till death us do part. till death us do part. but what happens when royal tradition stops you from following your heart ? in the medieval fortress of carnarvon castle charles, the eldest son of queen elizabeth, is crowned prince of wales. i charles, prince of wales, do become your liege man of life and limb. there s so much pomp, so much glamour. but under it all is a nervous 20-year-old who feels very strongly that the whole weight of monarchy rests on him. he had no choice in his life at all. his future was mapped out for him. he knew from an early age that he was part of a machine. prince charles is a central figure of this dynasty. he is the future. he is the great hope. the young prince who just celebrated his 3rd birthday carried out his handshaking duties most sedately. the prince as a child was quite withdrawn, very sensitive, very shy. but right from the beginning there s all this weight of expectation on this poor little boy s back. when charles
unexpected death of her father, king george vi. she had to juggle the really onerous duties of being queen, being monarch, with being a young mother. she went off on long tours for months at a time around the commonwealth and charles was left. she came back and instead of hugging him, she was cool and aloof. this gives you an indication of the formal institutionalized nature of their relationship. his father, prince philip, was an alpha male, a leader. charles was unconfident, diff diffident, not at all the sort of son that prince philip wanted to have. it was clear to the prince that his father was disappointed in him. and i think that was very painful. his father s method of dealing with that was to try and toughen him up.