The Coronation of King Charles III will take place on 6 May 2023. The date falls almost 70 years after his mother’s Coronation on 2 June 1953. Ahead of this momentous occasion, we reflect on some key moments that have shaped the life of King Charles III.
King Charles III has been the heir apparent since the age of three, on the death of his grandfather, King George VI.
During his early years, the then Prince Charles attended various schools including two terms at the Timbertop Campus at Geelong Grammar School, Victoria in 1966 as a 17 year old.
Prince Charles attended Cambridge University in 1967 where he read anthropology, archaeology, and history. He graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then qualified as a jet pilot with the Royal Air Force in 1971. In the same year he enrolled at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Devon.
In 1974, he embarked on a career in the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton, where he qualified as a helicopter pilot and commanded the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington.
Prince Charles has made 16 visits to Australia, 15 of which he either accompanied or represented his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
His first official visit to Australia was as the Queen’s representative at the memorial service of Prime Minister Harold Holt in 1967 His most recent, accompanied by the then Duchess of Cornwall, was to open the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
King Charles III has been associated with a number of Australian charities including:
- Australian Football League Europe
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy
- The Australian Music Foundation
- The Australian Stock Horse Society
- The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre
- The Prince's Trust Australia
- The Returned & Services League of Australia Limited
- The Royal Australian Armoured Corps
- The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia Friends in the United Kingdom
- Variety Australia.