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On This Day: Prince Charles is christened

On This Day: Prince Charles is christened

DECEMBER 15, 1948: Prince Charles was christened on this day in 1948 – giving the public their first glimpse of the month-old future king.

A British Pathé newsreel filmed the current monarch, then a 22-year-old Princess Elizabeth, holding her first child in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace.

She sat alongside her mother, also Queen Elizabeth, 48, and grandmother Queen Mary, 81, who had been consort to King George V.

In all, four generations of the Royal Family were present in the captivating film – including the then monarch King George VI, who died aged 56 only three years later.

Also present was new father, the then 27-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, filmed cradling his infant son, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.

The scene echoed the official photographs following the christening of Prince George – Charles’s grandson – in October.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son even had on a replica of the baptism gown Charles wore, which was first used by Queen Victoria’s firstborn in 1841.

The intricate satin and lace robe was worn by every royal baby until 2004, when the Queen decided the gown was past its prime.

Unlike lively George, Charles  - or to be precise Charles Philip Arthur George - slept through the whole christening and the filming afterwards.

A surprisingly at ease Princess Elizabeth also reflected the confident and happy Kate 65 years later as she held her first child.

Charles, who was joined by sister Anne two years later, became heir to the throne when he was just three years old, upon King George VI’s death in February 6, 1952.

[On This Day: Britain’s last Prince George dies in wartime plane crash]


The new queen waited another eight years before having a third child, Andrew, who was born in 1960, followed by Edward, born in 1964.

Charles waited until he was nine to be formally invested as Prince of Wales, a title which has been given to the eldest son of the reigning English monarch since 1301.

Prior to that year, only native Welsh aristocrats were designated the role of ruler of Wales.

But that changed after the conquest of the principality by King Edward I of England.

The monarch is said to have promised the Welsh people he would give the title to “a prince born in Wales who did not speak a word of English”.

[On This Day: Rainier III, later husband of American actress Grace Kelly, crowned Prince of Monaco]


To their surprise he selected his infant son, who later became Edward II.

The King pointed out that young Edward qualified since he was born at Caernarfon Castle in Wales during a campaign by England’s armies there in 1284.

And since, like all babies at the time of their births, the heir spoke no English (nor any other language), Edward I was able to say he had been true to his word.

Charles, like his distant royal forbear and father, has also proved himself somewhat of a joker and was in no hurry to settle down.

[On This Day: Princess Diana dies]


He married his first wife Diana Spencer in 1981, when he was 32 and she was 20.

Little did the world know, however, that the Prince of Wales had a mistress – Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he had met a decade earlier before she had married.

Diana, who became one of the most iconic and glamorous women in the world, bore him two children before they divorced in 1966.

When she died in a car crash in Paris a year later, Charles’s popularity plunged to rock bottom.

And the monarchy saw their approval ratings plunge to the lowest they had been since the 1936 Abdication Crisis.

He waited until 2005 to marry Mrs Parker Bowles, who was given the less controversial title of Duchess of Cornwall, rather than Wales.

[On This Day: Prince Charles invested as Prince of Wales]


Charles, now 65, and the Royal Family now enjoy record 80% approval, according to recent polls.

But, due to the Queen’s longevity, he is already the oldest heir to the throne in history, and may end up the oldest king.