King Carlos III waited 74 years to rule

Become crown prince at age 3, king at age 73 after the death of Elizabeth II, his coronation will take place this Saturday, at age 74.

The coronation of Charles III dedicates a man whose life was a long wait, full of crises and passions.

These are some of the key dates that marked his life:

– November 14, 1948: Carlos Felipe Arturo Jorge of Edinburgh was born at Buckingham Palace, the eldest son of Princess Elizabeth and second in succession to the British throne.

– February 6, 1952: his grandfather, George VI, dies, and his mother becomes Queen Elizabeth II. At the age of 3, Carlos becomes heir to the throne.

– April 1962: He attends Gordonstoun Boarding School in Scotland.

– July 1, 1969: named Prince of Wales in a televised ceremony at Caernarfon Castle.

– 1970: graduated from the University of Cambridge.

– 1971-1976: after a brief romance with Camilla Shard, the Prince joins the Royal Navy. She married Andrew Parker Bowles in July 1973.

– 1977: Carlos meets Diana Spencer, then 16, while dating her older sister Sarah Spencer.

– February 24, 1981: Carlos, 31,’s engagement to Diana, 19, is announced.

– July 29, 1981: the couple married in a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, which was watched by some 750 million viewers worldwide. Diana becomes Princess of Wales.

– June 21, 1982: Prince William is born.

– September 15, 1984: Prince Hendrik is born.

– December 9, 1992: Carlos officially divorces Diana. The divorce will be pronounced on August 28, 1996.

– August 31, 1997: Diana dies in a car accident in Paris while being chased by papparazzi. Carlos insists she be buried with royal honors.

– April 9, 2005: He marries the woman he has been in love with for years and with whom he had a scandalous extramarital affair, Camilla Parker Bowles, at Windsor Town Hall.

– April 29, 2011: their son William marries Kate Middleton, now known as Catherine, Princess of Wales.

– May 19, 2018: Meghan Markle, whose father is absent, walks down the aisle to marry her son Harry.

– March 7, 2020: Enrique lashes out at his father in a televised interview from the United States, where he moved with Meghan after leaving the monarchy in early 2020. The Prince accuses Carlos of choking on tradition.

– April 9, 2021: he loses his father, Prince Felipe, who dies almost a hundred years old.

– September 8, 2022: His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, dies surrounded by her family in the Scottish castle of Balmoral. As heir, he automatically becomes king with the name Carlos III.

– September 10, 2022: is officially proclaimed monarch in a traditional yet austere ceremony at London’s St James’s Palace, opening a new chapter in the British monarchy.

– December 6, 2023: a young man throws an egg at her without hitting it, while visiting the outskirts of London. It’s the start of a protest movement that will see more eggs thrown at the monarch, with protesters holding banners that read, “He’s not my king.”

– January 11, 2023: Prince Enrique’s memoir book, titled “In the Shadow” in Spanish, goes on sale, in which he criticizes the attitude of members of the royal family, including the king, whom he accuses of joking with the fact that it maybe not his real father.

– May 6, 2023: will be crowned, along with his wife Camila, in front of some 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey in London, in a simplified and modernized ceremony.