Charles III of the United Kingdom
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King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms
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| Reign | 7 July, 1951 - 11 June, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coronation | 10 December, 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Edward VII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | William VI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Charles Frederick William Louis 15 January 1917 Haga Palace, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 June 1985 (aged 68) Edinburgh Palace, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | 19 June 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Lauren Bacall (m. 1947) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Hanover | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Edward VII | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Victoria Louise of Prussia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles III (Charles Frederick William Louis; 15 January, 1917 - 11 June, 1985) was King of the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1985. Throughout his three decades long reign, he oversaw various events during the tumultuous period of the Cold War and notably spearheaded several series of far-reaching reforms in his lifelong effort of liberalising the royal institution of the United Kingdom.
Early Life
Charles was born on the 15th of January, 1917 to the then Prince of Wales Edward, and German princess Victoria Louise. While his godparents had been from both German and British royalty, Charles's full name however was altered based on the respective names of his German ancestors.
As a result of his parents' choice to seek refuge in the neutral country of Sweden due to rampant Germanophobia in both the German Empire and the United Kingdom, which had been his parents' respective birthplaces, he was born in the Swedish royal residence of Haga Palace in Stockholm. As a direct descendant of two German Emperor's, he was bestowed with several honours and decorations by the German government through his mother, in addition to his British honours and decorations.
Despite undergoing his first few years in exile, Charles cultivated a strong bond with the Swedish royal family, as he was noted to had been particularly close to that of Ingrid, the granddaughter of Gustaf V. As a result, he was also exposed to the Swedish language and in the following years was even able to fluently speak in Swedish itself. In 1918, Charles was joined by his brother illiam, who would be his only brother and sibling.
In 1919, the young Charles accompanied his parents to the Netherlands in an unscheduled stop as the rampant Germanophobia deterred the princely family from immediately returning to Britain. However, three years later, the princely family did finally returned to Britain, immediately settling in Buckingham Palace.
Prince of Wales
At the age of six, upon the passing of his grandfather George V, a seven-year old Charles was formally proclaimed as Prince of Wales and heir apparent to his father.
Though he, alongside his brother were confined to the interior of Buckingham Palace as protection against public hostility, Charles's development as a young prince was relatively undeterred. While the young prince excelled in his academic subjects, Charles also proved to be an adept in horse riding, and was considerably versed in the arts of hunting, having at oftentimes accompanied his father on private hunting trips.
In 1930, much to the reluctance of his pacifist-minded father, Charles attended the Royal Military College as an army cadet. Though the young prince excelled in his written examinations and showed much potential as a future soldier, the economical situation at the time however severed the possibility of him being deployed for active duty.
Life in the United States
Hoping to escape the distressing anti-German sentiment back home, Charles voluntarily withdrew incognito to the United States, which he entered via Canada in 1935, alongside a few trusted escorts of his own. Though the situation, in terms of anti-German sentiment proved somewhat indifferent, the prince, who had been travelling under the alias of "Robert Clarke" chose to acquire a residence of his own in the north-eastern state of New York. At the same time, in a rather unconventional manner, Charles began to take up acting, all the while remaining under his assumed alias, establishing himself as a wealthy American citizen born to British immigrants. At the same time, in 1941, Charles received in private the news about the death of his brother, the Duke of Edinburgh whom had been killed in service during a naval confrontation in the Atlantic Sea. This loss would ultimately confine the prince from ever enlisting for the Second World War, largely due to the need for him, as the only living descendant of his parents to survive the war. However, the prince was active in expressing overwhelming support for the Allied cause.
In 1943, having built a relatively successful career of his own, the prince unexpectedly came into contact with a new and upcoming actress, Lauren Bacall. Subsequently, due to possible hostility in light of their relationship, the two began a private off-screen relationship, until it was formalised through a marriage three years later, when Charles's father granted his consent for the union, amidst much controversy and mixed reactions from Parliament MP's. In 1949, the couple departed back for Britain onboard the royal yacht, HMS Sophia.
King of the United Kingdom
Following his return, it was initially deemed unlikely for Charles to succeed his father at the time being given the relatively stable condition of the latter, added with the latter's frequent travel trips. To that end, the princely couple were also recommended to undertake a series of state visits on their own, then began by a 1950 state visit to Jordan, where they were hosted by the Jordanian king Abdullah I. Finding solace in this, the princely couple soon began undertaking subsequent state visits at a steady pace, followed by trips to Canada and Australia in the respective months of February and April in 1950 and a trip to India in July of the same year, in celebrating the newly sworn and very first President of India, Rajendra Prasad. This however would be the last visit conducted by the couple before their subsequent ascension as king and queen in the following year. A planned visit to Malaya was promptly cancelled due to the communist insurrection in the country led by the MCP.
On July 1951, king Edward died in his sleep in the wee hours of the morning. When this was relayed to the royal couple who had been staying at the Balmoral Palace in Scotland, the princely couple immediately began relocating to Buckingham Palace via flight, where they oversaw a spectacularly large public march in honour of the late king, a testimony to the late Edward's popularity.
With public hostility having greatly subsided though not at a dramatic level, there was however intense speculation of the preferred regnal name of the new king. With the name "Charles" embedded in controversy due to its past holders, the Prince of Wales was expected to assume a different regnal name instead, with the possibility of even assuming a double-styled regnal name, being either that of "Charles Frederick" or "Frederick William", with the latter having been used by the Prussian monarchs, Frederick Wilhelm I and Frederick Wilhelm II of Prussia while also serving as the given names of German Emperors Frederick III and Wilhelm II as to honour his mother's Prussian ancestry. However, the subsequent proclamation confirmed the new king as "Charles the Third", which was perceived as being in line with Charles's opposition towards social norms in regards to his chosen regnal name, as he was noted of having proclaimed "that the name Charles is not a curse, but rather a usual name of its own".
The Cold War Dilemma
Upon his ascension, Charles quickly found himself at the ceremonial seat of an empire undergoing a continuous process of decolonization as a result of UN pressure. At the same time, Britain was at the helm of at least two communist-related conflicts, namely the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency. In 1952, following the Egyptian Revolution that overthrew the Egyptian king Farouk, the deposed royals were invited to reside Britain as a sign of good faith. But following a week's stay, the former King of Egypt reportedly left Britain, presumably due to personal issues with the British royal family itself.
Encouraged by Churchill, the king and queen began undertaking state visits to countries deemed important as Britain's allies. In August that year, the royal couple visited Iraq and were received by the Iraqi crown prince Abdullah, where they believed to had discussed a potentially formidable alliance between the kingdoms of Iraq and Iran against the might of the Soviet Union. During that visit, the king and queen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, known as the Baghdad Plot when a trio of Iraqi nationalists attempted to injure them while they were leaving the royal palace.
In the subsequent year, following a failed attempt to assassinate the royal couple in which the king escaped unharmed while the queen suffered minor injuries, the two withdrew and resided in Canada for exactly two years. However, despite this relocation, Charles in particular maintained an active correspondence with the local government, in particular with the British Security Service, whom with the help of local authorities later arrested a group of 5 men whom were soon found to be guilty of participation in the attempt.
In 1957, following in the footsteps of his [[William V of the United Kingdom|grandfather], William personally travelled to Malaya where as sovereign of the United Kingdom, he oversaw the proclamation of independence of the newly established Federation of Malaya.
Personal Information
Titles & Honours
- 15 January 1917 - 5 January 1923 His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Cambridge
- 5 January 1923 - 7 July 1951 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
- 7 July 1951 - 11 June 1985 His Majesty The King
Honours
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Charles III of the United Kingdom |
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