One segment of “Charles: In His Own Words” chronicles the king’s single days. He knew he was required to marry well, and to a “virginal” girl who could bear him heirs. But in this exclusive clip obtained by The List, we see he wasn’t above having a little fun during his search. His great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, supposedly encouraged this by letting Charles use one of his private properties on weekends, as the queen’s former secretary William Heseltine explained in the National Geographic doc. (A crown prince can’t exactly be seen snogging in a public park, as the doc aptly points out.) Even Charles said in a 1974 interview, “It’s not so bad for me, but it’s much worse for the girl concerned, because she’s not used to dealing with the press at all.”
But, as the documentary points out, the prince’s eventual choice of bride would “trigger a chain of events that [would] damage his image and threaten his path to the throne.” His marriage to Princess Diana satisfied his royal obligation, but his continuing love for Camilla ultimately led to the infamous Charles and Diana divorce. The fallout from the split, from Diana’s death just years later, and yet again when Charles wed the future queen consort, left many Britons wondering if the disgraced prince was worthy to succeed his mother as ruler. Yet he has managed to do just that, which says a great deal about His Majesty’s persistence, patience, and desire to prove himself.
“Charles: In His Own Words” premieres on National Geographic on Friday, April 28, at 10:00 ET/9:00 CT. Stream the documentary on Hulu from Saturday, April 29, and on Disney+ from Friday, May 5.
