XN000022-1979-03-02 — Page 5

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1979

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IN AUGUST 1966 PRINCE CHARLES LEFT AUSTRALIA, AND AFTER A BRIEF STAY IN MEXICO JOINED HIS FATHER AND SISTER AT THE OPENING OF THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA. IN SEPTEMBER HE RETURNED TO GORDONSTOUN TO BECOME HEAD OF HIS HOUSE- THE FOLLOWING JANUARY HE BECAME GUARDIAN (HEAD BOY) OF THE SCHOOL, A POSITION HIS FATHER HAD HELD BEFORE HIM.

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS LEFT GORDONSTOUN IN 1967, AND AFTER VISITING FACTORIES AND THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT TO LEARN SOMETHING OF BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE, WENT UP TO CAMBRIDGE IN OCTOBER. THERE HE READ ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY DURING HIS FIRST YEAR- CHANGING OVER TO THE HISTORICAL SCHOOL IN 1968, AT THE END OF HIS FIRST YEAR.

HE TOOK AN ACTIVE PART IN UNDERGRADUATE LIFE, APPEARING IN SEVERAL COLLEGE REVUES, AND GAINING HIS UNIVERSITY COLOURS (+HALF-BLUE+) FOR POLO. ONE SUMMER TERM WAS SPENT IN ABERYSTWYTH IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES, BEFORE THE PRINCE GRADUATED BA (CANTAB) IN HISTORY IN 1970.

PRINCE CHARLES BECAME A COUNSELLOR OF STATE FOR THE FIRST TIME WHILE THE QUEEN WAS ON AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO CANADA IN 1967. HE REPRESENTED HER MAJESTY OVERSEAS FOR THE FIRST TIME WHEN HE ATTENDED THE MEMORIAL SERVICE OF MR. HAROLD HOLT, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA, LATER IN THE SAME YEAR AND SINCE THEN HE HAS REPRESENTED THE QUEEN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. THE INVESTITURE OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS AS PRINCE OF WALES TOOK PLACE ON JULY 1, 1969.

THE PRINCE OF WALES TOOK UP HIS FIRST SERVICE APPOINTMENT IN 1969 AS COLONEL-IN-CHIEF OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF WALES. HE TOOK HIS SEAT IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS IN 1970. IN MARCH 1971 HE JOINED THE ROYAL AIR FORCE COLLEGE AT CRANWELL, WHERE HE TRAINED TO WING STANDARD.

IN THE AUTUMN OF 1971, AFTER COMPLETING HIS COURSE AT CRANWELL, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS ENTERED THE ROYAL NAVY (CONTINUING A FAMILY TRADITION, SINCE HIS FATHER, GRANDFATHER AND GREAT GRANDFATHER HAD SERVED AT SEA).

HE SERVED IN THE WEST INDIES FOR MOST OF 1973, BEING PROMOTED TO ACTING LIEUTENANT IN MAY AND BEING THE QUEEN'S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE AT THE INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATIONS IN THE BAHAMAS. IN JANUARY 1974 HE FLEW TO SINGAPORE TO JOIN THE FRIGATE HMS JUPITER AS COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER.

LATER THAT MONTH HE JOINED THE QUEEN AND DUKE OF EDINBURGH IN NEW ZEALAND, WHERE THEY ATTENDED THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN CHRISTCHURCH.

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS LEFT THE JUPITER IN AUGUST, AND IN SEPTEMBER, WENT TO THE ROYAL NAVAL AIR SCHOOL AT YEOVILTON IN SOMERSET TO LEARN TO FLY HELICOPTERS. IN OCTOBER, HE VISITED FIJI AND AUSTRALIA, AFTERWARDS RETURNING TO THE AIR SCHOOL TO BECOME A QUALIFIED HELICOPTER PILOT IN DECEMBER 1974.

/FROM JANUARY

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