With the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth yesterday, Prince Charles has finally become king of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms, ending a wait of more than 70 years — the longest by an heir in British history. The role will be daunting.
His late mother was overwhelmingly popular and respected, but she leaves a royal family that has seen reputations tarnished and relationships strained, including over lingering allegations of racism against Buckingham Palace officials.
Charles confronts those challenges at the age of 73, the oldest monarch to take the throne in a lineage that dates back 1,000 years, with his second wife Camilla, who still divides public opinion, by his side.
To detractors, the new king is weak, vain, interfering, and ill-equipped for the role of sovereign.
Supporters say that is a distortion of the good work he does, that he is simply misunderstood and that in areas such as climate change he has been ahead of his time.
They argue he is thoughtful and concerned about his fellow Britons from all communities and walks of life. Throughout his life, Charles has been caught between a modernising monarchy, trying to find its place in a fast-changing and more egalitarian society, while maintaining traditions that give the institution its allure.
That tension can be seen through the lives of his own sons.
The eldest, William, 40, now the heir himself, leads a life of traditional duty, charity work and military pageantry. Younger son Harry, 37, resides outside Los Angeles with his American ex-actress wife Meghan and family, forging a new career more in keeping with Hollywood than Buckingham Palace.
However, for many in Britain and beyond, Charles will always be associated with his doomed marriage to Lady Diana Spencer and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, the love of his life.
When he and Diana wed in 1981 in front of a global television audience of some 750mn people, his bride seemed the perfect choice. All initially seemed well, and sons William and Harry were born in 1982 and 1984 respectively.
But behind the scenes, the marriage had problems and Diana blamed Camilla for its eventual breakdown in 1992, famously saying in a TV interview: “there were three of us in this marriage”.
Charles said he had remained faithful “until it (the marriage) became irretrievably broken down”. The couple divorced in 1996.
When Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 there were vitriolic outpourings in the press against him and Camilla, and his public popularity sank.
In the decades since, his standing has improved, even if he remained less popular than his mother.
In 2005 he finally married Camilla, who has emerged into the public spotlight to win greater acceptance and praise for her easy going style.