In 1905, London was the scene of the birth of a curious, unique society: in the Pinoli’s restaurant in the English capital, 23 amateur magicians (all male) got together in a meeting that was the germ of the creation of Magic Circle, an organization whose sole purpose is to promote the art of magic. That first meeting was presided over by the Belgian illusionist Servais Le Royinventor of the levitation trick ‘Asrah, the floating princess’, and ended with the club’s first big decision: the name.

The possibility of it being called the Martin Chapender Club was considered, in honor of one of the founders of the society, who recently died at the time when he was only 25 years old. But in the end they chose to call it The Magic Circle which on the one hand clearly reflected the intention of the company and, on the other, he shared the initials with that teammate that the club no longer had. To join this popular magic club, you don’t need much more than to know and have certain skills in this art… and prove it. And that was how Charles III entered this society.

The magic trick, family ‘inheritance’

The now King and then Prince of Wales made himself known to this society one night in 1975, surrounded by some of the best magicians in the world. It was the first time that Carlos III was going to do a magic trick in public and he pulled on a family ‘inheritance’: the illusion that he chose was known as ‘Cups and balls’, which his great-uncle and also his mentor, Lord Mountbatten, wanted to be taught when he was in his early 20s. The story of how he opted for this trick dates back to the 1940s: at that time, Lieutenant Robert de Pass, a crew member of the British destroyer HMS Petard, saw how a street magician from Cairo (Egypt) performed this trick on a city street.

De Pass, a fan of magic, tried this trick with a set of glasses that he decided to buy in the same place where he learned about the trick and once he finished his military service, managed to enter The Magic Circle, in 1946. With this trick and these glasses, the lieutenant acted throughout Europe, also before the Greek and Swedish monarchy. According to ‘The Telegraph’, De Pass’s next trick was to teach the Prince of Wales how to do magic with the same material he had worked with for years. De Pass’s son tells that his father was then sent to Buckingham to teach Carlos this trickat the insistence of the prince’s great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, and his interest in entering that circle of wizards.

The one who was a lieutenant had only 20 minutes to show what was behind the trick, but he gave Carlos III the cups and balls so he could practice. In one of the performances, in 1975, it was when he proposed to become a member of the society. “Prince Charles was like a regular member of the public, he listened to every word and laughed at the right moment,” noted the club’s circular editor, David Beckley. That night, October 28, Francis White and John Salisse, the club’s president and secretary, brought Carlos III onto the stage and they offered the certificate of membership and the blue medal by The Magic Circle.

But in order for it to be his, he had to pull a trick in public. “Has he ever done it?” they asked. “Never,” he said. But he pulled ‘inheritance’ and presented to the public the trick that De Pass had taught him. “I understand that this trick is so old that it is carved on the walls of the tombs of Egyptian kings,” he said, before beginning and starting to talk about his desire to travel to Egypt. “One of the great secrets of magic, According to what they have told me, it is to speak as much as possible to divert attention,” he joked afterwards.

The figure of Carlos III appeared on the cover of the club’s circular in December, after the triumph of the then prince that night. “His natural charm of his and his personality captivated the audience as he performed his performance,” noted one of the club’s magicians. According to former club president Michael Bailey, author of ‘The Magic Circle: Making Magic Through the Years’, the prince “didn’t flinch” when he realized he had to present a “notoriously tricky” magic trick without having had time to rehearse previously. “It was unlikely that the examiners would fail the future kingbut robert [de Pass] He saw with pride how the one who had been his royal pupil became a member of society”. And not just a member: since then, Carlos III has been an honorary member for life and also a member of the Inner Magic Circle, the small club of ‘top’ magicians within this society.

‘Cups and balls’, a classic of magic

The trick that the King of England used to enter this society is one of the great classics of magic. It is a trick in which a series of balls mysteriously appear and disappear from under some glasses, usually three. Sometimes the ‘show’ ends with the surprise appearance of foreign elements. It is also a small show with a multitude of adaptations, which is common to see in street artists at fairs and markets. In Spain, this is also included within those known as tricks of the tricksters, although in this case it almost always has a dot of scam associated with it.

The magician John Mulholland once wrote that Houdini believed that no one could be a good magician without mastering the ‘Cups and Balls’ trickwhich includes many of the basic elements of magic, including dexterity with the hands and the ability to direct the audience, key to maintaining (or distracting) attention.