Today, the solemn coronation of Charles III, the eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is taking place in Westminster Abbey in London.
Elizabeth II ruled on the British throne for almost 70 years, so the Prince of Wales remained the heir to the throne for the longest time in British history. For the same reason, he was known as Prince Charles for most of his life.
From now on, even the words in the national anthem of Great Britain have been changed to “God Save the King”.
Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark and their son Charles
The biography of the new king is full of events, and there are still many rumors and assumptions surrounding his personal life. But the most famous fact is that he was married to Diana Spencer, or, as people called her, “Princess Diana – Queen of Hearts.” In their marriage, two sons were born – Prince William and Harry.
Prince and Princess of Wales and their sons William and Harry
After 15 years of married life, Charles and Diana divorced. In 2005, Prince Charles married for the second time – to longtime friend Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Queen Consort.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla of Great Britain
The king is well-versed in Ukrainian culture. This became clear after the historian of Georgian origin Vakhtang Kipiani published a photo on the network where the future monarch danced hopak together with a Ukrainian ensemble.
“The future King of Great Britain Charles dances hopak with the Ukrainian ensemble “Hoverla” in the city of Derby, 1981,” says the caption to the photo.
“The future King of Great Britain Charles dances hopak with the Ukrainian ensemble “Hoverla” in the city of Derby, 1981,” says the caption to the photo.
In 1996, the Prince of Wales Charles visited Ukraine at the invitation of the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma.
Recently, the fund of the Ukrinform agency published a photo on the network, where Prince Charles greeted the conductor of the military orchestra in the Eternal Glory Park in Kyiv.
Prince Charles greets the conductor of the military orchestra in the Eternal Glory Park in Kyiv in 1996
In 2022, Prince Charles openly condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and continues to express his unwavering support for the struggle of Ukrainians against the aggressor.
But do you know, dear reader, that the British king is a descendant of our queen Agatha of Kyiv?
Queen Agatha, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise
In general, there are as many as 12 Kiev princesses that married the heirs of most European states from Poland to Denmark, from Byzantium to Norway! And each of the princesses certainly had an interesting fate.
But let’s focus on the great-great-…. grandmother of King Charles III – Agatha, the youngest daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kyiv. She became the wife of the English King Edward and the mother of Margaret of Scotland, the grandmother of Queen Matilda, the great-grandmother of the famous Richard the Lionheart, Queen Mary I Stuart.
The Ukrainian queen took care of the church, promoted education, supported artists and cared for the poor people.
Her daughter, Margaret of Scotland, is even canonized, and the oldest building in Edinburgh, the chapel of the royal castle and the university college are named after her.
So, today Ukraine also has a reason to rejoice – a monarch with ancient Ukrainian roots, thousand-year-old genes of kindness, love and help is sitting on the European throne.
We believe that our countries will continue to maintain successful and close relations and achieve the common goal of defeating the enemy and restoring peace to the Ukrainian land.
God save the King! Long live the King!
The new King of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Charles III