CHARLES was just nine years old when his mother announced her firstborn was to become the Prince of Wales.
“I intend to create my son Charles Prince of Wales today,” Queen Elizabeth announced on 26 July 1958 in a pre-recorded message played at the Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales.
“When he is grown up, I will present him to you at Caernarfon Castle.”
The castle – the name of which is often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle – is in northwest Wales and is widely regarded as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages.
It would be 11 years before Charles would have his investiture ceremony at the historic fortress to officially mark his title – and for the awkward young schoolboy, his mother’s declaration was nothing short of cringeworthy.
In his book The Queen, royal biographer Matthew Dennison says Her Majesty didn’t inform Charles beforehand that she’d be making the announcement and the prince was mortified.
“Charles learnt of it in the headmaster’s study at [his primary school] Cheam in the company of a group of classmates while watching the closing ceremony of
