King Charles

World famous from the very moment of his birth, Charles Philip Arthur George was born to England's Queen Elizabeth II in 1948. The eldest of the Queen's children and the putative future heir to the throne, Charles was born after British monarchs had officially ceased to carry any legislative powers.

Relegated exclusively to ceremonial duties, the UK's kings and queens had largely become symbolic figures representing the country's long held traditions but fulfilling this role while simultaneously evolving with the sweeping social changes of the 20th century would prove one of the most defining aspects of Charles' life as a public figure. He was the first royal to attain a university degree, graduating from Trinity College with a BA in anthropology in 1970-the same year he was officially given a seat in Britain's House of Lords.

Charles then served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force until 1976, establishing the charity The Prince's Trust the year he was discharged. The organization would be the first of sixteen charities that Charles would eventually found as he voiced passionate concern for a wide range of causes ranging from helping at-risk youth, to protecting the environment, to preserving and restoring historic architecture.

He married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, and though Diana's own humanitarian work and her intense charisma would make the pair one of the most well-known couples in the world, the union was not a happy one. They saw the birth of two children, William in 1982 and Harry in 1984, but the couple officially separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, with Diana dying in an auto accident in Paris in 1997.

In public life, Charles continued to travel both the UK and the world building a reputation as an effective goodwill speaker, earning praise for the thoughtfulness of his gestures such as in 2001, when he commissioned a wreath to be made from greenery found on French battlefields, and laid it on the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Charles married his longtime girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, eschewing the strictness of old guard traditions once again by having a civil ceremony instead of the royal family's traditional church wedding. In 2013, Charles turned 65 and became eligible for a state pension. He opted to accept it-and immediately arranged for it to be donated to the charity The Duke of Cornwall's Benevolent Fund. Prior to his mother's death September 8, 2022 King Charles III was known as Prince Charles.