The King celebrates his 76th birthday today and the monarch will mark the day by opening two food distribution hubs.
It’s been a difficult year for Charles amid his and his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnoses.
But in a positive step, the King, along with Queen Camilla, carried out a major royal tour of Australia and Samoa last month, with more overseas travel reportedly planned for next year.
Charles marked the second year of his reign in September, and in the space of those two years, there have been state visits, official birthday parades and hosting the annual summer retreat at Balmoral.
But we’re taking things back to the King’s childhood, where he had a loyal playmate in the form of his younger sister, Princess Anne, and was doted on particularly by the late Queen Mother.
Discover some of King Charles’s cutest moments from his royally-lavish lifestyle as a child…
© GettyFamily portrait
King Charles posed for a famous portrait photograph with his parents Prince Philip and the Queen, who was pictured holding her then-youngest child, Princess Anne.
© PA ImagesPortrait with the Queen
Princess Elizabeth beamed as she sat with her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne on the Princess Royal’s first birthday. Her older brother looked ever-so-sweet in a snug shirt and shorts.
© GettyPlaying with puppets
In this snap from 1952, King Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, was spotted playing with a glove puppet in his toy car whilst staying at Balmoral.
© GettyZooming around Balmoral
That very same day, Queen Elizabeth was captured watching her son playing in his toy car while at Balmoral as she played with his rabbit puppet.
© GettyKing of his castle
Charles surveys his surroundings from the wall of Clarence House in 1950 as Princess Elizabeth looks on.
© GettyThe smiling Prince
A bonnie looking Charles smiling from his pram in 1950.
© Lisa SheridanPuppy play date
That very same day, Queen Elizabeth was captured watching her son playing in his toy car while at Balmoral as she played with his rabbit puppet.
© GettyCharles in his crib
Those cheeks! A baby Charles loved to chill in his crib alongside his royal mother.
© GettyNewborn portrait
Even the least broody of the bunch couldn’t resist this royal baby. This portrait taken in 1949 shows the mini monarch swathed in his basket at Buckingham palace.
© GettyA future monarch in the making
The little prince captured looking ever so regal ahead of his sixth birthday.
© GettyAt one with nature
Charles has long been an advocate for the environment and like many of the royals, shares a love for the great outdoors.
© GettyAnd then there were three
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with their children Princess Anne, Prince Charles (right) and Prince Andrew on his first holiday to Balmoral.
© GettySuited and booted
Nothing says childhood nostalgia quite like a pair of knee-high socks, right?
© GettyWith the Queen Mother
Taken in 1950, this snap depicts Queen Elizabeth (1900 – 2002), wife of George VI, with her grandson Charles and Pippin the dog – which surprisingly, is not a corgi.
© GettyA different kind of rein
Here the royal is seen with his mother riding in Windsor Castle together.
© GettyFirst year
Doting mother Queen Elizabeth shows baby Charles a teddy bear as he sits inquisitively in his pram in a snap that was taken at Windlesham Moor in July 1949.
