as one of the most talented British actors alive.

In 1975, at twenty-two, Thomas made his acting debut in the political thriller Three Days of the Condor, starring as Joseph "Joe" Turner, a bookish CIA analyst, opposite Faye Dunaway. Portraying a character set on finding an assassin who had murdered his co-workers, his portrayal of the role was met with critical acclaim as the film itself proved to be a massive commercial success in its own right. Rightfully so, at the ensuing 48th Academy Awards, his aforementioned role won Thomas his first award for Best Actor, beating out the likes of more established stars including Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. Encouraged by this immediate success, Thomas then starred in The Last Tycoon, which also included his recent opponent Jack Nicholson, but the film itself proved rather disappointing among critics, thereby presenting a brief setback to his burgeoning acting career. However, in that same year, Thomas was cast as the lead actor in Marathon Man alongside his idol Laurence Olivier, a move that proved to be a net positive as he soon won his first award for Best Actor at the 30th British Academy Film Awards, once again beating out Jack Nicholson and fellow actor Dustin Hoffman. In 1977, Thomas was cast as the French aristocrat Armand d'Huber in the British period drama The Duellists. His role, which saw him undergo intense sword fighting lessons in order to achieve the desired sense of authenticity, was met with wide acclaim from critics and also proved to be one of the biggest successes of his career as it later saw him win his first Best Actor award at the 35th Golden Globe Awards as well as his second for the aforementioned category at both the Academy Awards and BAFTA Film Awards too, thereby immediately making him a well-known name at the rather young age of twenty-four. In the following year, Thomas took center stage in the epic war drama The Deer Hunter as Staff Sergeant Michael Vronsky, a role that, despite the film's overall success, failed to yield him any new immediate awards despite being nominated each time.

Following a three-year-long hiatus due to the birth of his son, Thomas returned to portray the legendary King Arthur in the 1981's epic medieval fantasy Excalibur. Then, in the following year, he was chosen by Richard Attenborough, who reportedly knew his true identity, to portray his late grandfather King Frederick in the critically acclaimed biographical film Gandhi in which Ben Kingsley portrays the eponymous Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. For this, while Kingsley won Best Actor at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Film Awards, Thomas himself won the award for Best Supporting Actor on both occasions and also a third at the Golden Globe Awards, a feat that saw him replicate the previous success that he had with The Duellists just several years prior. Then, in 1984, Thomas was reunited once again with Laurence Olivier, this time in the historical drama film The Bounty where his portrayal of English sailor Fletcher Christian, who famously seized the Royal Navy's HMS Bounty, was both widely acclaimed and also won him his third Best Actor award at the BAFTA Film Awards as well. In 1986, alongside a young Tom Cruise, Thomas was cast in the action film Top Gun in which he portrays Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf, an otherwise fictional character inspired largely by Pete Pettigrew, a retired United States Navy high-ranking officer. Meanwhile, two years later, Thomas portrayed the American inventor Preston Tucker in Tucker: The Man and His Dream, a film that, while only a lukewarm success with critics, nonetheless yielded him yet another Best Actor award at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Film Awards.

Entering the 90s, Thomas publicly indicated his willingness to transition away from his traditionally "tough" and "gritty" roles in action films to more "lighthearted" ones in the near future. To that end, after starring in 1990's The Hunt for Red October and 1992's A Few Good Men, the latter in which he was reunited with both Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, Thomas, as per his public statement, made his first step into the romantic comedy genre as the lead actor in Sleepless in Seattle opposite Meg Ryan in which he plays Sam Baldwin, a widowed architect fancied by Meg Ryan who portrays Annie Reed. The film, a massive commercial success with around $200 million made at the box office, saw Smith garner critical praise for his role in the film and also won him his last Best Actor award at the Academy Awards. Then, just a year later, Smith was cast by Richard Curtis in Four Weddings and a Funeral which subsequently won him his final awards at both the BAFTA Film Awards and the Golden Globe Awards respectively. At around this time, as his father's reign was nearing its end ahead of an expected abdication, Thomas publicly indicated that he would only star in "one or two more films", signifying an apparent end to his acting career. To that end, Thomas later appeared alongside Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding in which he plays the father of Diaz's character Kimberly "Kimmy" Wallace before capping off his career with his final role in the epic 1998 war film Saving Private Ryan in which he portrays United States Army general George C. Marshall.

Despite his royal status and background, both of which only came to light late into his career, Thomas has since been regarded by most critics to be a highly talented actor deserving of his accolades and awards with his Sleepless in Seattle co-star Meg Ryan regarding him as "a complete natural who can carry himself easily through situations". In addition, despite his British ancestry, Thomas has been met with much praise from critics for his ability to portray American characters with little to no fault, a feat which the royal himself attributed to years of mastering code-switching which thereby allows him to speak in an almost perfect American accent while masking his traditional British accent when necessary.

Reign

Early Years

Upon his father's abdication in January 1997, Thomas automatically ascended to the throne. Despite his longstanding ceremonial status, Thomas, in a manner similar to that of his father and predecessor, Charles III, also partook to some degree in the country's political affairs whilst adhering to his position as a constitutional monarch.

Among others, the most notable instance was the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1995, a law that was actually passed roughly two years prior to his ascension to the throne, but in which Thomas himself had a rather prominent role in shaping it. Spurred by the opposition against his marriage to his Catholic-born wife, Thomas, in conjunction with a number of sympathetic politicians, campaigned for the removal of the longstanding restrictions on marriages between members of the royal family and Roman Catholic individuals, which he famously called an "immoral relic of the past" while also arguing that it would clash with the modernising image of the United Kingdom, particularly one that will host an ever-increasing number of religious minorities. Meanwhile, in addressing concerns over the potential of having a Catholic monarch due to the lifting of the restrictions, Thomas asserted that the British monarch, as per longstanding convention, will generally remain an Anglican Protestant regardless of marriage to a Roman Catholic spouse, stating, "There's a clear and implicit difference between marrying a Catholic and being a Catholic, which I hope the Parliament will soon realise and therefore take it upon themselves to correct this grievous injustice in a modern and increasingly tolerant country".

Eventually, via votes from both Conservative and Labour parliamentarians, the bill proposed, which also included ending Hanover's longstanding semi-Salic succession laws, was successfully passed into law, thereby ensuring that Thomas would be allowed to marry his wife for as long as he remained a Protestant and that Hanover, in the event of the birth of a female heir, would not come to separate from the United Kingdom once again, hence securing a firm continuation of the union for the foreseeable future.

In addition to this, Thomas was also a leading voice for the eventual creation of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, a concept he first publicly suggested in an interview with Sky News just several months into his reign. In the interview, Thomas questioned the fact that the country's "highest court" is none other than the House of Lords, the upper chamber of parliament, stating, "I'm not personally one for one too many radical changes to a system or the like but it is quite surprising and at times rather downright strange that unlike in other countries that are also constitutional monarchies just like us, our highest court is also what makes up the country's parliament, something that is perhaps not necessarily a proud distinguishing feature but rather a strange and puzzling anomaly that is best solved in the near future".

In advocating based on the basic principles of separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and the judiciary, Thomas would later vocally call for the establishment of a "supreme court" in a model much similar to that found in other Western countries but stressed that unlike the United States Supreme Court, which he came to describe as a "somewhat flawed institution marred by partisan politics" based on his past years living in the United States, its British counterpart must "remain absolutely free of any partisan politics and interests to the very core so as to truly ensure a fair and independent judiciary and not one that simply swings in one direction whenever convenient". Eventually, after about a decade or so, the United Kingdom Supreme Court was established in October 2009 with Lord Phillips serving as its first president.

9/11 & Iraq War

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he publicly expressed his "greatest sympathies with the American people", stating that "innocent citizens should never be the target of such a heinous act of terror intended to promote a malicious goal". That same year, as head of state, he oversaw the Blair administration's participation in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which effectively toppled the predominant Taliban regime in the country. Just a couple of years later, the United Kingdom would also participate in the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq, which in addition to sparking nationwide protests over the perceived justification for the invasion, also proved to be a source of controversy for the royal family themselves, when the King's sister, Catherine, Princess Royal infamously posed nude on the cover of a British Vogue magazine, in an act of personal protest against the invasion itself. The princess's manner of protest, which included draping herself with a Union Jack flag, as well as having herself leaning against a British Challenger 2 battle tank promptly became the source of condemnation and rebuke by some military officials who dubbed her manner to be "treasonous", while some sectors of the public dubbed the princess's manner of protest to be "shameful" and "unpatriotic". In response, the King himself was said to have afterwards reluctantly rebuked his sister himself in order to preserve the royal family's prestige and standing among the British public, while rumours allege that he had otherwise been privately supportive and approving of his sister's act of protest against the invasion.

End of the Amsterdam-Windsor Monarchy

On 1 May 2007, a date that was deliberately chosen given that it marks the three hundredth anniversary of the former House of Hanover, Thomas, by way of a royal proclamation, announced that the current royal family name of the "House of Amsterdam-Windsor" would be officially reverted back to the "House of Hanover", thereby effectively ending what was then the eighty three-year-long reign of the Amsterdam-Windsor monarchy, which began in 1924 with King Frederick's decision to change the family name in order to appease nationalist and anti-German sentiments in the aftermath of the First World War.

In implementing the change, Thomas remarked, "As of now, it has roughly been ninety years long since the First World War had begun, the very conflict that led to my grandfather changing the family name to an entirely new one in order to appease the nationalist few. Since then, and until now, my family has been effectively robbed of its own true identity and is instead being forced to assume an entirely new identity for reasons that are not necessarily of my family's fault. Therefore, from this point on, my family will effectively and officially reclaim the true and pure identity that it once held dear as the House of Hanover, not the House of Amsterdam-Windsor".

Final Years

With the onset of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, a global recession that was considered to be the most serious recession since the Great Depression Thomas personally had the tax rate for himself as the British monarch raised to a slightly higher amount, so as to contribute more financially to efforts in mending the recession's immediate effects. Evidently, in an interview with the BBC around that same time, he remarked, "When the Second World War happened, my father broke royal convention and decided to go to war against Japan in the Pacific while my grandparents chose to bravely face the German bombings head-on, thus putting them both in grave danger just as the average soldier and citizen". He promptly declared that "while I would not be the King of England to face an armed invasion of our country, I would also not be the one to sit back and watch my own people face the hardships alone, for that is what Louis XVI of France did, and in the end, as we all know it, he ultimately lost his head". At the same time, in a manner deemed unconventional by many as the country's head of state, Thomas also openly encouraged the government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown to pursue aggressive economic policies meant to combat the recession's immediate effects, declaring that "if God wills it, the United Kingdom would be the first country in the world to escape this burgeoning recession". Nonetheless, Brown himself was subsequently voted out of office in the 2010 general election, which saw him being replaced with the current Conservative prime minister David Cameron, with whom he was said to have later developed a close working relationship, one that continued well under his successor, the reigning Queen Alexandra.

He later openly praised the historic legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, as well as the Conservative government's healthcare and welfare reforms. Meanwhile, the last few years of his reign would come to be marked by three separate and notable referendums, with the first being a referendum on the method of electing Members of Parliaments at future general elections, the second concerning potential Scottish independence, while the third one otherwise revolved around the status of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union. All three referendums went in the government's favour each time, while Thomas himself, in contrast to the demeanour shown during his previous years, largely kept silent on the respective outcomes of each of the three separate referendums. At around the same time, both his father and his mother would each respectively pass away in March 2011 and August 2014. In one interview conducted sometime after his abdication, he went on to describe the last few years of his reign as "both eventful and also emotional in nature".

Abdication

In the final year of his reign, despite already being sixty-seven years of age, Thomas was consistently described as being a "generally healthy, and well-conditioned man", as he was notably credited for almost regularly playing a game of polo with the palace staff and his close associates during his free time, leading him to be known as the Polo King among his close circles. However, in October 6th, having just gone back to his chambers alongside his wife, the King unexpectedly collapsed onto his bed while the latter had gone inside the chambers' bathroom. Around a minute later, royal doctors were immediately summoned following signs of a weakened pulse, leading him to be transferred instead to a special room for an operation. At the same time, by his own wife's insistence, any knowledge of the incident was kept secret from spreading outside of the palace itself, as to not force an immediate return for their daughter, Alexandra from her university. Following an initially successful operation, he was declared to be in a "mildly stable" condition but soon afterwards, subsequent operations were also conducted which lasted until just hours before his daughter Alexandra's return from her university, during which he was declared to had fully recovered from his illness, which was subsequently noted to have been a stroke but was otherwise kept secret from public knowledge.

In light of the incident, Thomas began seriously contemplating an abdication, during which he made it known to the then Prime Minister David Cameron who he had specifically invited to Buckingham Palace for the matter. Discussions between the two would continue until December 10th when in a coordinated manner, Thomas first declared his abdication at 10:30 AM in a BBC broadcast from Buckingham Palace before an Act of Parliament was granted royal assent by the King himself, thereby effectively formalising his abdication. In his abdication speech, Thomas chose not to publicly disclose the details of his illness leading to his abdication, having instead chosen to cite "ill-health and inability to sustain the continuation of royal duties" as his primary reasons for abdication. He subsequently attended the coronation of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra who then granted her father the title of Duke of Hanover following his abdication.

Post-Abdication

Atlantic Connection

Following his abdication, Thomas began taking a more active role in overseeing the interests of the American-British multibillion-dollar holding company Atlantic Connection which holds considerable stakes in various industries through its many subsidiary companies. Having inherited his late father's shares in the company upon the latter's passing in March 2011 to become one of the company's select few biggest shareholders, Thomas has overseen some further expansion of the company's portfolio since assuming his position on the board of directors, with his particular interest being in sports. To that end, the company established the Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC in 2014, and National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.

As one of Atlantic Connection's biggest shareholders, Thomas has at times advocated for the company to pursue a "green and sustainable" strategy regarding its long-term future, stating, "Above all, there is the undeniable issue of climate change that regardless of everyone's opinions on it will ultimately bring only bad luck and terrible fortunes for all of humanity. At the same time, a solution rooted in both compromise and sustainability must and can be achieved so as to ensure that the company, in its current position, will be one of the foremost leaders in traversing a new and inclusive era where both consumers and companies can co-exist in peace while also providing mutual benefit for each other".

Marriage

Katharine Houghton

Actress Katharine Houghton alongside co-star, the late actor Sidney Poitier in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Due to his parents' rather hands-off approach in regard to his potential choice of marriage, Thomas himself thus became consequently linked to a number of important women of the time, all of which were mostly either of American or British nationalities. During the early 1970s, Thomas was at first popularly associated with the young and rising actress Katharine Houghton who he had personally known through his father's close friend, namely the actress Katharine Hepburn, Houghton's own aunt, with whom Charles was also closely familiar. Even so, in a manner apparently mimicking that of his father's previous romantic relationship with Hepburn decades prior, the two generally dated in secrecy, with Thomas himself being the one mostly travelling in private to Houghton's Connecticut residence as the risks of the latter being spotted in public instead with the British royal back in his native home country were deemed to be great of a concern for either side. However, amidst the overwhelmingly positive encouragement in favour of a marriage between the two and despite the eight-year age difference between them, neither Thomas nor Houghton ultimately agreed to ever seek such an option, with Houghton herself eventually marrying actor Ken Jenkins in 1970. Ultimately, despite this setback, Houghton, in "inheriting" her aunt's close ties with the British royal family, has since continued to remain close with Thomas and the royal family as a whole, as evidenced by the actress being chosen as a godparent for Thomas' seven children.

Jaclyn Smith

Jaclyn Smith (left) with costars Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson for the popular crime drama show, Charlie's Angels

Prior to his marriage to the American supermodel Christy Turlington, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Thomas engaged in a lengthy romantic affair with American actress Jaclyn Smith, with the affair resulting in two children William and Jacqueline.

Sometime in 1977, Thomas, who had then been residing in the United States for a while, first came into contact with the American actress who, in that year, had been steadily rising in prominence thanks to her role in the popular crime drama show, Charlie's Angels, in which she had a major role alongside fellow actresses Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Soon enough, Thomas, having been a somewhat regular watcher of the show, decided to personally meet Smith himself, an endeavour in which he proved successful when the prince was personally invited by one of the show's executive producers Aaron Spelling who subsequently arranged a meeting between the prince and the actress while the latter was in the midst of shooting for an episode of the show's second season.

In any case, the arranged meeting proved to be an instant success, with Smith, a divorcee from her first husband and actor Roger Davis, later describing Thomas as "very easy-going" and "impeccably charming" in their first encounter. Soon afterwards, the two began a longstanding and passionate affair which would last throughout the following decade, although this relationship, upon the behest of Thomas himself, was kept largely secret from the media and the public, and its knowledge is restricted to only a select few, which included Smith's co-stars Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, both of whom agreed to remain silent on the affair and to never disclose it to the public, out of respect for the couple's privacy. On the other hand, the couple's relationship also allowed Thomas to appear on the show himself at the invitation of the show's producers who, reportedly with the couple's own agreement and supervision, gave the prince the role of Patrick Williams, a retired US Navy officer and briefly a romantic interest of Smith's character Kelly Garrett. At the same time, in order not to deliberately reveal his true identity, Thomas was otherwise cast in the show under a made-up alias, that being Frank Clarke which, according to Thomas himself, was a combination of the first name of popular American singer Frank Sinatra, and the surname which ironically belongs to that of an alias made up by his own father when the latter was a Hollywood actor, that being Robert Clarke.

Then, roughly two years into their relationship, the couple would welcome their first child together, which is also Smith's firstborn child, that being a son William, a circumstance which led to the show temporarily halting its production for a few months or so, in order to give much-needed time for Smith to raise her firstborn son with the help of Thomas himself who, despite the accompanying risks and potential scandal should his affair with the actress ever be discovered and publicised, opted to remain close with his romantic partner. Later, in a 2005 interview with Larry King, the prince said, "Frankly, when Will was born, we initially had little idea in going forward with our relationship, and were kind of a little freaked out at the beginning, but then, we just soldiered up and decided that with what we have now, we are just going to do the best we could". A few years later, on 22 June 1983, the couple would welcome a daughter, Jacqueline, named after her own mother, albeit in a slightly varied manner, and who was popularly referred to by her parents as "Jack" or "Jackie" in order to better distinguish the latter from her similarly-named mother.

Eventually, despite the two enjoying a mutually happy relationship, the couple later parted ways mutually just a few months prior to Thomas' later marriage to his wife, thereby ending their almost nineteen-year-long relationship, although Thomas, despite his romantic partner's well-to-do status, continued to provide some unofficial form of "spousal aid" in the years that followed, which lasted well until both William and Jacqueline themselves graduated from their universities, at which point they are expected to be self-sufficient despite their father's immense wealth. Meanwhile, following an almost decade-long period of "separation", during which the two largely devoted themselves to their respective spouses, with Smith later marrying her husband Brad Allen in 1997, the two later reconnected with one another in around 2004, when the career of their son, William with the English football club Manchester United, brought Smith's family over to the United Kingdom, where they have since been permanently residing in, with Jaclyn and their two children together, as a result of Thomas' own intervention and personal behest, being immediately granted British citizenship not long afterwards. It was said that in addition to taking up permanent residence in the many apartments of Buckingham Palace itself, Jaclyn herself also currently maintains a personal terrace of her own in London, which is said to be within walking distance from the palace itself.

Caroline Kennedy

Caroline Kennedy, the only daughter and surviving child of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Due to his father's strong and close ties to the prominent Kennedy family, it was even rumoured at some point by some media outlets that Thomas was supposedly planning on marrying the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, who Thomas had first met while accompanying his father to the state funeral of Kennedy's father who in November 1963 was mortally wounded from assassination while in the city of Dallas, Texas. Ultimately, perhaps due to Kennedy's deeply entrenched and longstanding Catholic faith, coupled with the overwhelming publicity and media coverage that would be expected from a hypothetical marriage involving an heir to the British throne and a member of the prominent Kennedy family, no marriage proposals were ever brought forward by either side, although the two families, even to this day are said to have nonetheless remained in close contact with one another, with Thomas himself later enlisting Kennedy's uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy as one of his groomsmen for his wedding to the American supermodel Christy Turlington.

Incidentally, it was later reported that for a while, Kennedy's firstborn son Jack Schlossberg was romantically involved with Thomas' eldest daughter by his wife, the reigning Queen Alexandra. In the end, the relationship, despite frequent comparisons to that between Caroline's brother John Jr. and wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, proved to be short-lived, with the couple themselves mutually agreeing to terminate the relationship over challenges posed particularly by their respective careers which often kept them physically apart from one another.

Christy Turlington

Christy Turlington at the Christian Lacroix Spring Summer 1994

Around March 1994, while accompanying his sister, the Princess Royal to an exclusive gala in Paris, France, Thomas was first introduced to the American supermodel Christy Turlington by the Princess Royal who prior to that event had been a close friend of the famed American supermodel, due to the two women sharing a common profession in modelling. Soon afterwards, according to the couple's close circles, the two were able to immediately "hit it off" immediately after being introduced to each other, so much so that according to one version in particular, Turlington herself soon afterwards "tightly hugged" and "incessantly thanked" the Princess Royal for having paired the two together at the start. However, despite a largely positive start, the two did not immediately seek to begin a relationship although they nonetheless maintained frequent contact with one another throughout the following months. Eventually, following a series of further romantic outings afterwards, along with an introduction of Turlington to Thomas' parents, the King and Queen, the couple finally sought to establish a serious romantic relationship, which would often be filled by spending private time together at often little-known or somewhat isolated but beautiful spots, due to the couple's mutual insistence on avoiding the paparazzi who it was feared might prematurely leak their relationship to the public.

In the end, around December of that same year, the couple's relationship would finally become public knowledge when in a speech marking his forty-fourth birthday that month, Thomas personally revealed his relationship with the American supermodel to the public for the first time ever, with the revelations quickly catching both the British public and government by surprise, given that they were largely unaware beforehand of the couple's extremely secretive relationship.

The "big five" supermodels: Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz

Almost immediately, Turlington's status as a fashion model, coupled with her Catholic faith, quickly made the revelation a source of controversy, with socially-conservative critics accusing the American supermodel of a "lack of a proper character and image for a queen consort", while others also expressed their worry over the latter's Roman Catholic upbringing, which meant that such a marriage between the two would come into direct conflict and opposition with the Act of Settlement 1701, which legally disqualifies any member of the royal family who either converts to or marries a partner of the Roman Catholic faith. In response, through an op-ed that he wrote for the BBC, Thomas publicly accused his critics of "social bigotry", stating, "Regardless of who my future wife was in the past, it cannot be ignored that my own mother, who I love dearly to the end, was also of a background that one would not necessarily expect for a wife of the king. The daughter of a pair of Jewish Romanian immigrants, my mother bravely faced those prejudicial people who wished to prevent her from seeking happiness in marrying my father until they all finally relented and allowed her to do so as she wishes. Yet, it seems that just a few decades later, such a conflict appears to be inevitable once again, which says a lot about the society of this country as a whole".

Eventually, some time afterwards, both then-Prime Minister John Major and then-Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey jointly agreed to approve such a union under the strict condition that Turlington herself would ultimately convert to Anglicanism in order to avoid any further complications. Moreover, Thomas' own father, King Charles III also personally came out in support of the union, claiming that "it is wrong for me to say that having a Catholic-turned-Anglican convert as my very own daughter-in-law would be something entirely strange or a new concept for myself, for my own beloved wife is a Jew, an identity that no one shall absolutely be able to take away". Meanwhile, rumours of the couple's incompatibility also began to surface, with some media outlets likening the couple to actor Richard Gere and fellow supermodel Cindy Crawford, both of whom were married to one another for approximately four years from 1991 to 1995, before eventually divorcing just a few months prior to Thomas and Turlington's own marriage that same year. Moreover, much like Gere and Crawford, both Thomas and Turlington possessed a significant age difference between themselves as well, with Turlington being sixteen years younger than her husband, despite marrying at a slightly later age compared to Crawford who at the age of twenty-five married her own husband who is seventeen years her senior.

On 14 June 1995, the couple were wedded in a private and intimate ceremony at Oheka Castle, New York, with the ceremony attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Prime Minister John Major and President Bill Clinton, as well their closest friends and relatives. Described by the New York Times as the "wedding of the century", the ceremony featured an appropriately star-studded lineup of groomsmen and bridesmaids consisting of the likes of Senator Ted Kennedy, actors Hugh Grant, George Clooney, and Pierce Brosnan, singers Frank Sinatra Jr., Nancy Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand, along with fellow well-known supermodels including Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle Macpherson. In addition to this, a number of Thomas' former comrades from the Royal Navy were also in attendance and who later took part in the saber arch wedding tradition. Meanwhile, whilst Turlington donned an elaborate white lace gown designed by noted British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, Thomas himself wore his Royal Navy officer's uniform which he paired with an officer's cap and a ceremonial sword carried at waist-level.

Actresses Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair as their respective characters Elle Woods and Vivian Kensington from the 2001 film Legally Blonde

In just a year into their marriage, the couple would welcome the birth of their first child together, the future Queen Alexandra, although this was in turn followed by a roughly three-year long period during which the couple chose to live separately from one another so as to accommodate for Turlington's decision to focus on her university studies back in the United States which in turn led to rumours falsely claiming that the couple's marriage was in an allegedly terrible state with several media outlets beginning to claim, often without basis, that both Thomas and Turlington have begun seeing another romantic partner in order to overcome their supposedly miserable state of affairs. Nonetheless, it was also during this period that Thomas' father-in-law Dwain Turlington passed away in June 1997 at the age of sixty-four from lung cancer, just a year after the birth of the latter's granddaughter. Eventually, following Turlington's graduation from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study in New York in 1999, the two would finally begin to live together, initially starting off as a family of three. Then, in the following year, Turlington gave birth to their only son Richard, followed by another daughter Nicole in 2003. The year afterwards, the couple further welcomed a pair of twins Elle and Vivian, both of whom were respectively named after the two female characters from the 2001 film Legally Blonde, namely Elle Woods and Vivian Kensington, played by actresses Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair respectively.

Given the couple's unique dynamic, their relationship has consequently made them a subject of comparison to a few other prominent couples, them being former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife, the Italian-born singer and model Carla Bruni. Evidently, a photograph of the two high-profile couples standing side by side in front of the Élysée Palace taken during a state visit by Thomas to France during Sarkozy's presidency in 2011, quickly gained much media attention, with copies of the original photograph itself said to be later auctioned at prices reaching up to €150,000 (£130,714). Similarly, the couple was also later frequently compared to former President of the United States Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump, a model of Slovenian descent prior to her marriage to her husband and subsequent ascendancy to the position of First Lady of the United States during her husband's presidency, with media outlets often noting the similar age gap between Thomas and Trump with their respective wives, and the fact that both of their wives once actively worked in the modelling industry. Ironically, Thomas himself has otherwise appeared critical of the comparisons, stating, "While I would personally have nothing much to say about Melania, I would say that between her husband and myself, a few differences should be made clear, them being that I'm not a serial cheater and I'm absolutely not a bigoted and frankly racist man ever in my entire life".

On 14 December 2005, the couple privately celebrated their tenth anniversary together with a private trip to Iceland, a country particularly favoured by Thomas for its temperature, isolation, and scenery, where the couple met with President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and spent roughly a month long in relative privacy touring the island country whose frequent volcanic eruptions reportedly intrigued Thomas so much that he personally took videos of each eruption for personal viewing.

Personal Information

A noted collector of cars, Thomas is known to have possessed a modest collection of both vintage and luxury vehicles, some of which include the iconic Jaguar E-Type, along with several others such as an Aston Martin Vantage, a second-generation Dodge Challenger, a Ferrari F40, and a Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R. Despite this, for leisurely purposes, Thomas would usually ride his longtime Harley-Davidson motorcycle especially around the United Kingdom's less populous regions where he would enjoy better peace and otherwise less disturbance.

In a 2006 interview with the BBC, Thomas revealed that had it not been for his royal background, he would have preferred to play professional football in his youth, a career he ultimately never pursued owing to an inherent sense of nervousness originating from him likely being the only royal in a football team filled mostly by individuals of commoner background coupled with the sport's considerable physicality at the time which was deemed to be a safety risk for an heir to the throne. Regardless, in a 1998 interview with the BBC, Thomas revealed himself to be a lifelong fan of Premier League club Manchester United whose legendary Northern Irish-born player George Best was cited by Thomas as his favourite player.

Known for his physically active lifestyle, in addition to football, Thomas is known to have enjoyed a variety of other sports including swimming, polo, golf, and tennis. Most notably, since its introduction in 1981, save for only a few instances, Thomas has consistently run in almost every edition of the London Marathon which he has also done with his wife, a marathon enthusiast as well, since the couple's marriage in 1995. Aside from this, while previously a habitual smoker, since becoming a father and especially following the death of his father-in-law, Thomas has long abstained from smoking and, in turn, has been a vocal advocate against the habit himself.

Titles & Honours

• 17 December 1953 - 1 January 1954 His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Orange, and Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• 1 January 1954 - 15 January 1997 His Royal Highness The Prince of the Welsh, Prince of Orange, and Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 His Majesty The King of the British, King of the Dutch, and Grand Duke of the Luxembourgers
• 14 October 2017 - Present His Royal Highness The Duke of Hanover, Prince of the Netherlands, and Grand Duke Emeritus of Luxembourg

Honours

National & Commonwealth

• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Williamite Order
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King Thomas
• United Kingdom - Recipient of the Royal Family Order of King Charles III
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Charles III
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Guelphic Order
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of St. George
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle​
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath​
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire
• United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order
• Canada - Sovereign of the Order of Canada
• Australia - Sovereign of the Order of Australia
• New Zealand - Sovereign of the Order of New Zealand
• Barbados - Sovereign of the Order of Barbados
• Saint Lucia - Sovereign of the Order of St Lucia
• Solomon Islands - Sovereign of the Order of Solomon Islands
• Belize - Sovereign of the Order of Belize
• Antigua and Barbuda - Sovereign of the Order of Antigua and Barbuda
• St Christopher and Nevis - Sovereign of the Order of St Christopher and Nevis
• Grenada - Sovereign of the Order of Grenada​
• Tuvalu - Sovereign of the Order of Tuvalu
• Puerto Rico - Sovereign of the Order of Puerto Rico

Foreign

• Spain - Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
• Norway - Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St Olav
• Norway - ​Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V
• Norway - Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal
• Norway - ​Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal
• Sweden - Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
• Sweden - Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Sword
• Denmark - Knight of the Order of the Elephant
• Denmark - Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
• Germany - Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Japan - Collar and Grand Order of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
• Japan - Golden Medal of Merit Japanese Red Cross
• Japan - Golden Medal of Honorary Member of Japanese Red Cross
• France - Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
• Malaysia - Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
• China - Recipient of the Order of Friendship
• Republic of China - Recipient of the Order of Brilliant Jade

Military Appointments

United Kingdom
3 June 1979 - 28 May 1980: Officer Cadet, Royal Navy
28 May 1980 - 25 June 1982: Midshipman, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 11 January 1984: Lieutenant, Royal Navy
11 January 1984 - 5 May 1985: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy
5 May 1985 - 15 June 1991: Captain, Royal Navy
15 June 1991 - 14 December 1995: Commodore, Royal Navy
14 December 1995 - 15 January 1997: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Lord High Admiral, Royal Navy
13 October 2017 - Present: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 3 June 1986: Colonel, British Army
3 June 1986 - 12 November 1990: Brigadier, British Army
3 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Major General, British Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
13 October 2017 - Present: Field Marshal, British Army
5 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
15 January 1997 - Present: Marshal of the Royal Air Force

Canada
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Australia
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force

New Zealand
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force

Ancestry

Ancestors of Thomas of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands

8. George IV and V of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands 4. Frederick of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands 9. Princess Sophia of Prussia 2. Charles III of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands 10. Wilhelm II, German Emperor 5. Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia 11. Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg 1. Thomas of the United Kingdom and of the Netherlands 12. Zalman Perski 6. William Perske 13. Sheyna Yofa 3. Lauren Bacall 14. Max Weinstein 7. Natalie Bacall 15. Sophia Bacall