The Royal Collection Trust has produced a range of official chinaware to celebrate the Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday on 14 November 2018.

Teacup and saucer, £55
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

The design features a specially painted coat of arms with the shield of the Duchy of Cornwall, The Prince of Wales’s Red Dragon badge, and daffodils, the national flower of Wales.

Tankard, (front) £39
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

The commemorative china is hand-made in the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent and gilded with 22-carat gold, using a traditional method over 200 years old.

Some items, such as the tray, charger and pillbox are only available for a limited time. The range is also available through the Buckingham Palace online shop, with delivery available worldwide.

Tankard (rear), £39
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Prince Charles – A Short Biography

Charles, the eldest son of Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Charles Prince of Wales was born at 9.14 pm on 14 November 1947 at Buckingham Palace.

He weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces (3.35 kilograms).

A royal proclamation was posted on the Palace railings just before midnight announcing the birth of a son who was named Charles Philip Arthur George.

Side Plate, £39
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher, christened Prince Charles in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace on 15 December 1948, with water from the River Jordan, where Jesus Christ was baptised in the 1st Century.

He wore the same intricate, cream-coloured lace gown, made of Spitalfields silk and Monition lace, which was first worn by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s eldest daughter, Princess Victoria in 1841.

Limited edition Tray, £145
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

However, his grandfather, King George VI died, aged 56, on 6 February 1952 and his mother was proclaimed Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles, as the Sovereign’s eldest son, became the heir to the British throne when he was only three years old.

Prince Charles became the Duke of Cornwall, under one of Edward III’s charters in 1337, and, north of the border, the Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

He watched his mother’s Coronation in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated with his recently-widowed grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and his aunt, Prince Margaret.

Limited edition Charger, £195
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

However, Prince Charles’ investiture as Prince of Wales took place on 1 July 1969 at Caernarfon Castle, in a colourful ceremony, after he spent a term at the University College of Wales learning to speak Welsh.

In April 1962, Prince Charles went to his father’s old school at Gordonstoun in Scotland, but he spent two terms in 1966 as an exchange student at Timbertop, part of Geelong Grammar School.

The Head of History at Geelong Grammar, Michael Collins Persse, became Prince Charles’ private tutor. (He was later appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 2014 for ‘services to The Prince of Wales’, with Prince Charles performing the investiture at Admiralty House during a visit to Australia in 2015.)

Limited Edition Round Box, £125
Photo: Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a lavish ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 July 1981, amidst the pomp and pageantry of a royal wedding.

They have two sons, Prince William (born 21 June 1982) and Prince Harry (born 15 September 1984).

Sadly, the marriage didn’t last with the British Prime Minister John Major announcing to the House of Commons on 9 December 1992, that the Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate.

They divorced on 28 August 1996, with Diana Princess of Wales still living at Kensington Palace until her tragic death on 31 August 1997.

Prince Charles remarried on 9 April 2005 to Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor, followed by a Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Queen Elizabeth hosted a reception at Windsor Castle after the service.

Prince Charles is Patron or President of over 400 organisations, focusing on architecture, the environment, youth opportunity, education and faith.

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