According to the official social platform account of the British royal family, on the afternoon of September 8, local time, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
The british rules of succession to the throne, the moment the Queen dies, her eldest son, Crown Prince Charles, 73, automatically becomes britain's next monarch.
Charles succeeded to the throne as King of England, setting a record for the longest crown prince in British history, 64 years.
King Charles III, now 73 years old, has been the heir to the throne for the longest time in British history and the oldest in British history.
The article recalls the 64-year reign of Charles III, the new King of England
The first half of his life attracted much attention because of his two marriages
Born on 14 November 1948, Charles was the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, and the first heir to the Throne.
After Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne in 1952, Charles, who was less than 4 years old, became the first heir to the British throne. In 1958, at the age of 10, Charles was crowned Prince of Wales (crown prince of the United Kingdom) and officially became crown prince of the United Kingdom.
Therefore, while Elizabeth II set a record for the longest reigning monarch in history, Prince Charles also set a record for the longest crown prince in British history in 64 years.
In the Queen's eyes, Charles "was a dedicated and respectable heir to the throne". During most of Charles's time as crown prince, especially in the first half of his life, he was low-key, and the only thing that attracted much attention was his two marriages.
Prince Charles was married twice. His first wife was Diana, and the two gave birth to Prince William and Prince Harry.
On July 29, 1981, Princess Diana and Prince Charles held a grand wedding, and the eighteen-year-old Diana officially appeared in the world for the first time as a princess. That year, 750 million people watched the fairytale wedding live and in front of the TELEVISION.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana Infographic
The relationship ended on August 28, 1996, and the two officially dissolved their marriage contract. The following year, Diana died in a car accident in Paris, France. At Princess Diana's funeral, Queen Elizabeth II made a rare speech, one of the only two speeches the Queen has given besides the annual Christmas address. Diana's eldest son, Prince William, later named her daughter Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte, in honor of her grandmother and mother.
On April 9, 2005, Charles married Camilla in a civil marriage. On February 6, 2022, on the day of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne, Queen Elizabeth II issued a statement saying that she sincerely hoped that after Crown Prince Charles ascended the throne, his wife Camilla would be called queen, and hoped that people would support Charles and Camilla as much as they supported herself.
Promoted to Honorary Field Marshal of the British Third Service
On 16 June 2012, Prince Charles, the first heir to the British throne, was promoted to Honorary Marshal of the British Navy, Army and Air Force.
Prince Charles served in the British Navy and Air Force in the 1970s and attended royal air force academies and royal naval colleges at Dartmouth.
The Queen appointed Prince Charles as five-star Honorary Commander-in-Chief of the British Naval, Land and Air Forces as a recognition of Charles's support for the Queen's work as Commander-in-Chief. According to British media reports, in addition to Prince Charles, only two members of the British royal family have received the honorary marshal rank, they are the queen's husband Prince Philip, who also won the honorary marshal rank of the three services, and the queen's cousin Duke Kent, who has also won the honorary marshal rank of the army. Promotions to honorary positions do not incur any additional expenses for the Ministry of Defence and do not affect the promotion of members of the Royal Service or the appointment of other honorary positions of members of the Royal Family.
Succeeded to the Commonwealth of State
On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth Meeting of the Commonwealth of England agreed that Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, would assume the symbolic position of the loose federation of 53 countries. The day before, the Queen of England had sent a message to the outside world that she hoped that Charles would take over.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, the Queen said: "I sincerely hope that the Commonwealth will continue to bring stability and continuity to future generations, and that the Prince of Wales (i.e. Prince Charles) will inherit the important work that my father began in 1949." ”
Chen Qi, an associate professor at the Centre for British Studies at shanghai Chinese University, said: "The Queen of England's proposal at this time to replace Charles as head of state of the Commonwealth will help quell the rumors of discord between Charles and the Queen and the Queen, and also help establish the prestige of the future King of the United Kingdom." Another reason is that the queen is also old after all, and it is reasonable to arrange the personnel layout behind her in advance. ”
Sun Chao, a British political history researcher and teacher of world history at Shandong Normal University, believes that the succession to the Commonwealth head of state can also be seen as a prelude to Charles's succession to the British throne.
According to the BBC, in recent years, Prince Charles has taken on some of the foundational work by making frequent visits to Commonwealth countries to build friendships with their leaders. In the face of world leaders, he consolidated his qualifications as a candidate.
Charles has said: "For me, the Commonwealth is a fundamental feature, starting with my first visit to Malta when I was just 5 years old. Charles stressed, "I want citizens of all member states to feel the meaning of the commonwealth's existence." ”
Suffered political criticism during Brexit
During brexit, there was friction between the royal family and politics.
In 2018, the BBC aired the documentary Prince, Son and Crown Prince: Charles at 70 to celebrate Charles's seventieth birthday. Charles said in the film that he knows that after becoming a king, he will face many constraints and his behavior will change.
Prince Charles Infographic
In August 2019, Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, was exposed to mocking several members of the royal family, including Prince Charles, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, while attending a meeting.
According to the BBC and The Guardian, Farage began by praising the Queen in a speech, calling Elizabeth II an "amazing and awe-inspiring woman" and saying "we are lucky to have her." ”
However, for the queen's children and grandchildren, Farage was not so polite. Speaking of Prince Charles, the politician referred to him as the "Charlie Boy" and said: "All I can say is that the 'Charlie Boy' is in his 70s and hopes that the Queen can live a long life." ”
However, after the content of the speech was exposed, there were many criticisms of Farage on social media. Foreign media pointed out that the politician has always been critical of members of the royal family, especially Prince Charles. When Charles gave a speech on climate change 11 years ago, Farage refused to applaud, calling the prince's adviser "naïve and stupid."
Twice infected with COVID-19
At the beginning of 2020, the United Kingdom suffered a serious epidemic, and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, was confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus.
Since then, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, British Government Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, British Health Minister Matt Hancock and others have also confirmed that they are infected with new crown pneumonia.
Prince Charles, who has already been diagnosed with COVID-19, said Britain was facing its worst crisis since the Second World War.
On February 10, 2022, the British Royal Family issued a statement saying that Crown Prince Charles tested positive for the new crown virus and was self-isolating, which was the second time Charles was confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus.
The statement, posted through Clarence Palace social media accounts, said Charles received test results that morning and had to postpone the day's royal official duties.
British media quoted royal news as reporting that Charles has received three doses of the new crown vaccine and his wife Camilla has tested negative for the new crown virus.
Delivered a speech at the opening of Parliament on behalf of the Queen
On 10 May 2022, Prince Charles delivered a regular speech on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II at the opening ceremony of the new year session of the British Parliament.
On 9 May, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had been absent from the opening ceremony due to her incapacity and that Prince Charles would speak on behalf of prince. This was the first time since 1963 that Elizabeth II had been absent from the opening statement of Parliament. According to reports, this speech is one of the most important symbolic duties of the British monarch and the core content of the opening ceremony of parliament.
Prince Charles of the United Kingdom, on behalf of Elizabeth II, delivered a routine speech at the opening of parliament Photo: CCTV
On 17 May, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, began a three-day visit to Canada. The visit is part of a series of celebrations in Canada to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, with a number of itineraries that interact with Indigenous peoples.
Speaking at the welcome ceremony at St. John's, Charles acknowledged that the land of Canada has been cared for by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. He said new ways must be found to "confront the darker, more difficult aspects of the past, to recognize, reconcile and work to do better."
(Comprehensive CCTV News, Overseas Network, China Daily, The Paper)