After a lifetime of preparation, Charles takes the throne

LONDON — Prince Charles has been preparing for the crown his entire life. “He’s nowhere near as popular as his mother.” Charles must figure out how to generate the “public support, a sense of endearment” that characterized the relationship Elizabeth had with the British public, Owens said. He’s sort of been caught between two worlds: the world of his mother, revered, now beloved; and Diana, the ghost of whom still shadows him; and then his incredibly glamorous sons.” It took years for many in Britain to forgive Charles for his admitted infidelity to Diana before “the people’s princess” died in a Paris car crash in 1997. “Of course,” Diana answered immediately, while Charles said, “Whatever ‘in love’ means.” Although Diana giggled at the response, she later said that Charles’ remark “threw me completely.” “God, it absolutely traumatized me,” she said in a recording made by her voice coach in 1992-93 that was featured in the 2017 documentary “Diana, In Her Own Words.” The couple married on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in a globally televised ceremony. In an interview of her own, Diana drew attention to her husband’s relationship with Camilla, saying: “There were three of us in this marriage.” The revelations tarnished Charles’ reputation among many who celebrated Diana for her style as well as her charity work with AIDS patients and landmine victims.