♪ Man, voice-over: When did you first realize that you were not just an ordinary chap?

♪ Charles, voice-over: And I do have, you know, very happy memories of--of childhood.

♪ I remember when-- when I was young, my parents both enjoyed filming things.

♪ And I remember we used to have lots of laughs.

I'd sometimes make her laugh anyway, which was always very jolly.

♪ But my Mama inevitably was so busy, having to do all the tours abroad.

I remember, when I was quite young, trying to talk on the telephone uh, when she was miles away.

♪ And then, I think, also spending a long-- a lot of time with my grandmother, too, at Royal Lodge.

♪ There's a marvelous garden there I used to, as a child, potter about in the garden there in the kitchen garden and so on.

♪ I learned so much from her of immense value in my life.

♪ When my Mama succeeded and became Queen when my grandfather died so young, I ended up becoming heir to the throne aged 4.

It must have been a terrible shock in many ways.

Can you imagine?

At that age when presumably she'd hoped that she'd have a chance to-- to do other things and, you know, bring up her family.

♪ [Gunfire salute] [Trumpet fanfare] ♪ I can just remember the actual Coronation.

♪ [Cheering] I remember Mama coming out, when we were being bathed as children, wearing the crown.

It's incredibly heavy.

That's why Mama had to practice so much wearing it.

♪ As a child, about 4 or 5, one tends to remember, you know, silly things like being dressed up in a special suit of clothes and the barber coming in and cutting one's hair much too short.

♪ Particularly, I remember my grandmother.

She used to say things like, "Now, darling, you must try and remember this."

All: God save the Queen!

God save the Queen!

[Trumpet fanfare] God save the Queen!

Man, voice-over: When did you first realize that you were not just an ordinary chap?

♪ Young Charles: It's something that dawns on you in the most ghastly, inexorable way that people are interested in one.

And slowly you get the idea that you have a certain duty and responsibility.

♪ Man, voice-over: How much influence has your father had on you?

Is he as tough a disciplinarian inside the palace as he appears to be outside on occasions?

Charles, voice-over: He was a strong character.

He--he didn't suffer fools gladly.

So, if you said anything that was--is any way ambiguous, He'd say, "Well, make up your mind."

♪ Ah, but he...

I mean, he could be enormously encouraging, and he was very good at, um, at showing you how to do things.

♪ [No audio] ♪ [Woman vocalizing] ♪ My father always went through the process of discussing where he thought, you know, I should go, which schools and all that.

The trouble is, when you're young, you don't know really what these places are like!

[Woman continues vocalizing] ♪ [Water spraying] ♪ It wasn't particularly easy.

Good for the soul.

Good for the character, probably.

♪ But, um, you either had to literally sink or swim.

♪ Young Charles: I suppose people think that because who--who you are, therefore they wouldn't dare fail you in anything.

But it's not the case because I-- I failed my maths exam 3 times.

I finally got it on the 4th attempt.

I can tell you that that was no joke.

I--it nearly finished me completely.

[Woman vocalizing] ♪ When I was in Australia at school, that was much, much tougher... and I have the scars on my back to prove it.

But at the end of it all, having done it, you really appreciate the value of the exercise.

♪ The idea behind it is-- is to challenge the person so that they find something within themselves they didn't realize existed.

And this can have an electrifying effect on somebody.

I knew it would have an effect on me.

Having gone to Australia, I felt I could actually go and talk to somebody without them talking to me first.

But it took quite a lot to go and do it, but the moment I did it, ever since then, I've never looked back.

♪ [Cheering] [Engine chugging] ♪ [Muffled thump] [Clap] ♪ [Clap] ♪ Man, voice-over: Your grandfather King George VI once said, "We're not so much a family.

We're more a firm."

Do you feel a member of a firm?

♪ Young Charles: I like to think of it more as a family rather than a firm.

I tend to think of my family as very special people.

♪ [Clap] ♪ [Flames crackling] Boy, shouting: Too hot!

I can't come to it now!

Elizabeth: Charles!

Come on!

Young Charles: And in that sense, I'm only beginning to see, um, my parents and the rest of my family as other people.

You know what I mean?

That you look upon them as having their own different characteristics.

♪ It's--it's a great help to have a lot of people all doing the same thing like that, because you can go and talk to them about it... you know, your own experiences and the amusing things that have happened.

[No audio] Young Charles: And you can learn a lot from each other.

[Clap] Nixon: Oh, yes, the very best.

Elizabeth: They're the ones.

Yes, I've seen them.

[Laughter] Charles.

Charles.

Yes.

Well, how are you?

So happy to see you.

I just--I was just saying to Her Majesty, I've seen you on television.

Oh, really?

[Laughter] I've seen you sometime.

That's right.

Elizabeth: There's Anne.

Anne: Hello.

Yes.

How do you do?

I don't think you've seen me on television.

Ha ha ha ha!

[Clap] Man, voice-over: Another thing you've done.

You've learnt to fly.

Young Charles: The day I went on my solo, um, the instructor taxied to the end of the runway, and he suddenly climbed out and said, "You're on your own, mate" [Propeller whirring] So, uh, there I was.

And I only had time to have a few butterflies in my tummy.

And, uh, then I--I taxied off and took off.

And the moment I was in the air, it was absolutely marvelous!

♪ [Engine sputters] And, fortunately, I landed first time.

That was the only worrying thing, because I had visions of myself going round and round and round until eventually the fuel ran out, but all was well.

♪ Man, voice-over: When you came to Wales, of course, there was quite a lot of strong anti-English nationalist feeling.

Were you at all apprehensive?

♪ Young Charles: When I went to Aberystwyth for a term, there was a lot of tension.

I promise you, walking into the dining hall there, in the--in the hall of residence is not easy.

I don't blame people demonstrating like that.

And you can't really expect people to be overzealous about the fact of having a so-called English prince.

♪ [Music playing, people singing] Although the day was rather damp and gray, it was, um, most exciting.

I wasn't nearly as nervous as I thought.

[Singing continues] The music was superb, and the color was marvelous.

[Singing continues] ♪ Charles, voice-over: To kneel in front of my Mama to--to take the oath, so... and have this coronet, which was rather slightly a revolutionary design, plonked onto my head.

Announcer: Our most dear son, Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Duke of Cornwall... Charles, voice-over: And my Mama is addressing me rather like she did when I was small.

Ha ha ha!

The same expression on the face, you'll notice.

Man: and great steward of Scotland, Prince of Wales!

[Applause] Charles, voice-over: And then, you--you have to swear fealty.

I, Charles, Prince of Wales, do become your liege man of life and limb and of Earthly worship.

Charles, voice-over: That was-- it was a very proud and... moving and rather humbling moment, I thought.

I get easily moved by those sorts of occasions.

[Fanfare and applause] But then I've never forgotten afterwards, because I went on for 3 days and did a--a tour of Wales.

I mean, masses of people all the way for 3 days.

I've never forgotten it.

♪ I think it's vital that those of us who find ourselves in this extraordinary position understand something of-- of what our armed forces are expected to do, and it's much easier, then, to look them in the eye.

♪ When I was serving in the Navy, I wanted to, but it was encouraged anyway.

♪ [No audio] Young Charles: I'm not somebody endowed with a great deal of overconfidence.

I always believe if you're overconfident, you can lead yourself into all sorts of awkward situations.

♪ Certainly, when I had my ship, I always doubted I was going to bring it alongside.

And it was always a great pleasure when I did without a disaster.

[Helicopters approaching] [No audio] ♪ Young Charles: I like flying alone.

It's more, um, stimulating, and, uh, there's that superb mixture between fear and-- and supreme enjoyment, which comes over me.

That marvelous panic when you don't really know quite where you are, and you've got to sort it out for yourself.

♪ I never--although I can't, obviously, forget who I am, I--I never believed for one minute that I should use who I was to--to get my way or order anybody to do anything because I'm--I'm who I am.

[Man speaking indistinctly] Charles: I--I believe that the only way you can do anything is through any kind of respect that people may have for you as a person.

The only problem is, of course, when I get an Army uniform on, I don't think I'm really gonna look quite right with a beard.

Be an interesting court-martial, wouldn't it?

Heh heh heh!

[Train wheels clacking] ♪ Man, voice-over: How did you define the role of Prince of Wales?

Charles: I didn't.

I made it up as I went along.

♪ I don't believe in having a totally honorary position.

And so I leap in with both feet.

♪ Charles, voice-over: I was always brought up, you know, to--to worry about everybody else.

Young Charles: I think that that is the basis of one's job to serve other people.

If you feel that you can do something, then you can be of service.

Charles, voice-over: I--I think it would be... criminally negligent of me, you know, to go around this country and not actually want to try and do something about what I find there.

Woman: Charlie, don't forget us, darling!

Man: That's Charles!

[Laughter] [Cheering] [Ball thumping on pavement] Charles, voice-over: I remember thinking, "I'm sure there's something I can do, you know, to help here."

It was all taking so long, you know, for anything else to spring up.

So, I--I just felt whatever that, you know, we could do in a small way would be better than nothing.

Everybody has some sort of talent, which so often is underutilized, underexpressed, and undervalued, that given a chance, um, they will--they will develop a talent if you take a chance with them.

♪ Did they make you go down potholes and things like that?

Yes.

Oh, yes.

Rather you than me.

I couldn't... ♪ [Applause] Charles: You're all coming.

♪ [Door clangs loudly, latch closes] And I kept saying, "I want to be able to take risks" so if it didn't work, it didn't work.

But it was worth trying with the most difficult ones, the ones you find the hardest to reach in--in society.

♪ "From the age of 10, I'd been in trouble with the law.

"I was put into the secure unit.

"It was a college of crime.

"I learned how to break into houses better.

I learned how to steal cars better."

"I first heard about the Trust when I was in prison.

"It was a chance for me to get the fresh start "I'd been looking for.

"My life is now about helping people rather than hurting people."

I mean, it is rather wonderful, isn't it?

And so, I'm going to write back to him.

♪ [Man singing in native language] [Lion growls] [Man continues singing] Charles, voice-over: My father, I...listened to him a lot or talked to him a lot about his efforts with the World Wildlife Fund, and we did talk quite a lot about those sorts of things and what was happening in the world and the increasing threats to-- to wildlife all around the world and their habitats.

♪ And I suspect I was probably quite influenced by that... but I was interested anyway.

♪ I remember that period of the 1960s only too well.

And I felt deeply disturbed by what seemed to have become a dangerously shortsighted approach.

♪ Charles: We are faced at the moment with the horrifying effects of pollution in all its cancerous forms.

♪ When you think that each person produces roughly 2 pounds of rubbish per day-- I believe the Americans produce more per head-- [Laughter] and there are 55 million of us on this island using non-returnable bottles and indestructible plastic containers, it is not difficult to imagine the mountains of refuse that we shall have to deal with somehow.

Charles, voice-over: In those early years, I was described as old-fashioned, out of touch, and anti-science, a dreamer in a modern world that clearly thought itself too sophisticated for obsolete ideas and techniques.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

♪ I could see very clearly that we were growing numb to the sacred presence that all traditional societies still feel very deeply.

[Rumbling] Like the children who follow the Pied Piper, we failed to notice how far we were being taken from our rightful home.

[Indistinct voice on radio] Charles, voice-over: What spurred me on was an essential fact of life, an undeniable law that if we ignore nature, everything starts to unravel.

[Birds squawking] Charles: The necessary action hasn't been taken, has it?

That's the problem.

And I cannot believe that people can simply pay no attention to--to science.

They accept it in every other aspect of modern existence, the evidence, but apparently not for climate change.

♪ We need to think about what kind of world we're handing on to our successors, particularly grandchildren... so we don't ruin it for them.

♪ [Film projector whirring] Man, voice-over: Do you have any thoughts about the lady that the Prince of Wales should marry?

Young Charles, voice-over: [Chuckles] Yes.

♪ Young Charles, voice-over: Well, I suppose, um-- you see, it's sort of difficult because people like you perhaps would expect quite a lot from somebody like that, and it's got to be somebody pretty special.

♪ [Pages flipping] ♪ [Crowd cheering] ♪ Said, "Gaga."

Yes.

Charles, voice-over: When you have children of your own, you only then discover just what fun they can be and, uh, how important they are.

William is a splendid little character.

Very good-natured.

He's, um, very outgoing, which is encouraging, which will be a great help to him, I think, later on.

His brother Harry is--is, I think, absolutely adorable, and he is extraordinarily good and sleeps marvelously and eats very well.

Diana: Let him have a look through there.

Charles: Have a look.

Have a look through there.

You can see all those people on the other side.

Look through there.

You can see... See the faces?

The people in there.

Look at them.

Trapped.

[Camera shutters clicking] Charles, voice-over: I'm not very good at being a performing monkey.

I--I think that I am quite a sort of private person.

And you can-- it is extraordinary how now you feel that wherever you are, there's somebody hiding behind something somewhere.

I always think there's a camera now.

Always.

♪ They've written the agenda 9 times out of 10 before you go anywhere, including the script for--for a soap opera that they want to continue.

♪ I don't think many other people have to go through this constant attention-- not just me, but others-- you know, when their marriages break down.

Obviously, I'd much rather it hadn't happened, and, uh, I'm sure, um, my wife felt the same.

The trouble now is that our children are getting to the age where they read newspapers, and it's very upsetting.

I--I've learnt over the years to try and ignore it by--by just not reading most of it.

Otherwise, you'd go bananas!

Um, but with the children, what can you do if they read it?

You can't stop it, you can't stop them seeing this sort of thing.

'Cause it's very important to develop within this private an atmosphere as possible.

♪ [Ball thumping, children talking] [Camera shutters clicking] ♪ Charles, voice-over: Given the fact that there's so many other things in other parts of the world and the Commonwealth and everything else, trying to get round everything, as you can imagine, is--is always a bit of a challenge.

♪ I've been, I suppose, born and brought up in and surrounded by all this, so, in a funny way it almost becomes like second nature.

♪ Young Charles, voice-over: Being an incurable romantic, I--I look upon the Commonwealth as an ideal, as representing principles which, if you're not careful, disappear.

The whole idea of monarchy, certainly as far as the Commonwealth is concerned, is a family and that, somehow, everybody belongs.

♪ [Cheering] Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

[Applause] Man, voice-over: So, do you really enjoy walking along the row of the crowd and shaking hands?

It doesn't seem possible that anyone could enjoy that.

Charles, voice-over: Oh, why not?

When you get used to it, you meet some frightfully amusing people.

Charles: Are you married?

Man: No.

Charles: No?

Perhaps you'll pick up somebody here.

Charles, voice-over: I try as hard as I can by talking to as many people as possible.

And the great advantage of my position is that I can go around and talk to anybody about anything.

It is important to be honest and genuine, and people will always see that.

They will always see through you if you're not.

Woman: Oh, thank you, Prince Charles.

Thank you, Prince.

Whoo!

They see him as a very serious person, which he is, but I would like a lot of people to see the lighter side of him.

All: ♪ Oh, the hokey pokey ♪ ♪ Knees bent, arms stretched, ra, ra, ra ♪ ♪ You put your left leg in, you put your left leg out... ♪ [Wind blowing] Charles, voice-over: It's very important to have, as it were, another world to go through a door into.

Otherwise, I promise you, it's very easy to go mad.

♪ And when I first came here after 11 years of not skiing, I--I had the most dreadful falls and crashes and landed on rocks and things.

But you learn that way.

The only way to learn is to take the falls.

♪ [Boat engine] ♪ Charles, voice-over: I'm one of these hopeless characters who likes trying all sorts of things because it appeals to me.

I'm one of these people who doesn't like sitting and watching something else go on.

I don't like going to the races and watching horses thundering up and down, because I'd rather be riding the horse myself.

[Announcer speaking indistinctly] [Applause] I like to see if I can challenge myself to do something which is potentially hazardous, just to see whether mentally I can accept that challenge and carry it out.

♪ [Laughter] Bloody cold.

[Laughter] Thank you for that.

What?

Man: What does that do?

Well, I tell you, we put the air in here, you see, and it'll now do an amazing-- [Loud hissing] [Laughter] [Applause] Man, voice-over: I always have the sense, though, that if you were not in this public position, you'd like to be an actor.

[Beep] Charles, voice-over: I love imitating and mimicking.

Relax.

[Laughter] I enjoy making people laugh if I can.

And in a strange way, so much of what one does requires, I find, acting ability in one way or another, and it's extremely useful if you enjoy it.

Charles: So, I start when the green light goes on.

Do I?

[Cymbals crash] [Band playing] Charles, voice-over: Music plays a very important part in my life.

For me, it's a vital part of surviving the daily round.

I started with the trumpet at school at Gordonstoun, and I played that quite a bit.

I remember we had, in those days, in the early sixties, these marvelous music teachers who had escaped the Holocaust in Germany.

And one of them stopped, I remember, at one point and said, [Imitating teacher's accent] "Those trumpets," she said, "Stop those trumpets!"

Ha ha ha!

Anyway, I thought, well, time to come to try something else.

[Cello playing low note] Charles: Hear this?

[Playing up and down scale] Sounds like a tiger.

That's right.

[Dragging bow roughly across strings] Uhh.

Ha ha ha!

Do you know what these are called?

Boy: Um-umm.

Strings.

[Plucks strings] And this inside, the way it's shaped, gives it the sound, which goes... [Deep note resonates] It's quite a good tone, you see?

[Resonating tone] [Sharp tone] Ooh!

[Choir singing indistinctly with organ] ♪ Boys choir: ♪ Lord, we shall stand in thy care ♪ Male choir: ♪ Lord, we shall stand in thy care... ♪ ♪ Charles, voice-over: We do not think music.

We resonate with it and feel it.

♪ It somehow harmonizes with our own human nature so that we feel something is meant by it.

♪ [Singing ends] It's fantastic, I think.

And of course, with a big choir, it must be even more remarkable, I would have thought.

[Organ playing low notes] But-- Very interesting, you see.

[Laughs] It's those ones that make the whole difference, I think, those pipes.

♪ Charles, voice-over: I remember as a child that my grandmother used to take me to all sorts of performances.

♪ And also all those marvelous memories of being read to as a child by my father.

"Hiawatha."

"Of all beasts he learned their language, "learned their names and all their secrets.

"How the beavers built their lodges, where the squirrels hid their acorns."

♪ They're so funny, these creatures.

They really do make me laugh.

Charles, voice-over: "Talked with them whene'er he met them.

Called them Hiawatha's brothers."

♪ I just always have loved the countryside.

I love walking in it, anyway.

I find that, funnily enough, walking is--is a terribly important thing for me.

You know, like some people need a cigarette, I need a walk.

And to me, it may sound silly to say, but it's true in my sense, anyway, every tree, stone, and berm and bit of heather actually means a great deal to me, and I associate with them.

Man, voice-over: Some people mellow as they grow older.

I--I've noticed you seem to have got more passionate.

Ha ha!

Well, yes, I am.

I mind so much about the future.

What we're going to leave to our children and grandchildren.

That's what really gets me going.

Camilla: He's pretty impatient, as I think everybody who works for him will tell you, but, um, that's how he gets things done.

♪ Charles, voice-over: She's the best listener in the world.

She does have a wonderful way with people, you see.

That's the special thing, I think.

Camilla: I'd love to tell him to pace himself, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen.

♪ Charles, voice-over: I believe very strongly that the whole business of monarchy depends on--on continuity.

I think the older you get, the more impact the sovereign can make on--on affairs.

To that extent, I believe very, very strongly that one should continue until the end of one's life.

And I see no reason why the Queen should ever retire, if you like.

♪ Queen Elizabeth's a life well-lived, a promise with destiny kept, and she is mourned most deeply in her passing.

To my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this...

Thank you.

♪ How many do you think-- 1, 2, 3, 4.

4.

Well done.

Woman, voice-over: What sort of advice will the father be passing on to his son from all you've learnt?

Charles, voice-over: Well, I hope that rather like a farmer's son following his father around the farm and picking things up, that I would hope that--that he would do the same in a sense.

Are you coming with me?

I'll come with you.

Aah!

Charles, voice-over: Half the battle, isn't it, is how to adapt... without losing that element of continuity.

Crowd: ♪ God save our gracious King... ♪ Charles: I, too, now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

I shall endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect, and love as I have throughout my life.

Man: Your Royal Highness, we've now come nearly full circle.

You're now within days of this investiture of yours.

What will that day mean to you personally?

Um, I think it'll probably mean quite a lot.

I do enjoy ceremonies, and I think that the British people do them so very well.

[Gunfire] Man: 3 cheers for His Majesty the King.

Hip hip!

Crowd: Hooray!

Man: Hip hip!

Crowd: Hooray!

Charles: One could be so cynical about this sort of thing and think, "Well, oh, it's only a ceremony and, you know, "perhaps it's for television.

You know, it's just a show."

But I like to think it's something a little bit more than that.

♪ I think it'll be a marvelous day, probably, as long as the weather stays fine.

Ha ha!

♪