Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales has finally become king. But at 73, the focus of his reign will be his age – and the waning influence of the British monarchy around the world.

Charles has spent virtually his entire life as heir to the throne and has become a familiar figure himself, even as he takes on a new job at an age when most people are already retired.

But in stark contrast to the neutrality his mother observed, he has sometimes courted controversy with strongly held views that have made him a more outspoken, divisive figure.

While Princess Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25 with widespread popular support in a Britain recovering from World War II, the public had decades to form an opinion – good or bad – about Charles.

According to a May 2022 YouGov poll, he had an approval rating of 56 percent — well behind the Queen (81 percent), his eldest son Prince William (77 percent), and William’s wife Catherine (76 percent).

Camilla – Charles’ second wife – trailed him by 48 percent.

Since the death of his father Prince Philip in April 2021 and the deteriorating health of his mother, Charles has become noticeably more visible and has grown closer to himself with Camilla, his youngest brother Edward, William and Kate.

“Whatever happens, he won’t have a long reign and that’s going to be difficult for him,” said royal author Phil Dampier.

“But he’s known that for a long time and I think people are going to start eyeing William and Kate for the future now,” he told AFP.

Born on November 14, 1948, Charles became heir apparent at the young age of three years and three months.

His first official engagements were in the 1970s and, as heir, his role was primarily to support his mother “in her role as a focal point for national pride, unity and loyalty”.

He has received dignitaries on her behalf, attended state dinners, traveled to more than 100 countries as her foreign representative, and presented honors on her behalf.

The world knows him not only for his fairytale marriage to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, but also for their very public estrangement and divorce in the 1990s.

But while for some this has cemented public opinion against him, since his marriage to Camilla Charles has been largely redeemed – and has been proven correct with his early warnings about the environment initially labeling him a weirdo.

A proponent of sustainability, alternative medicine and gardening – so much so, in fact, that he once admitted talking to his plants – Charles has been publishing his own carbon footprint since 2007.

He runs or is involved with more than 420 charities, including the Prince’s Trust, which has helped more than a million young disadvantaged people since it was founded in 1976.

But in recent months, his former senior staff have been embroiled in fundraising scandals, prompting a police investigation.

The Queen settled years of speculation in 2022 about the name of Charles’ second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

In theory, she would always be the Queen’s consort.

But Camilla, who married Charles in a civil ceremony in 2005, decided against the title of Princess of Wales given her ties to Diana, who died in 1997.

Instead, she said she intended to become “Princess Consort” – a first in British history.

But the Queen said in a message marking her 70th year on the throne that it was her “sincere desire” that Camilla should be known as the Queen consort when Charles becomes king, effectively giving her a seal of approval.

According to the Latin maxim “Rex nunquam moritur” – the king never dies – there is no interregnum, the accession to the throne is immediate.

There has been much speculation over the years as to what name he will choose: Charles Philip Arthur George has four to choose from.

And although he is not obliged to do so, he will probably become Charles III. and thus the first king of that name to sit on the British throne since 1685.

Royal author Bob Morris said he could still throw up a surprise, but it’s not likely.

“We anticipate that he will likely stay with Charles and prefer a quicker and smaller coronation,” he told AFP.

The question will be answered when the Accession Council, a ceremonial body that meets after the death of a monarch, proclaims him king at St James’s Palace in central London.

The coronation – a unique ceremony with centuries of tradition – should take place in the coming weeks once the immediate shock of the Queen’s death has passed.

The Queen herself was crowned in June 1953, some 16 months after she had been proclaimed Queen following the death of her father, King George VI.

Morris called the event “the last imperial hurray,” as some 8,250 people crammed into Westminster Abbey to watch her coronation, and millions more on television.