Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Elizabeth II. He has been Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay since 1952, and he is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history.
He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having held that title since 1958. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had attended as a child. Charles also spent a year at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia.
As his mother’s coffin lay on a gun carriage, draped in the Royal Standard and white lilies, a teenage Prince William bowed his head in deep mourning.
But while he could easily have broken down during the funeral for the late Princess Diana of Wales, the 15-year-old held back the tears, giving younger brother Harry extra strength to cope with such a heartbreaking ordeal.
Diana’s tragic death on 31 August 1997 stunned the entire world, and united Britain in a period of unprecedented national mourning.
She was just 36 when she and partner Dodi Al-Fayed, 42, and their driver Henri Paul, 41, died in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.
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