You may know him as the Queen's son, Prince William and Prince Harry's father [1] and Princess Diana's ex-husband [2]. . . oh, yeah, and the heir to the British throne, but how much do you actually know about Charles, Prince of Wales? The future king captured our hearts when he walked Meghan Markle down the aisle [3], and though you may still pine for the days of Charles and Diana, it's impossible not to admit that he and Duchess Camilla make a sweet royal couple [4].
The eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II will turn 70 on Nov. 14, and in honour of his birthday, here are 70 facts you may not know about the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history.
- 1: Position in the line of succession to the throne [6].
- 1: Number of children's books written — The Old Man of Lochnagar, based on stories he used to tell his brothers Andrew and Edward when they were young.
- 2: Number of children — Prince William [7], born in 1982, and Prince Harry [8], born in 1984.
- 2: Number of marriages — to Diana in 1981, and to Camilla in 2005.
- 2: Number of books written about ecology and sustainability — Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World and On the Future of Food.
- 2:2: Grade he was awarded when he graduated from Cambridge [9] with a Bachelor of Arts.
- 3: Age he became heir apparent.
- 3: Number of siblings — Princess Anne [10], Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
- 3: Number of instruments played — cello, trumpet, and piano.
- 3: Number of grandchildren — Prince George [11], Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
- 4: Position most often played in polo, though he has played all four positions.
- 4: Number of languages spoken — English, French, German, and Welsh.
- 5: Years of active duty in the Royal Air Force, British Army, and Royal Navy [12].
- 5: Age during his first official visit abroad to Malta.
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- 6: Number of months he and Diana dated before he proposed [13].
- 7: Number of official titles [14] — as well as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, he is also Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
- 7: According to Jeremy Paxton's 2006 book On Royalty, the number of eggs Charles requests to be boiled for his breakfast before eating just one of them (though the palace says this is totally false [15]!).
- 7.5: Weight in pounds at birth.
- 8: Age when both he and his father Philip [16] began boarding at Cheam School in Hampshire.
- 9: Number of students he shared his dormitory room with at Cheam.
- 10: Age when he was named the Prince of Wales.
- 10: Season of MasterChef Australia where he made a special guest appearance [17] with Camilla.
- 11: Years spent married to Diana [18] before their separation in 1992.
- 12: Difference in years between Charles and Diana [19].
- 13: Percent of the overall Duchy of Cornwall estate owned by Charles (or 7,615 hectares of land [20]).
- 14: Day in November of 1948 when he was born.
- 14: Age when he reportedly ordered his first alcoholic drink [21] — a cherry brandy — while on a school trip during his time at Gordonstoun.
- 15: Age when he played his first polo match, captained by The Duke of Edinburgh.
- 17: Day in June of 1968 when he was installed as a Knight of the Garter at Windsor Castle.
- 18: Number of military regiments he is affiliated to.
- 19: Number of organisations that comprise The Prince's Charities (18 of which were personally founded by Charles).
- 20: Number of watercolour paintings of his country estates [22] exhibited at the Florence International Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2001.
- 20: Day in August of 1971 when he was awarded his Royal Air Force Wings at Cranwell.
- 21: Age when he received his Aston Martin DB6, which runs on biofuel made from surplus wine.
- 24: Number of Dukes of Cornwall in British history.
- 26: Age when he first rode at The Queen's Birthday Parade as Colonel of the Welsh Guards.
- 26: Years that have passed since he founded Waitrose Duchy Organic (originally Duchy Originals), conceived by Charles in 1990 as a way to distribute the organic food grown on the Highgrove House estate.
- 27: Number of cakes served at Charles and Diana's wedding [23].
- 27.5: Cost, in pounds, to visit the Royal Gardens at Highgrove [24], the garden at Charles' private Gloucestershire residence that he planned and planted himself.
- 32: Age when he married Diana.
- 44: Number of Commonwealth countries he's visited since 1969.
- 47: Number of minutes spent underwater examining the wreck of the Mary Rose [25], a Tudor warship sunk off Portsmouth in 1545.
- 48: His age when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris' Pont de l'Alma road tunnel [26].
- 53: Number of Commonwealth government members who decided in April of 2018 that Charles — as well as eventually becoming King — would succeed the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.
- 56: Age when he married Camilla [27].
- 70: Height in inches (making him the same height as Diana).
- 80: Years of tradition broken when he presented Camilla with a wedding ring derived from Cornish gold, instead of from the nugget of Welsh gold that has provided rings for all royals since 1923.
- 192: Number of acres at Llwynywermod, his Welsh property.
- 335: Cost, in dollars, of the Turnbull & Asser three-button-cuff shirt [28] inspired by Charles' style.
- 546: Number of engagements attended in 2017, which includes 374 UK events and 172 events abroad, making him the busiest royal of the year.
- 800: Number of guests who attended Charles and Camilla's wedding reception at St. George's Hall in 2005.
- 845: Number of the Naval Air Squadron he joined on the HMS Hermes in 1974 after qualifying as a helicopter pilot.
- 1,375: Cost, in dollars, of a 33-year-old slice of wedding cake [29] from his first wedding auctioned off in 2014.
- 2,500: Average cost, in pounds, of lithographs of his watercolour paintings [30] from his Highgrove Shop.
- 2,500: Number of guests who attended Charles and Diana's wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981.
- 4,000: Number of kilowatt hours of electricity produced per year by the solar panels he installed in the roof of Clarence House [31], his London residence.
- 6,000: Number of guests from his 386 of his charities [32] who attended his early 70th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in May.
- 7,400: Money, in pounds, that he used from his Navy severance pay to start The Prince's Trust.
- 25,000: Money, in dollars, he donated to communities damaged by Hurricane Katrina after winning the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize in 2005.
- 53,000: Number of acres at Birkhall, his private estate in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
- 100,000: Money, in pounds, his estates received in European Union agricultural subsidies in 2016.
- 133,658: Acres of land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, including farming, residential, and commercial properties.
- 253,000: Money, in pounds, stolen by The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health financial director [33], accountant George Gray, in 2010, sentencing him to three years in prison.
- 475,000: Cost, in dollars, of his 2017 trip to India, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.
- 600,000: Money, in dollars, he awarded to Diana yearly to maintain a private office for her charity work after their divorce [34].
- 800,000: Number of people who lined the streets of London on Charles and Diana's wedding day.
- 17,000,000: Number of viewers who watched his appearance on Coronation Street in December of 2000.
- 17,000,000: Money, in pounds, awarded to Diana in divorce settlement.
- 100,000,000: Money, in pounds, brought in annually by his charities.
- 750,000,000: Number of people who tuned in to watch his televised wedding ceremony with Diana.