Eight months after the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, Carlos III is crowned king this Saturday at Buckingham Palace with his wife, Camila Parker Bowles. Although he has already served as monarch since the death of his mother, with the official ceremony the circle closes to make way for the new era of the Royal House.

Not exempt from controversy —in his first week as king he already gave several signs of his character losing his temper—, Carlos III has a multitude of stories behind him. It is not surprising, considering that acceded to the reign at the age of 73, after nearly seven decades as heir apparent to the British monarchy. Here you can see 30 curiosities about his past, his history and his more than 70 years of life.

  • was born as Carlos Felipe Arturo Jorge (Charles Philip Arthur George) at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948 at 9:14 p.m., weighing just over 3.3 kilos, and was baptized on December 15 on the same site.
  • In 1952, when he was three years old, he became heir apparent — that is, next in line to the throne — and in 2017, the longest-serving Prince of Wales.
  • He was the first heir to see his mother being crowned Queen of England.
  • Carlos III has three siblings, two sons, two step-children, five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.
  • The first formal photograph of the King of England was taken by Cecil Beaton in December 1948, shortly after he was born.
  • Carlos III’s first visit abroad was to Malta, when he was five years old.
  • Since 1969, Carlos III has visited 48 Commonwealth countries.
  • Charles III was the first heir to the throne to earn a college degree. He studied archeology and anthropology in his first year of university at Cambridge, but later switched to history.
  • He learned Welsh in 1969, while spending a term studying at Aberystwyth.
  • He plays the piano, trumpet and cello and even performed in a symphony concert with the Trinity College Orchestra in 1967.
  • He earned RAF (British Air Force) wings as a Flight Lieutenant in August 1971.
  • He commanded HMS Bronington in 1976, when he was serving in the Royal Navy.
  • Charles III founded The Prince’s Trust charity with his severance pay from the Navyabout 7,000 pounds, in 1976.
  • He was the first member of the Royal Family to successfully complete the Parachute Regiment training course, before being appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment in 1977.
  • He received the title of ‘Guardian of cows’ by the Maasai from Tanzania in 2011.
  • In 2018 he received the title of ‘Mal Menaringmanu’ in Vanuatu, title of ‘high chief’.
  • A Vanuatu tribe worships Carlos III as if he were a deity.
  • Carlos III named a species of frog endemic to Ecuador, the Cuellaje torrent frog (‘Hyloscirtus princecharlesi’ or, in English, ‘Prince Charles’ tree frog’).
  • As Prince of Wales, Charles III was Chairman or patron of over 800 charitable organizations and initiatives.
  • The first time that Carlos III spoke of his concern about contamination was in 1970.
  • At the age of 16, he took on his first official royal assignment, in June 1965: a student party in the garden of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
  • He has several books written. He is the author of ‘The Old Man of Lochnagar’, based on stories his brothers told him in his childhood, but also books on natural history and the environment, including ‘Harmony: a new way of seeing our world’ or ‘Climate change’, part of the ‘Ladybird Expert’ series.
  • A keen painter, he exhibited a watercolor at a Royal Academy exhibition in 1987 which he submitted anonymously.
  • In 1975 he became part of the Magic Circle, a society of magicians founded in London in 1905, after ‘passing’ its entrance audition.
  • In 1980 he participated in a steeplechase and finished second; Also passionate about horse riding, he has played polo for much of his life.
  • In the year 2000 he made a cameo in the television series ‘Coronation Street’ and in 2022, in the British soap opera ‘EastEnders’, in the Jubilee episode broadcast on June 2.
  • He presented the weather forecast on the BBC during a visit to the Scottish studios in 2012.
  • An Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Volante was purchased in 1970, which has since been converted to run on E85 bioethanol made from by-products of the wine and cheese industries. It is the car in which his eldest son, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, left Buckingham Palace after their wedding in April 2011.
  • He usually plants trees during his commitments; every time you plant one, you ‘greet’ a branch to wish you the best.