1. The Prince of Wales as a baby. His
birth at Buckingham Palace on
November 14, 1948 was
announced in a late-night BBC
Home Service news item disclosing
that Princess Elizabeth had been
'safely delivered of a prince.' Aged
six months in this picture Prince
Charles is held by his parents
Princess Elizabeth, as she was
then, and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Their first child, he was second in
line to the throne after his mother.
He was christened Charles Philip
Arthur George in the Music Room
at Buckingham Palace by the then
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr
Geoffrey Fisher.Picture: PA

2. Prince Charles's younger
sister, Princess Anne, was
born at Clarence House on
August 15, 1950. The siblings
are pictured here in London
with their parents in October
of that year, when Prince
Charles was nearly two and
Princess Anne was two
months old. Princess Anne
was the only daughter born to
the Queen and Duke of
Edinburgh.Picture:
AFP/GETTY

3. The Prince of Wales celebrates his third birthday in 1951 at Buckingham Palace. He is pictured here with his
grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, grandfather, King George VI, and sister, Princess Anne. The King died in his
sleep the following February at Sandringham, aged 56.Picture: GETTY

4. Princess Elizabeth watches her son Prince Charles play in his toy car at Balmoral in 1952. One of
thousands of gifts given to the Prince by British manufacturers during his childhood, the aquamarine
pedal car was said to be one of his favourite toys.Picture: Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images

5. The Prince of Wales is flanked by his mother and grandmother in this 1953 image. His mother had become
Queen the previous year but her coronation ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. An
estimated three million people lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of her as she travelled to and
from Buckingham Palace in the golden state coach.Picture: ITV/REX

7. The Prince of Wales attends the first stage of the European Horse Trials in Windsor Great Park in 1955. He is
accompanied by the Queen, Queen Mother and Princess Margaret., the Queen's sister. The Prince later
became a regular at Royal Ascot.Picture: Evening News /REX

8. Prince Charles talks to his
father as he plays polo at
Windsor Great Park in
1956. As an adult, the
Prince raised more than
£12 million for charity by
playing polo, retiring from
the game in November
2005 after more than 40
years on the field. He met
his now-wife, the Duchess
of Cornwall, at a polo
match when he was
23.Picture: Daily Mail /REX

9. Prince Charles gives chase to an Ayrshire calf that broke away from him while he was holding it during his visit to the
dairy farm at Balmoral Castle in 1957. The Queen has taken her family to Balmoral almost every year since becoming
monarch. She founded the Balmoral fold of Highland Cattle in 1953 and it now has 29 cows.Picture: THE TIMES

10. Prince Charles in 1958, the
year he turned 10. By this
stage he was being educated
at Cheam, the preparatory
school at Headley, near
Newbury, Berks, which his
father attended from 1930 to
1933. The Prince of Wales
spent five years there, from
1957 to 1962.Picture:
AFP/GETTY

11. Prince Charles watches aircraft drop fuel tanks being repaired during his four hours on board HMS Eagle in
Weymouth, Dorset, in 1959. He went on the visit with the Queen, and both shook hands with naval officers and
watched preparations for aircraft launching. They also watched the rum ration being served.Picture: Photographic
News Agencies

12. Prince Charles holds his baby brother in 1960. Prince Andrew was born at Buckingham Palace on
February 19 that year. The Queen's second son was said to be a mischievous and charming
child.Picture: Cecil Beaton/ALAMY

16. Prince Charles, Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh are pictured during a visit to the
Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in 1964. The visit also took in Malta, which gained independence
from Britain that year.Picture: Reginald Davis/REX

17. Prince Charles plays 'Macbeth' in
1965. The Prince took part in a
number of plays while at
Gordonstoun.Picture: TS/Keystone
USA/REX

18. Prince Charles and Princess Anne on a bamboo raft on the Rio Grande in Jamaica in 1966. The
Prince, then aged 18, was representing the Queen at the Commonwealth Games. It was his first trip
to the island but he returned there in 1993, 2000 and 2008.Picture: Reginald Davis/REX

19. Prince Charles began life as an undergraduate
at the University of Cambridge on October 8
, 1967, the month before his 19th birthday. He
is pictured here on his first day, wearing his
blue silk Trinity College gown. The Prince read
archaeology and anthropolgy in his first year
but switched to history in his second
year.Picture: PA

20. Prince Charles with
Princess Anne, the
Duke of
Edinburgh, Prince
Andrew, Prince
Edward and the
Queen at
Frogmore, Windsor
, in 1968. In March
and April of that
year, the Prince
spent time studying
at archaeological
sites in France and
taking part in
excavations in
Jersey. In his first
year exams at
Cambridge that
summer he was
awarded a
2:1.Picture:
Reginald
Davis/REX

21. The investiture of the Prince of
Wales, in which a 20-year-old
Prince Charles receives the
insignia as the 21st Prince of
Wales from the Queen, takes
place on July 1, 1969, at
Caernarfon Castle in Wales.
Some 4,000 guests gathered
inside the medieval walls to
watch the ceremony. Thousands
more stood in the dry moat and
outside the castle and millions
around the world watched on
television.

22. Prince Charles
goes on his first
royal tour of
Canada in 1970.
He is pictured
here wearing an
Eskimo parka at
Tuktoyaktuk in
the Northwest
Territories. The
tour was timed
to coincide with
the centennial of
the
Territories.Pictur
e: Reginald
Davis/REX

23. Prince Charles on board HMS Norfolk, serving on the guided missile destroyer in 1972.
The previous autumn he had participated in a graduate entry scheme at the Royal Naval
College in Dartmouth, Devon, as an Acting Sub-Lieutenant. He joined HMS Norfolk on
November 5 1971.Picture: ITV/REX

25. Ready for lift off, Prince
Charles is pictured in his
helicopter at
Yeovilton, Somerset, in
1974. He had joined the
Royal Naval Air Station
Yeovilton for helicopter
flying training on
September 2, aged 25.
He then pursued further
helicopter training before
joining 845 Squadron
(Wessex V Commando
Support
Squadron).Picture: REX

26. Prince Charles, then 26, chats to Camilla Parker Bowles, his future wife, at a polo match in July 1975. He
first met her four years earlier at a polo match at Windsor. They shared many interests, including a love of
horses, polo and country pursuits. Camilla had married the cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles in
1973.Picture: REX

27. In February 1976, the Prince of Wales took up command of HMS Bronington. He relinquished
his command that December, on the final day of his active service in the Royal Navy. On
December 16 he paid a farewell call on the First Sea Lord.Picture: Haydn Jones/REX

28. Prince Charles
smokes a 'peace
pipe' at Stand
Off, Alberta, during a
royal tour of Canada
in 1977. He was
given the name 'Red
Crow', an Indian
Chief of the Kainai
tribe. During the trip
he made a formal
speech at a
ceremony marking
the 100th
anniversary of Treaty
7, an agreement
between Queen
Victoria and several
tribes in
Alberta, which
promised the tribes
annual
payments.Picture:
Reginald Davis/REX

29. Prince Charles and Prince Andrew train for a parachute jump at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in 1978. The Prince of
Wales was due to take on his role as Colonel-in-Chief to the Parachute Regiment so Sgt Glan Evans showed him the
ropes. The Prince said at the time he felt he could not wear the Parachute Regiment's famous beret and wings badge
without doing the course.Picture: Associated Newspapers /REX

30. Jane Priest, a 26-year-old model, hugs and
kisses Prince Charles on Cottesloe Beach
in Perth, Australia, in 1979. The picture
spread around the world, appearing on the
front page of almost every newspaper in
the West. It was credited with helping give
the Prince something of an image
makeover.Picture: PROFILE PRESS/REX

31. Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral, London, on July
29, 1981. Their wedding was watched on television around the world by an estimated
audience of 750 million. Lady Diana wore an Emanuel-designed ivory taffeta and
antique lace gown, while Prince Charles wore the full dress uniform of a naval
commander.Picture: REX

32. Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince
Charles have their first son, Prince
William, on June 21, 1982. They are
pictured here with him on August
4, 1982, the day of his christening. The
ceremony was held in the music room of
Buckingham Palace.Picture: Tim
Graham/Getty Images

33. Princess Diana and Prince Chares visit Fort Edmonton, Alberta during a Royal Tour to
Canada in 1983. The couple dressed in outfits typical of the Klondike region - an area in
northwestern Canada where gold was discovered in the late nineteenth centuryPicture:
Tim Graham/Getty Images

34. Princess Diana holds Prince Harry as she and Prince Charles leave the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital
in Paddington in 1984. Almost 30 years later, the Duchess of Cambridge would leave through the same
entrance following the birth of Prince George.Picture: Tim Graham/Getty Images

37. Prince Charles vists a community
employment and training project in
Finsbury Park in 1987. More glamerous
events atttended by the Prince that year
included a tour of the Beriln Opera House
with Princess Diana, where they met the
Royal Ballet.Picture: Brendan Beirne/REX

38. Prince Charles dances at his 40th birthday
party in Birmingham in November 1988.
The celebration was held at the Aston
Manor Road Transport Museum, which he
formally opened that day.Picture: NILS
JORGENSEN/REX

39. Prince Charles sketches on a river bank in Windsor in 1989. In 2013, an exhibition of
130 of his watercolour paintings of the English and Scottish countryside went on display
in a collection called Life in Pictures.Picture: REX

41. Prince Charles leaves Cirencester
Hospital after a polo accident in 1990.
He broke his right arm following the
fall and needed considerable
treatment for his injury.Picture: REX

42. Prince Charles and Princess Diana embark on a tour of South
Korea in 1992. It was to be their last joint overseas tour.Picture:
REX

45. Jonathan Dimbleby interviews Prince Charles for 1994 documentary Charles, The
Private Man, The Public Role. Dimbleby questioned the Prince about the collapse of
his marriage, two years after he and Diana split in 1992.Picture: ITV/REX

47. Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Earl Spencer attend the funeral of
Princess Diana in 1997. On top of the coffin was a card to "Mummy" from one of her
sons. The union jack on top of the palace was lowered to half mast for the first time
ever.Picture: IAN JONES

48. The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker
Bowles make their first public appearance
together following a 50th birthday party at
the Ritz for Mrs Parker Bowles' sister
Annabel Elliott in 1999. The appearance
dominated the front page of almost every
national newspaper, whilst The Sun ran
with the headline "Meet The
Mistress".Picture: REX

49. Prince Charles makes a guest appearance on Coronation Street in 2000 to celebrate the
programme's 40th anniversary. The hour-long episode featured a pre-recorded clip of the Prince in a
television news bulletin meeting fictional character councillor Audrey Roberts.Picture: IAN JONES

50. The Prince of Wales signs a book of condolence at the American Embassy in London on
September 12, 2001 with American Ambassador William Farrish, in memory of those killed
by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.Picture: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA

51. Prince Charles walks behind the Queen Mother's coffin as it enters Horse Guards
Parade during her funeral in 2002. The Prince appeared to be on the verge of tears as
the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, paid tribute to her "strength, dignity
and laughter".Picture: STEPHEN LOCK

52. Three generations of the Royal Family the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince
William - pose for a photograph on June
2, 2003, at Clarence House in
London, before a dinner to mark the 50th
anniversary of her Coronation.Picture:
Kirsty Wigglesworth / WPA s

53. Prince Charles and Prince William play a polo match at Smiths Lawn Polo Club in
Windsor in June 2004. Charles played polo for more than 40 years before recently
retiring. Other sporting interests of the Prince's include racing, scuba diving and
sailing.Picture: Rupert Hartley/REX

54. The Prince of Wales became the
first member of the royal family to
marry in a civil ceremony when he
wed Camilla Parker Bowles at
Windsor Guildhall on April 9 2005.
Although absent from the
wedding, the Queen and the Duke
of Edinburgh attended the blessing
at St George's Chapel and held a
reception for the couple at
Buckingham Palace. The wedding
had been postponed for 24 hours
so that the Prince of Wales could
attend the funeral of Pope John
Paul II.Picture: Ian Jones

57. On his 60th birthday the Prince of Wales visited Beckton Communite Centre. Joined by
The Duchess of Cornwall, the royal couple met a large number of Trust volunteers and
those who have been helped by the organisation. As a gift, the Queen allowed a 41-gun
salute to mark the his birthday in London's Hyde Park The Prince also received a
birthday cake from the Sun newspaper which was decorated with a picture of a national
travel bus pass.Picture: REX

58. The Prince of Wales visited Poundbury in 2009 to open the Weymouth Construction and Training Centre which teaches stone
masonry, conservation and architectural stonework. The centre, which attracts students from across the world also offers
heritage-based courses including roof thatching, dry stone walling and lime. The Prince visited an African hut built by the
students from the training centre before it was shipped to Southern Sudan as part of a construction project for a new school in
the Kadugli region.Picture: REX

59. The Prince of Wales praised the 'extraordinary' work of British soldiers in Afghanistan during a surprise visit to the
frontline in Helmand Province in March 2010. The Prince, a Colonel in Chief of 10 regiments, spent the night at
Camp Bastion in Helmand where he donned desert fatigues, helmet and goggles for the journey by helicopter to
Nad e-Ali and Lashkar Gah. During the visit the Prince, who ate with soldiers in the canteen at Camp Bastion and
slept in a regulation Army bed, also visited bomb disposal officers who are training their Afghan counterparts, and
was given a demonstration of mine clearing equipment.Picture: EPA/MASSOUD HOSSAINI / POOL

61. The Prince of Wales joins the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on April 29 2011 for official photographs in the Throne Room of
Buckingham Palace, on the occasion of their wedding. At the reception the Prince described the Duchess as the daughter he had
never had and admitted: ‘We are lucky to have her.’ During his speech he also found time to crack jokes about his eldest son and his
famously thinning hairline. Up to a million people took to the streets of central London to celebrate the wedding. The wedding party:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (centre), Front row (left to right): Miss Grace van Cutsem, Miss Eliza Lopes, HRH The Duke of
Edinburgh, HM The Queen, The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Lady Louise Windsor, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton. Back
Row (left to right): Master Tom Pettifer, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Henry of Wales, Mr
Michael Middleton, Mrs Michael Middleton, Mr James Middleton, Miss Philippa Middleton.Picture: Hugo Burnand/Clarence House/PA
Wire