In honour of Prince Charles' milestone 70th birthday this week, the heir to the throne has shared some of his most treasured memories and unseen pictures with HELLO!. The Queen's eldest has lots to look forward to with his charitable work in full swing, his sons forging their own public lives and the Duchess of Cornwall by his side providing support. On the day of the celebrations on 14 November, Her Majesty is hosting a private party at Buckingham Palace with an incredible guest list.
MORE:Prince Charles vows he won't be a meddling monarch
In a candid BBC documentary, Charles, who is facing the growing prospect he will assume the role of head of state, recently opened up about how he sees his future. Speaking about being heir to the throne compared to being monarch, Charles said: "But the idea somehow that I'm going to go on in exactly the same way, if I have to succeed, is complete nonsense because the two - the two situations - are completely different."
The Queen is 92 and she still carries out her full duties as head of state but her family, led by Charles, are increasingly supporting her public work. Charles has recently returned from a major tour of West Africa where he promoted the Commonwealth, Britain's interests and helped strengthen the UK's links with Nigeria, the Gambia and Ghana.
To find out more on Charles and to see the rare pictures, the gallery below. For the full album, pick up this week's HELLO!...
This is Prince Charles as a child. He has been captured on film throughout his life, from his days as a playful toddler.
On 15 August 1950, the arrival of a little sister, Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, gave the Prince a playroom companion. In this 1953 photo, the youngsters join their parents the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for a stroll around the grounds of Balmoral Castle
Charles joined his family for a loving photo after the birth of his brother Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward on 19 February 1960. The arrival of the new royal literally upstaged the 11-year-old Charles – according to Jonathan Dimbleby, Charles was starring in a play at Cheam School in Surrey when the headmaster stepped on stage to announce that the Queen had given birth to a second son.
Charles' school photo from 1962, when he was a student at Gordonstoun in the north of Scotland. "I didn't enjoy school as much as I might have," he later said. "But that was only because I'm happier at home than anywhere else."
Prince Charles with his brother Prince Andrew and Prince Edward at Balmoral in Scotland, in 1979.
An official portrait of Prince Charles taken in 1962.
The Prince as an undergraduate in 1969, studying anthropology, archaeology and history at Trinity College, Cambridge. He broke royal precedent by living on campus and leading a student’s life as much as possible – the Queen inspected his rooms personally before giving her approval for the move.
Aged 20, the Prince seen making time for his papers in his private sitting room at Buckingham Palace in April 1969. He was an avid reader who cut his teeth on Shakespeare – once playing Macbeth at school – and was such great friends with the renowned author Sir Laurens van der Post that he asked him to be a godfather to his elder son Prince William.
A 30-year-old Charles seen posing at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire as he fulfills his ambition to fly a 1930s Tiger Moth. Flying is a passion that has stayed with him all his life. Speaking with armed forces families on a tour of Canada in 2012, Charles proudly described himself as "the father of two serving sons in the armed forces who seem to have become hereditary helicopter pilots."
Wearing the bearskin hat of the Queen's Guard, Charles takes his place in the annual Trooping the Colour parade in 1977 – the year his mother celebrates her Silver Jubilee.
Schoolboys get out their cameras to snap Charles as he makes his way into Westminster Abbey to be named Great Master of the Honourable Order of the Bath, an order of chivalry established by George I in 1725.
Charles giving a thumbs-up as he took off for a helicopter training flight at the Royal Naval Air Station in Yeovilton, Somerset, in October 1972. Following family tradition, the Prince served in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, although he preferred to be airborne than at sea.
A 1985 portrait by Norman Parkinson shows Charles and his siblings with their grandmother the Queen Mother at Windsor Castle. "She was quite simply the most magical grandmother you could possibly have and I was utterly devoted to her," said the Prince after her death in 2002.
An image from 2008 shows Charles presenting William with his wings at his RAF graduation ceremony in Lincolnshire. The training was important to William’s royal education as he, like his father, will one day be head of the armed forces.
The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are known north of the border, stroll near their Scottish country home in a photo released to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary in 2015. Bundled up against the cold, Charles looks lovingly at his wife, who stands smiling beside him as she takes in the view at Birkhall on the Queen’s Balmoral estate.
Charles and Camilla are captured by a friend – a sweet photo they later used on their Christmas cards.
