A recently discovered photograph of one of King Charles’ ancestors bears a striking resemblance to the monarch.
King Charles is known for his prominent ears – a long standing joke that even led the late Queen Elizabeth to remark: “Thank heavens he hasn’t ears like his father,” when Prince William was born in 1982.
However, if there was one historical figure to look to for an idea of where King Charles’ genetics come from, it would certainly be Prince Philip’s grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.
His great-grandmother on his father’s side shares an uncanny likeness with the King, OK! reports.
Born at Windsor Castle in 1863, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (later known as The Marchioness of Milford Haven) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Louis of Battenberg and had four children, Princess Alice (Prince Philip’s mother), Queen Louise of Sweden, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven and Lord Louis Mountbatten.
During World War One, the Battenberg family abandoned their German surname and adopted the more English-sounding Mountbatten. Princess Victoria became a widow in 1921 and ultimately ended up helping to raise and educate Prince Philip following his mother’s institutionalisation and subsequent divorce.
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Prince Philip fondly remembered his grandmother, saying: “I liked my grandmother very much and she was always helpful. She was very good with children… she took the practical approach to them. She treated them in the right way – the right combination of the rational and the emotional.”
Victoria, who spent the majority of her life residing at Kensington Palace, passed away there on 24 September 1950. She rests in peace alongside her husband at St. Mildred’s Church on the Isle of Wight.
Another of King Charles’s ancestors he strikingly resembles is his great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII. Born as Albert Edward in 1841, he was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, greeting the world for the first time at Buckingham Palace.
‘Bertie’, as he was affectionately referred to within the family circle, famously lived in his mother’s shadow for over six decades before ascending the throne following her demise on 22 January 1901. His rule, although brief, lasted until his own death in 1910.
In a similar vein, King Charles endured a remarkably prolonged wait, himself, to assume the crown, being next in line for more than 70 years. He is recorded as the longest serving Prince of Wales in historical annals and as the oldest individual to ascend to the status of sovereign.
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