The new biography of Prince Charles: his passions, his romances and his persona: Read on it here!
The new biography of Prince Charles
2 months after their wedding in 2011, Prince William and his newly wedded wife Kate Middleton had paid a visit to Canada and North America. They were supposedly on a royal tour but the couple had treated it more like a private vacation.
They had done a number of dazzling photoshoots and they had adorned Hollywood attires and cowboy hats. The Canadian secretary to the Queen had arranged for a more relaxed tour for the twosome.
The couple did not have a much-formalized schedule in Canada and North America and hence they had some time off to relax and enjoy themselves.
According to a new biography of Prince Charles titled ‘Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life’ by Sally Bedell Smith, Prince Charles was not very pleased with the Canadian and American tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate Middleton).
Prince Charles had expressed his displeasure and had felt that the tour was ‘tasteless’. He was ‘more than irked’ with the couple on it. He was not happy with the couple using the tour as a fun-making vacation.
In 2011, the royal writer Phil Dampier spoke to ‘The Mirror’ and said there was possible jealousy creeping into Prince Charles.
This could be because when Camilla and Prince Charles had visited Canada they were received with lesser fanfare than what the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge received on this tour post-wedding.
The writer had said:
“Charles felt overshadowed by Diana and now it seems he feels overshadowed by their son. Some people may think he is jealous. I have always felt that as soon as William got married, Charles would feel sidelined.”
All these book disclosures would definitely be making some awkward breakfast table conversations and behaviors. There might be some absentees from the breakfasts and maybe lunches too.
Prince Charles’ media image
Prince Charles has never been very popular with the media. First, it was for his lifestyle, his strained relations with his first wife Diana, his thinking and opinions, and then his marriage to Camilla Shand aka Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Prince Charles could not garner as many fanbases as his late wife Princess Diana or their sons William and Harry or William’s wife, Kate Middleton. Prince Charles has always been under close media scrutiny.
Firstly it was because he is the heir apparent to the throne and there are some expectations of his conduct as the future King. Secondly, it was because of his marriage to Princess Diana, his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and the sudden demise of Princess Diana in a car accident in Paris.
From the age of five to eight, Charles was home-schooled by his governess Catherine Peebles. However, after that Charles was sent for schooling outside Buckingham Palace and he was the first heir apparent who was educated in this manner.
He also studied at Gordonstoun School in northeast Scotland. But Charles did not like that school and used to call it ‘Colditz in Kilts’. He was educated for two terms at Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia.
He seemed to have had a lonely life even when he was at the boarding school. Prince did not receive any preferential treatment due to his royalty.
He went straight from secondary school to University without doing the British Army; which he, however, completed after he finished his studies. He was also the first heir apparent to receive a University degree.
Prince Charles’ romantic life
Young Charles was deeply influenced by his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. Prince Charles was told by Lord Mountbatten that he could do as many affairs as he wanted, but as a wife, he should choose an attractive, sweet-charactered innocent girl.
Prince Charles had multiple affairs and his girlfriends included Georgiana Russell (daughter of the British Ambassador of Spain), Lady Jane Wellesley (daughter of 8th Duke of Wellington), Davina Sheffield, and Lady Sarah Spencer, and Camilla Shand.
He was supposed to marry Amanda Knatchbull, the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten. Prince Charles had proposed to her but she refused since she had lost her near ones in bomb attacks and was not willing to be part of the Royal family.
Prince Charles liked Diana Spencer and seriously started considering her as his potential bride. As the media started reporting on their togetherness, he was forced to announce early that he is marrying Diana Spencer and proceeded with it without much ado. On 29th July 1981, they were married at St.Paul’s Cathedral. Prince William was born in 1982 and Prince Harry in 1984.
However, Charles and Lady Diana’s relationship got strained beyond repair. The couple was incompatible and there was a huge gap of thirteen years between them.
Prince Charles has also restarted dating his previous girlfriend, Camila Shand (who had married Andrew Parker-Bowles by then). In December 1992, the couple separated.
The divorce was finalized in 1996. Camilla Parker Bowles also divorced her husband in 1995. Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Prince Charles and Camilla came closer and got engaged in 2005. The Queen consented to the civil marriage. Charles’ parents, however, did not attend the marriage ceremony.
Short Bio on Prince Charles
Prince Charles is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. He rose to fame as Duke of Cornwall in England and as Duke of Rothesay in Scotland. He is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history having held the position since 1952. More Bio…
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