The newborn Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge’s grandfather is Charles, Prince of Wales:
Investiture Portrait of the Prince of Wales 1969
Prince Charles was born Charles Philip Arthur George on November 14th 1948. He became heir apparent only 4 years later, when his mother succeeded to the throne. And that is what he has remained since, he is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. In only a little over 3 years he will celebrate his 70ieth birthday, an age where most men are ready to retire. He is still waiting patiently for his main position in life.
The above picture captures Charles’s Investiture as the Prince of Wales in 1969, when he became 21. The title Prince of Wales is not automatically inherited, but is a title the sovereign is free to grant to the heir apparent. The title is also not heritable, meaning that when Charles becomes king, he can grant the title to his eldest son (presumably William).
Although, the Prince of Wales has no formal duties, Charles 60 years of long haul waiting has by no means been dull and uneventful! Charles is regarded to be a very intelligent man. He studied anthropology, archaeology, and history at Cambridge and holds a Master of Arts degree.
Growing up, Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne literally had the world at their feet:
Princess Anne(6) and Prince Charles(8) by Lord Snowdon 1956
In the 70ies Prince Charles travelled, represented the Queen and romanced several women, one of them Camilla Shand. It is rumored that he proposed to Camilla several times, but she continued to turn him down, and eventually married Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, leaving the Prince devastated.
However Prince Charles and Camilla continued as close friends, and she helped him decide on a bride when he started feeling the pressure to “settle down” and have a family. Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29th 1981. Their marriage was widely billed as a “fairytale wedding” and the “wedding of the century”. It was watched by an estimated global TV audience of 750 million. The couple had two children, Prince William (b. 1982) and Prince Henry (Harry) (b. 1984). We all know the story, the relationship was never a “true lovestory” but a suitable match made to please the crown, and the intellectual prince wasn’t that charming after all to the blue eyed princess. The couple was formally divorced in August 1996. In August 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, trying to escape chasing paparazzi photographers.
The little princes were 15 and 13 years old, when Charles became a single dad.
For many years, The Prince of Wales and Camilla had a controversial relationship, which was highly publicised in the media and attracted worldwide scrutiny. Camilla divorced her first husband in 1995, and in 2005 Prince Charles was finally able to marry the love of his life. Camilla was created Duchess of Cornwall, and has since stepped right up to the limelight of her Prince. During my recent research I have come to think that Camilla is my favorite British royal!
60th Birthday Portrait of the Prince of Wales by Hugo Burnand 2008
I expect Charles will become a great king, and make his beloved Camilla queen, although for now she is intended the lame title of Princess Consort! Bah humbug, make her queen, she’ll be absolutely great too 😀
Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana’a name is a tribute to both paternal grandparents. Charlotte is the female form of Charles and I’m sure he’ll adore his granddaughter, only having had boys so far 🙂
If you are curious about my Pretty Data project, and interested in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, please get in touch, as I’m still hoping to sign up more helpers with my project! Warning: you’d have to be pretty crazy about imagery, somewhat interested in history, and have a (more or less secret) crush on royalty!…lol
The files I have shared with you for this particular post have NOT been altered by me. I have included the original files in my download folder since they are official portraits and files released by the creators into public domain.
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Wings of Whimsy 
He did get better looking with age. Thank you.
That investiture picture is not a fortunate one, and the weirdo crown makes it look almost fake…lol Maybe that is the reason the image is no longer on the official British Monarchy website, I had to find it elsewhere 😛 Also with Camilla he SMILES so much more, and that really suits him too 😀 xoxoxo