Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale

Full name
	Charles Oscar Frederick

Prince Charles
Prince Charles
Duke of Clarence and Avondale
British Ambassador to Jordan
In office	1952 - 1960
Preceded by	Sir Alec Kirkbride
Succeeded by	Sir Charles Wingfield
Monarch	Charles III
Born	Charles Oscar Frederick; 1 February 1927; Drottningholm Palace, Sweden
Died	11 November 2002 (aged 75); Reykjavík, Iceland
Burial	14 November 2002; Westminster Abbey, London
Spouse	Hedy Lamarr; (m. 1948; died 2000)
Issue; Detail	Alfred, Duke of Clarence and Avondale; Prince James of Clarence and Avondale; Prince William of Clarence and Avondale; Princess Hedy, Mrs Bennington;
Full name
Full name
	Charles Oscar Frederick
House	Hanover
Father	Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
Mother	Astrid of Sweden
Religion	Protestant

Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Charles Oscar Frederick; 1 February 1927 - 11 November 2002) was a British prince and diplomat,who served as the British ambassador to Jordan, where he formed a strong bond with the Jordanian king Hussein.

The eldest and only son of the notable Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden, Charles and his two sisters subsequently inherited their parents' passion and interest in humanitarianism and international issues, as all three of them would later go on to become notable and successful diplomats in their own respective careers. Charles's heavily publicised marriage to the Jewish Austrian-American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr in 1948, which coincidentally mirrored that of his cousin's to Lauren Bacall, also a Jewish American actress became a defining aspect of his overwhelmingly liberal character, cementing him as a celebrated figure of modern progressivism, then shared by his two sisters.

Early Life

Charles was born on February 1st, 1927 as the eldest child and only son of Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden at the Swedish royal residence of Drottningholm Palace. In an abrupt decision by his mother, Charles was named entirely off his Swedish ancestors which included that of his maternal grandfather (whom he bore similar resemblance to), and his maternal great-grandfather with the exception of his own father.

Due to the relatively unstable political climate in the United Kingdom, Charles was ultimately brought up in his mother's country of Sweden. At the same time, his father had been entrusted with a diplomatic mission to Siam and as a result, the young prince and his mother would occasionally move to Stockholm Palace where Charles would occasionally live with his Swedish relatives during his father's periodical absentees. Despite this, both father and son were said to had shared a generally cordial bond with each other, as the two would spend much time together whenever the former was not occupied with his ambassadorial duties and on several occasions, Charles himself was allowed to follow his father back to Egypt where he was said to had greatly enjoyed the scenery of the ancient Egyptian pyramids and at times, and showed deep interest in Egyptian history as a whole, much to his mother's delight and amusement.

Growing up, Charles began to spoke his Swedish-taught language from the age of five, in which after just two years later, he was said to had "possessed the natural dialect of an actual Swede" though by the insistence of his British relatives on the other end, he maintained a degree of fluency in the English language as well. Additionally, he was strictly taught by his mother in the arts of cooking and various household works which, despite its uncommon association with royal princes was seen by the former as an effective tool in moulding the young Charles into an "independent, and self-caring gentleman". He also took up lesssons from his own mother in horseback riding, swimming, and golfing, all of which he would later show proficiency in.

Prior to the onset of the Second World War, as his father had then assumed a gubernatorial position in Egypt, Charles became consequently exposed to the Egyptian and Muslim culture in the country led by kings Fuad I and later Farouk from 1936. Reportedly, during their occassional visits to the kingdom, a young Charles directly oversaw the hardship of the Egyptian peasantry which made up a sizable portion of the country's population. He was also reputedly close with the king's beautiful daughter Fawzia who was six years his senior, with Charles's own father Frederick having once jokingly suggested for a marriage between the two though due to obvious complications, this never materialised.

Second World War

By his father's insistence, Charles and his family were to strictly remain in Sweden while the former instead chose to serve in the British Army against the Axis Powers, much to the dismay of Charles's mother who feared for her husband's safety. As the young prince gradually learned about the horrors of the war, he consistently prayed for his father's safety alongside his mother and his two sisters. At the same time, Charles and his family members courageously worked in providing safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution, primarily those from Germany itself, in addition to Denmark and Norway. In the midst of doing so, the princely family also paid visits and unscheduled tours to Allied war camps set up in Sweden by exiled soldiers from Nazi-occupied Denmark and Norway.

Career

Following in the footsteps of his father, then a renowned British diplomat, a young Charles was personally taught in the arts of diplomacy and relations by the former, who had wished for a continuation of his involvement in diplomatic affairs to be passed down through his descendants. Additionally, the tense Cold War atmosphere itself offered the young prince a valuable opportunity in serving in the United Kingdom's field of ambassadors, coupled with the personal encouragement by Charles's own cousin, the newly coronated Charles III.

To that end, he was subsequently assigned to the Middle Eastern kingdom of Jordan, an essential British ally under the reign of its fairly liberal King Hussein, whom in turn had inherited the kingdom following the forced abdication of his predecessor, King Talal.

On August 11, 1952, the twenty five year old Charles first met with the then seventeen year old Hussein whom, as a result of not being a legal adult under Islamic law (which places the legal age at 18), ruled under a regency council made up of the then Prime Minister and the leaders of Jordan's bicameral legislative chambers. Reportedly, upon conversing with the new king for the first time, Charles was said to had immediately commended the former, praising Hussein as an "hopeful figure of Arabian modernity and progressivism".

Personal Information

Titles & Honours

1 February 1927 - 5 August 1953 His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Clarence and Avondale
5 August 1953 - 23 June 1985 His Royal Highness The Duke of Wolfsburg
23 June 1985 - 11 November 2002 His Royal Highness The Duke of Clarence and Avondale