How the longest-serving royal apprentice in history observed his mother’s approach

King Charles spent seven decades preparing for the day he would succeed his mother Queen Elizabeth. See inside his extraordinary apprenticeship.

Everyone needs a mentor and King Charles certainly had the best – his entire life until last September, was spent watching his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in action, showing him how to be a monarch.

While she had to learn on the job, taking the throne far earlier than expected in 1952, at the age of 25, Elizabeth had observed how, from her father King George VI. She also enjoyed the reassuring presence of the Queen Mother, for 50 years of her reign, until her mother died in 2002.

Charles, likewise, had the guiding hand of his mother for seven decades – as the longest-serving royal apprentice in history, thanks to the Queen’s record-breaking 70-year reign.

It’s this longevity which makes him uniquely qualified, says royal biographer Robert Jobson.

“He is not only a worthy recipient of the Crown, but an anchored monarch we are blessed to have in these times of uncertainty,” he writes in his new book Our King – Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed.

Prince Charles with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (right) during the ceremony of Charles' Investment as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales, in 1969. Picture: Dennis Oulds/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Charles’ education began from the moment he was born – including watching his mum practise wearing the crown for her Coronation in 1953.

“I learnt the way a monkey learns – by watching its parents,” he once said. “I was very lucky to have her as a mother,” Charles said, recalling the “marvellous” memory of the late Queen trying on the Imperial State Crown. “I shall never forget, when we were small, having a bath and (the Queen) came in, practising wearing the crown before the Coronation,” he told the BBC.

Now the crown has been passed to him, the one thing he had plenty of time for, is practise.

Charles made history when he watched the Queen’s coronation aged four.

Invested as Prince of Wales in 1969, aged 20, Charles’ first official overseas trip came two years earlier, when the 19-year-old flew to Melbourne for PM Harold Holt’s funeral, in 1967.

“The Australians seemed very pleased that someone from the family had come out to show we still care,” he wrote to his godmother Patricia Knatchbull, at the time. It began a slow and steady apprenticeship which would last the following 50 years, with the biggest lesson learned being to emulate the Queen’s commitment to country and Commonwealth.

“Charles learned dedication to his country and hard work,” deputy editor of Royal Central Brittani Barger says. “The Queen was nothing but dedicated to her people, as her tireless work up until her death, proved.”

Prince Charles using binoculars to view the Coronation scene from a window at Buckingham Palace.

Charles inherited his mother’s unwavering commitment to the Commonwealth and has visited 44 Commonwealth countries since 1969. “It is a fundamental feature of his life,” says Jobson. “The Commonwealth has been a constant in my own life, and yet its diversity continues to amaze and inspire me,” the King said in his first Commonwealth Day message in March.

As the Queen reached her later years, Charles began to undertake the role of “shadow monarch,” picking up her overseas tours, after her last one to Malta in 2015, sharing her official red boxes of state information and even having practise sessions with the-then PM David Cameron. “He wanted to start thinking about how to conduct those audiences,” the ex-PM told the BBC.

But it wasn’t just the physical part of the job Charles apprenticed from his mother. He also learned how to be a monarch, emotionally, sharing her understanding of the importance of ritual, spirituality and a sense of duty. While many expected to see a dramatic slimming- down of the monarchy, Charles has so far trimmed, rather than hacked. He reduced his Coronation guest list to 2000, compared to the Queen’s 8000, while not losing the ceremonial aspect. The parade of 6000 troops, including Australians, ranks as the biggest military operation for 70 years.

The Queen presents her son with the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour during a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2009. Picture: Getty Images

The Coronation is also historically steeped in religion, something Charles takes extremely seriously, having learnt from his mother. “There is no doubt that Charles’ faith is all-encompassing,” Jobson says.

Another teaching the famously-frugal Queen passed on to Charles was to abhor waste. So well did he learn this lesson, alongside proving a canny businessman though his development of the Duchy of Cornwall, Charles has amassed more money than his mother, according to recent reports. The UK’s Sunday Times Rich List has estimated his fortune to be £600 million ($1.2 billion) – up from the Queen’s £370 million ($680 million).

The Queen liked to make do and mend. Her dresser, Angela Kelly, revealed she would get around 25 years out of her frocks and preferred to have her Barbour jackets re-waxed, rather than buy new ones. When the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, the Queen re-used the linen and when that wore out, had it made it into cushion covers.

King Charles III greets members of the public as he attends a welcoming ceremony at Micklegate Bar where, traditionally, The Sovereign is welcomed to the city during an official visit to Yorkshire. Picture: James Glossop – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince Philip, also famously wore his wedding shoes for 74 years and Charles, similarly, wears his suits for decades.

“I’m one of those people who hate throwing anything away. Hence, I’d rather have them maintained, even patched if necessary, than to abandon them. I can’t bear any waste, including food waste; I’d much rather find another use,” he told Vogue magazine.

“Which is why I’ve been going on for so long about the need for a circular economy, rather than a linear one where you just make, take and throw away – which is a tragedy, because inevitably we over-exploit natural resources that are rapidly depleting.”

King Charles, pictured just before his 18th birthday.

Like his mother, Charles pledged the rest of his life to his role. The Queen said on her 21st birthday, “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.” When the King acceded the throne last September, in his first speech as monarch, he made the same promise. “Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well-lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today,” he said.

“As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I, too, now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.”