Charles III will have waited seventy years in the antechamber of the monarchy before being crowned, Saturday, May 6. France 3 does not have the royal patience and devotes, three days in advance, its magazine Roots
After the long factual introduction which insists on the incomparable charisma of his mother Elizabeth II, Charles III, in the shadow of the Windsors thus retraces the constrained life of the future king since February 6, 1952, the date on which his mother became queen. The prince was then only 3 years old. The film therefore insists on a few key moments in his career, using archive images and on-site reports. Starting with the college of Gordonstoun, in Scotland, where his father placed him in boarding school to toughen him up. Half a century later, the rigor of the establishment is still obvious. The teenager will however develop his passion for the theater there.
He did not choose to study at Cambridge at 18 either, but continued his theatrical activities there – offering the funniest sequence of the evening. He chose even less to leave in 1969 to join the first university in Wales: reason of State obliges. In 1969, Charles was officially crowned Prince of Wales in front of four thousand guests.
Modernity
Family guidelines also apply to his private life, as the rest of the film shows. When he met Camilla Shand in the early 1970s at the polo club where his father enrolled him, “she’s not noble, she’s not queen and not pretty enough,” the family decided, choosing to him Diana Spencer. If the rest is known, a brief extract is eloquent. To the reporter who asks Charles, “Are you in love?” “, he replies, phlegmatic and smiling: “It all depends on how you define love. He will marry Camilla on April 9, 2005 to form a blended family of his time.
This modernity is the theme of the second film, which lists the challenges that await the king. Threatening at first – the crumbling of the Commonwealth, Scottish separatism – they became trumps as soon as they mentioned his first engagement, in 1976. In the midst of the economic crisis, Charles invested all his salary to create the foundation The Prince’s Trust. Since then, she has helped over a million young people.
More surprising is the walk through Poundbury, a new city founded by Charles III in 1993, in Dorset, to put into practice his alternative urban vision to dormitory cities. Walking through the streets of this old-fashioned town of four thousand people, it’s hard to believe that no building is more than thirty years old. Dwellings, shops, schools, workshops, playgrounds fit together to the great satisfaction of the residents interviewed, who welcome the investment of “His Majesty”. We find this recognition on the outskirts of an 18th century manor, preserved by Charles III, as well as the largest collection of Chippendale furniture (English style from 1754 to 1770) or the small cows of an organic farm, living heritage also saved. by the king. “His Majesty is a true pioneer, you know,” said the breeder.
