The Who2 Blog

Prince Charles: A Month of Crazy Far-Flung Photo Ops

Prince Charles: what a month that guy’s had.

His job description is to “go places and look interested,” after all, but this month he’s outdone himself.

Photo of Prince Charles ducking through a plastic hanging door shield in a funny hairnet and white coat

April 26: Charles inspects food packing operations on the Isle of Man. (Nice hat!)

Photo of Prince Charles in military fatigues, bending over as a child puts a huge wreath or lei over his head

April 30: Prince Charles stoops to receive a garland as he visits the First Battalion of The Royal Gurkha Rifles in Kent, England. (The Prince of Wales is the traditional commander of the Gurkhas.)

Photo of Prince Charles, peering between two framed hanging sketches

May 1: “I really need this drink.” Viewing anatomical drawings by Leonardo da Vinci at the opening of an exhibition in The Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace. 

Photo of Prince Charles and Camilla in church dress, walking in a procession behind some bishops or clergy of some kind

May 2: Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London. (Charles is the patron of the Prayer Book Society.)

Prince Charles stands in front of a weather map, gesturing for TV cameras

May 10: “A large and very interesting low pressure area…” In Glasgow to celebrate 60 years of BBC Scotland, Prince Charles does the weather for the Six O’Clock news.

Prince Charles draws back on a bow and arrow, peering closely, as children smile and look on

May 11: Charles gets in a little archery on a visit to the North West Youth Project in Kilmarnock, Scotland. That gray pinstripe is clearly his go-to suit.

Photo of Prince Charles, laughing with a scruffy group of colorful local 20-somethings with rainbow hair and hoodies

May 11: Outside the same North West Youth Project, Charles gets a laugh, possibly with a joke about tongue studs. 

Photo of Prince Charles listening as a workman in a blue jumpsuit describes the clay (or mud?) model of a bell in front of them

May 15: Back to looking interested: Charles visits the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The foundry is casting the eight Royal Jubilee Bells to be rung from a floating belfry at the head of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on June 3rd.

Photo of Prince Charles, using a medium-sized mallet to whack a hanging bronze bell the size of, say, a dishwasher

Each bell is named for a member of the Royal Family; the Prince was invited to whack the Charles.

Photo of Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Philip standing on the front of a canal barge as it goes under a low bridge

May 16: Prince Charles joins his parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, on a barge trip aboard the Pride of Sefton in Lancashire, England.

Photo of Prince Charles in casual clothes (casual for him, that is -- blue sportcoat) in a folding chair, watching fireworks

May 21: On to Ontario. Charles and Camilla join Premier Dalton McGuinty at the Victoria Day fireworks display in Toronto during a tour to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. His socks are high to the end.

Photo of Prince Charles in a blue sportcoat and open collar, looking a little bit frazzled

An open collar at last. “Yes… very interesting fireworks. Quite.”

And how was your month?

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