name	Prince Charles
title	Prince of Wales; Duke of Cornwall; Duke of Rothesay (more)
imgw	220
spouses	Diana, Princess of Wales(m. 1981, div. 1996)Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall(m. 2005)
issue	Prince William, Duke of CambridgePrince Harry of Wales
full name	Charles Philip Arthur George |groupfn |namesur}}

| house = House of Windsor | father = Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | mother = Elizabeth II | birth_date = November 14, 1948 | birth_place = Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom | date of christening = 15 December 1948 | place of christening = Buckingham Palace, London | occupation = | religion = Church of England }}

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Since 1958 his major title has been ''His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales''. In Scotland he is additionally known as ''The Duke of Rothesay.'' He is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. Until 22 April 2011 Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) had been the longest serving heir apparent, for a period of 59 years 74 days. However, Prince Edward became heir apparent on his birth, 4 years into his mother's (Queen Victoria) reign, whereas Prince Charles was three years old at his mother's ascension and thus has been heir apparent for all of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Charles was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun Schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had attended as a child, as well as the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, Australia, situated near Mansfield in the rugged Victorian Alps. After earning a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles served a tour of duty with the Royal Navy in 1971–76. He married Lady Diana Spencer before an enormous worldwide television audience in 1981. They had two sons, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in 1982 and Prince Harry of Wales in 1984. The couple separated in 1992 following tabloid allegations concerning their relationship. They divorced in 1996 after Diana publicly accused Charles of having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Charles admitted adultery on television. Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. In 2005, after a lengthy continued association, the Prince married Camilla, who uses the title Duchess of Cornwall.

The prince is well-known for his charity work and sponsors The Prince's Trust, The Prince's Regeneration Trust, and the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, among other charities. He has been outspoken concerning architecture and the conservation of old buildings and has produced a book on the subject called ''A Vision of Britain'' (1989). He has also promoted herbal and other alternative medical treatment.

Early life

Charles was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948 at 9.14 pm (GMT), the first child of then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Baptised in the palace's Music Room on 15 December 1948, using water from the River Jordan, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, the Prince's godparents were: the King (his maternal grandfather); the King of Norway (his cousin, for whom the Earl of Athlone stood proxy); Queen Mary (his maternal great-grandmother); the Princess Margaret (his maternal aunt); Prince George of Greece (his paternal granduncle, for whom the Duke of Edinburgh stood proxy); the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (his paternal great-grandmother); the Lady Brabourne (his cousin); and the Hon David Bowes-Lyon (his maternal great-uncle). By letters patent of Charles' great-grandfather, King George V, the titles of a British prince or princess, and the style ''Royal Highness'', were only to be conferred on male-line children and grandchildren of the sovereign, as well as the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. However, on 22 October 1948, George VI issued new letters patent granting these honours to any children of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip; otherwise, Charles would have merely taken his father's title, and been titled by courtesy as Earl of Merioneth. In this way the children of the heiress presumptive had a royal and princely status.

When Charles was aged three his mother's accession as Queen Elizabeth II, immediately made him the heir apparent to the then seven countries over which she now reigned. He was ''ipso facto'' elevated to the rank of Duke of Cornwall (by a charter of King Edward III that gave said title to the sovereign's eldest son), and, in the Scottish peerage, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Though he moved to first in line to the throne in the United Kingdom order of precedence he is third, after his parents, and is typically fourth or fifth in other realms' precedence orders, following his mother, the relevant vice-regal representative(s), and his father. Charles attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother and aunt. As is customary for royal offspring, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of 5 and 8. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, making him the first heir apparent ever to be educated in that manner.

Youth

Education

Charles first attended Hill House School in West London, receiving non-preferential treatment from the school's founder and then head, Stuart Townend, who advised the Queen to have Charles train in football, as the boys at Hill House were never deferential to anyone on the football field. The Prince then attended his father's former school, the Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England; and was finally moved to Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland. Reportedly the Prince despised his time at the latter school – "Colditz in kilts", as Charles put it – though he did spend two of his terms at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Geelong, Australia, during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a history trip with his tutor, Michael Collins Persse. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy, and left in 1967 with two A Levels in History and French.

Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from secondary school into university, as opposed to joining the Armed Forces. On the recommendation of Robin Woods, Dean of Windsor, and despite only gaining grades of B and C in his A Levels, the Prince was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read anthropology, archaeology, and history, tutored by Canadian-born Professor John Coles. He graduated with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts on 23 June 1970, the third Royal Family member to earn a university degree. On 2 August 1975 he was subsequently awarded a Master of Arts Degree from Cambridge, per the university's tradition. During his tertiary, Charles also attended the Old College (part of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth), studying the Welsh language and Welsh history. He is the first Prince of Wales born outside of Wales ever to attempt to learn the language of the principality.

Created Prince of Wales

Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958, though his investiture as such was not conducted until 1 July 1969, wherein he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle, and gave his replies and speech in both Welsh and English. The following year he took his seat in the House of Lords, and later in the decade became the first member of the Royal Family since King George I to attend a British Cabinet meeting, having been invited by Prime Minister James Callaghan so that the Prince might see the workings of the British government and Cabinet at first hand. Charles also began to take on more public duties, founding his The Prince's Trust in 1976, and travelling to the United States in 1981.

Around the same time the Prince expressed an interest in serving as Governor-General of Australia; Commander Michael Parker explained: "The idea behind the appointment was for him to put a foot on the ladder of monarchy, or being the future King and start learning the trade." However, because of a combination of nationalist feeling in Australia and the dismissal of the government by the Governor-General in 1975, nothing came of the proposal. Charles accepted the decision of the Australian ministers, if not without some regret; he reportedly stated: "What are you supposed to think when you are prepared to do something to help and you are told you are not wanted?" Conversely, Tom Gallagher wrote that Charles had been offered the Romanian throne by monarchists in that country; an offer that was reportedly turned down.

The Prince is at present the oldest man to hold the title of Prince of Wales since it became the title granted to the heir apparent. He is also the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in Commonwealth realms' history and the third longest serving Prince of Wales in British history behind Edward VII and George IV, whom he will pass on 10 October 2017 if he is still Prince of Wales on that date. If he ascends to the throne after 18 September 2013, Charles would be the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom to do so; only William IV was older when he became monarch than Charles is now.

Military training and career

Following in the tradition of Princes of Wales before him, Charles spent time in the navy and air force. After Royal Air Force training that he requested and received during his second year at Cambridge, on 8 March 1971 the Prince flew himself to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell to train as a jet pilot. After the passing out parade in September of that year, he then embarked on a naval career, enrolling in a six–week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth and then serving on the guided missile destroyer (1971–1972) and the frigates (1972–1973) and (1974). Charles also qualified as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Yeovilton in 1974, just prior to joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, operating from , and on 9 February 1976 the Prince took command of the coastal minehunter for his last nine months in the navy. Prince Charles learned to fly on a Chipmunk basic pilot trainer, a BAC Jet Provost jet trainer, and a Beagle Basset multi-engined trainer, he then regularly flew the Hawker Siddeley Andover, Westland Wessex and BAe 146 aircraft of The Queen's Flight.

Early romances

Prince Charles' love life was always the subject of speculation and press fodder. In his youth, he was linked to a number of women, including Georgiana Russell, daughter of the British Ambassador to Spain; Lady Jane Wellesley; Davina Sheffield; Fiona Watson, a model; Susan George; Lady Sarah Spencer; Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg; Dale, Baroness Tryon; Janet Jenkins; and Jane Ward. Not only is Charles the heir apparent to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms, a marriage was also expected to raise future monarchs. Consequently his choice of consort was going to create immense popular interest. In particular the reputation of the bride was going to be a major consideration, in addition to his mother's approval under the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Under this Act marriage to a Roman Catholic would automatically debar him and the marriage's Catholic issue from succession.

Charles was given written advice on dating and the selection of a future consort from his father's "Uncle Dickie", Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma: "In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down, but for a wife he should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for... It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage." Mountbatten had a unique qualification for offering advice to this particular heir to the throne: he had invited George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters to visit Dartmouth Royal Naval College on 22 July 1939, having also detailed Cadet Prince Philip of Greece to keep the young princesses company, arranging the first documented meeting of Charles' future parents. In early 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with Elizabeth and Philip's eldest son about a potential marriage to Mountbatten's granddaughter, Hon. Amanda Knatchbull (b. 26 June 1957), and recommended that the 25-year-old prince get done with his bachelor's experimentation. Charles dutifully wrote to Amanda's mother, Lady Brabourne (who was also his godmother), about his interest in her daughter, to which she replied approvingly, though suggesting that a courtship was premature.

This did not daunt Mountbatten, who, four years later, obtained an invitation for himself and Amanda to accompany Charles on his 1980 tour of India. Both fathers, however, objected; Philip complaining that the Prince of Wales would be eclipsed by his famous uncle (who had served as the last British Viceroy and first Governor-General of India), while Lord Brabourne warned that a joint visit would rivet media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple, thereby potentially dashing the very prospect for which Mountbatten hoped. However, before Charles was to depart alone for India, Mountbatten was killed in an IRA murder during August 1979. When Charles returned, he proposed to Amanda. However, in addition to her grandfather, she had lost her paternal grandmother and youngest brother Nicholas in the attack and now recoiled from the prospect of becoming a core member of the Royal Family. In June 1980 Charles officially turned down Chevening House, placed at his disposal since 1974, as his future residence. Chevening, a stately home in Kent, was bequeathed, along with an endowment, to the Crown by the last Earl Stanhope, Amanda's childless great-uncle, in the hope that Charles would eventually occupy it.

First marriage

thumb|TRH The Prince and [[Diana, Princess of Wales|The Princess of Wales with Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in November 1985]] Although Charles first met Lady Diana Frances Spencer in 1977—while visiting Diana's home, Althorp, as the companion of her elder sister, Sarah—he did not consider her romantically until the summer of 1980. While sitting together on a bale of hay at a friend's barbecue in July he mentioned Mountbatten's death, to which Diana replied that Charles had looked forlorn and in need of care during his uncle's funeral. Soon, according to Charles' chosen biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, "without any apparent surge in feeling, he began to think seriously of her as a potential bride." She accompanied the Prince on visits to Balmoral and Sandringham, eliciting enthusiastic responses from most of the Royal Family.

Although the Queen offered Charles no direct counsel, his cousin Norton Knatchbull (Amanda's eldest brother) and his wife, Penny, did. But Charles was angered by their objections that he did not seem in love with Diana and that she seemed too awestruck by his position. Meanwhile, the couple continued dating, amidst constant press speculation and paparazzi coverage. When Prince Philip told him that the intrusive media attention would injure her reputation if he did not come to a decision about marrying her soon, and realising that Diana met the Mountbatten criteria (and, apparently, the public's) for a proper royal bride, Charles construed his father's advice as a warning to proceed without further delay.

Engagement and wedding to Diana

Prince Charles proposed to Lady Diana Spencer in February 1981, she accepted, and when he asked her father for her hand, he consented. After the British and Canadian privy councils gave their approval for the union (which was sought as the couple was expected to produce an heir to those countries' thrones), the Queen-in-Council gave the legally required assent, and, 29 July, Charles and Diana were married at St Paul's Cathedral, before 3,500 invited guests and an estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million people. All of the Queen's Governors-General, as well as Europe's crowned heads, attended (save for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who was advised not to attend because the newlyweds' honeymoon would involve a stop over in the disputed territory of Gibraltar). Most of Europe's elected heads of state were also amongst the guests, with the exceptions of the President of Greece, Constantine Karamanlis (who declined because Greece's exiled monarch, Constantine II, a kinsman and friend of the bridegroom, had been invited as "King of the Hellenes"), and the President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery (who was advised by Taoiseach Charles Haughey not to attend because of the dispute over the status of Northern Ireland). right|thumb|TRH The Prince and The Princess of Wales with Sandro Pertini The couple made their homes at Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and Kensington Palace. Almost immediately, the new Princess of Wales became a star attraction, chased by the paparazzi, and her every move followed by millions through the mass media. The couple had two children: Princes William (born 21 June 1982) and Henry (known as "Harry") (born 15 September 1984). Charles set precedent by being the first royal father to be present at his children's births. Persistent suggestions have been made that the father of Harry is not Charles but James Hewitt with whom Diana had an affair. These suggestions have been based on a physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry. However Hewitt stated to the press in 2002 that Harry had already been born by the time the affair between him and Diana began.

Separation and divorce

The union between the Prince and Princess of Wales soon became troubled; within five years, the "fairytale" marriage was on the brink of collapse. The continued presence of Camilla Parker-Bowles in events and circumstances that also involved the royal couple became intolerable to Diana. Allies of Charles who spoke both publicly and off the record against Diana alleged that she was unstable and temperamental; one by one, she apparently secured the dismissal of many of Charles' long-standing staff members and fell out with his friends, as well as members of her own family– her father, mother, and brother– as well as members of the Royal Family, such as Sarah, Duchess of York. To the Palace's regret, the Princess sought counsel outside generally accepted sources of royal advice. In response to the succour sought by the Prince, Diana responded in kind. Charles, however, was also blamed for the marital troubles, as he resumed his adulterous affair with Parker-Bowles. Though they remained a couple in public, Charles and Diana had effectively separated by the late 1980s, the Prince living in Highgrove and the Princess at Kensington Palace. Their increased periods apart and obvious discomfort in each other's presence began to be noticed by the media, and this, plus evidence and recriminations of infidelity, were broadcast in tabloids and the news. By 1992, the marriage was over in all but name; in December of that year, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major, announced in the British parliament the Prince and Princess' formal separation, after which the media began to take sides, starting what came to be known as the ''War of the Waleses''. In October 1993, Princess Diana wrote to a friend that she believed her husband was now in love with Tiggy Legge-Bourke and wanted to marry her. The marriage of Charles and Diana was formally ended in divorce on 28 August 1996.

On 31 August 1997, a year after the Prince and Princess divorced, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. The Prince of Wales overruled the palace protocol experts– who argued that as Princess Diana was no longer a member of the Royal Family, the responsibility for her funeral arrangements belonged to her blood relatives, the Spencers– and flew to Paris, with Princess Diana's sisters, to accompany his ex-wife's body home. He also insisted that, as the mother of the presumed future king (her son William), she be given a formal royal funeral; a new category of formal funeral was especially created for her.

Second marriage

In 1993 the British tabloids came into the possession of recordings of a 1989 telephone conversation allegedly between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles, in which Charles expressed regret for the indignities she had endured because of her relationship with him, and which revealed graphic expressions of a physical intimacy between the two.

Engagement and wedding to Camilla

Clarence House announced on 10 February 2005 that Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were engaged; the Prince presented her with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother. In a Privy Council meeting on 2 March, the Queen's consent to the marriage (as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772) was recorded. In Canada, however, the Department of Justice announced its decision that the Queen's Privy Council for Canada was not required to meet to give its consent to the marriage, as the union would not result in offspring and thus would have no impact on the succession to the Canadian throne.

The marriage was to have been on 8 April of that year, and was to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious blessing at St George's Chapel. But, because the conduct of a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue thereafter to be available to anyone wishing to be married there, the location was changed to the Windsor Guildhall. On 4 April it was announced that the marriage would be delayed by one day to allow for the Prince of Wales and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Charles' parents did not attend the marriage ceremony; the Queen's reluctance to attend arising from her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh did, however, attend the service of blessing, and held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle, afterwards.

Act of Penitence

A unique feature during the Blessing of Charles and Camilla's marriage by the Archbishop of Canterbury was the inclusion of the strongest act of penitence from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The royal couple led the congregation in declaring:

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, have committed by word, thought and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.

Legality of civil wedding

The wedding made Charles the first member of the Royal Family to have a civil, rather than religious, wedding in England. Official documents had been published by BBC that stated such a marriage was illegal, though these were dismissed by Clarence House, and explained to be obsolete by the sitting government.

Personal interests

In his years as heir apparent, the Prince of Wales has taken on a wide array of interests and activities, and devoted his time and effort to charity work and collaborating with local communities. Since founding The Prince's Trust, he established fifteen more charitable organisations, and now serves as president of all of those, plus two others; together, these form a loose alliance called ''The Prince's Charities'', which claim to raise over £110 million annually. Charles is also patron of over 350 other charities and organisations, and carries out duties related to these throughout the Commonwealth realms; for example, he uses his tours of Canada as a way to help draw attention to youth, the disabled, the environment, the arts, medicine, the elderly, heritage conservation, and education. The Prince was described by his ex-private secretary as a dissident who works against majority political opinions. Jonathan Dimbleby has reported that the Prince "has accumulated a number of certainties about the state of the world and does not relish contradiction."

The built environment

The Prince of Wales has frequently shared his views on architecture and urban planning in public forums, claiming to "care deeply about issues such as the environment, architecture, inner-city renewal, and the quality of life." He is known to be an advocate of neo-traditional ideas, such as those of Christopher Alexander and Leon Krier, which were illustrated in his 1984 attack on the British architectural community in a speech given to the Royal Institute of British Architects, describing a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as a "monstrous carbuncle". Charles also published a book and created a documentary entitled ''A Vision of Britain'', which critiqued some aspects of modern architecture. Despite criticism from the professional architectural press, the Prince has continued to put forward his views, stressing traditional urbanism, the need for human scale, and the restoration of historic buildings as an integrated element of new development and sustainable design. Two of the Charles' charities in particular forward his theories on design: The Prince's Regeneration Trust (formed by a merger of Regeneration Through Heritage and the Phoenix Trust in 2006) and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment (which absorbed The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture in 2001). Further, the village of Poundbury was created at the instigation of Prince Charles, with a master plan by Leon Krier.

Charles assisted with the establishment of a National Trust for the built environment in Canada, after lamenting, in 1996, the unbridled destruction of many of the country's historic urban cores. He offered his assistance to the Department of Canadian Heritage in the creation of a trust modelled on the British variant, and, with the passing of the 2007 federal budget by his mother's representative in Canada, a Canadian national trust was finally fully implemented. In 1999, the Prince also agreed to offer the use of his title to the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, awarded by the Heritage Canada Foundation to municipal governments that have shown sustained commitment to the conservation of historic places. Charles has also been the recipient of awards for his efforts in regard to architecture, such as the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize he received in 2005, while visiting the United States and touring southern Mississippi and New Orleans to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina; he donated $25,000 of the prize money to help restore communities damaged by the storm.

Starting in 1997 the Prince of Wales also visited Romania to view and draw attention to some of the destruction caused during the Communist rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu, particularly Orthodox monasteries and Saxon villages of Transylvania, where he purchased a house. Charles also became patron of two Romanian built environment organisations: the Mihai Eminescu Trust and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism, an advocate of architecture that respects cultural tradition and identity. Charles also has “a deep understanding of Islamic art and architecture”, and has been involved in the construction of a building and garden at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies which combine Islamic and Oxford architectural styles.

Charles' involvement in architecture has also attracted controversy, especially his personal intervention to redesign projects whose architectural style or approach he has disagreed with. He has been especially opposed to styles such as modernism and functionalism. Richard Rogers, recipient of the Pritzker Prize and Stirling Prize, has described the Prince's personal intervention in projects as "an abuse of power" and "unconstitutional". In 2009 Charles wrote a letter to the Qatari royal family, the developers of the Chelsea Barracks site to be designed by Rogers, that suggested his design was "unsuitable". Subsequently, Rogers was removed from the project and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment was appointed to propose an alternative. Rogers has also claimed the Prince intervened to stop his designs for the Royal Opera House and Paternoster Square.

Charles' personal interventions have attracted critique from prominent members of the architectural community. Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Jacques Herzog, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, and Frank Gehry among others wrote a letter to The Sunday Times to this effect; each is a recipient of the Pritzker Prize. They wrote that "private comments" and "behind-the-scenes lobbying" by the Prince counteracted the "open and democratic planning process" in the case of the Chelsea Barracks project. Similarly, Piers Gough CBE and other architects wrote a letter encouraging colleagues to boycott Charles' address to the Royal Institute of British Architects, with Gough calling Charles' views on architecture "elitist".

The natural environment

Since the early 1980s, Charles has taken a keen interest in environmental issues, taking a leadership role in promoting environmentally sensitive thinking. Upon his moving into his Highgrove estate, he became increasingly focused on organic farming, an attention that culminated in the 1990 launch of his own organic brand: Duchy Originals, which now sells more than 200 different sustainably produced products, from food to garden furniture, the profits from which (£6 million, as of 2008) are donated to The Prince's Charities. Documenting this work on his estate, Charles co-authored (with Charles Clover, environment editor of the ''Daily Telegraph'') ''Highgrove: An Experiment in Organic Gardening and Farming'', published in 1993, and offers his patronage to Garden Organic. Along similar lines, the Prince of Wales became involved with farming and various industries within it, regularly meeting with farmers to discuss their trade; though the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic in England prevented Charles from visiting farmers in Saskatchewan, organic farmers there came to meet him at the Assiniboia town hall. In 2004, he also founded the Mutton Renaissance Campaign, which aims to support British sheep farmers and make mutton more attractive to Britons. His organic farming efforts, however, attracted media criticism: According to ''The Independent'' in October 2006 "...the story of Duchy Originals has involved compromises and ethical blips, wedded to a determined merchandising programme." and, in February 2007, Duchy products themselves came under attack, with the tabloid ''Daily Mail'' claiming that the food was "unhealthier than Big Macs." In 2007, Charles also launched The Prince's May Day Network, which encourages businesses to take action on climate change.

An announcement was made by Clarence House in December 2006 that the Prince of Wales would make his household's travel arrangements more eco-friendly and, in 2007, Charles published in his annual accounts the details of his own carbon footprint, as well as targets for reducing his household's carbon emissions. That same year, he received the 10th annual Global Environmental Citizen Award from the Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment, the director of which, Eric Chivian, stated: "For decades the Prince of Wales has been a champion of the natural world... He has been a world leader in efforts to improve energy efficiency and in reducing the discharge of toxic substances on land, and into the air and the oceans". However, Charles' travel by commercial airliner to the United States to attend the award ceremony drew criticism from some environmental activists, such as the Plane climate change action group's campaigner Joss Garman, and in April 2009 he faced similar criticisms for chartering a private jet for a five day tour of Europe to promote environmental issues.

The Prince gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for European Union leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe Charles's advisers as "naive and foolish at best." Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum [on the Treaty of Lisbon]."

The Prince gave a speech to the Low Carbon Prosperity Summit in a European Parliament chamber on 9 February 2011, in which he lashed out at climate change skeptics. He said they are playing "a reckless game of roulette" with the planet's future and are having a "corrosive effect" on public opinion. He also spoke about the need to protect fisheries, the Amazon rain forest and about making low-carbon emissions affordable and competitive.

Philosophies and religious beliefs

Sir Laurens van der Post became a friend of Charles in 1977, a relationship which led him to be dubbed the "guru to Prince Charles", and made godfather to Charles' son, Prince William. From him, the Prince of Wales developed a focus on philosophy, especially that of Asian and Middle Eastern nations, and New Age theology, praising Kabbalistic artworks, and penning a memorial for Kathleen Raine, the Neoplatonist poet, who died in 2003.

The Prince is known to attend services at several different Anglican churches near his home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire and is known to regularly worship at Crathie Kirk when staying at Balmoral Castle. In 2000, he was appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The Prince of Wales also travels (amidst some secrecy) each year to Mount Athos to spend time in the Orthodox monasteries there, as well as in Romania, demonstrating his interest in Orthodox Christianity. Along with his father, who was born and raised as Greek Orthodox, Charles is patron of The Friends of Mount Athos, as well as the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies. It is also believed that Prince Charles has an Orthodox icon corner in his house where he keeps the majority of his Orthodox icons. None of this is surprising, as Prince Charles' father was raised Greek Orthodox, but converted before marrying the future Queen Elizabeth II. It is reported that in more recent years, even his father, Prince Philip has joined him in occasional retreats to the peninsula.

Charles is also patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford.

Alternative medicine

Charles has demonstrated an interest in alternative medicine, and his promotion of it has caused controversy. In 2004, Charles' Foundation for Integrated Health divided the scientific and medical community over its campaign encouraging general practitioners to offer herbal and other alternative treatments to National Health Service patients, and in May 2006, Charles made a speech to an audience of health ministers from various countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, urging them to develop a plan for integrating conventional and alternative medicine and argued for homeopathy.

In April 2008 ''The Times'' published a letter from Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, that asked the Prince's Foundation to recall two guides promoting "alternative medicine", saying: "the majority of alternative therapies appear to be clinically ineffective, and many are downright dangerous." A speaker for the foundation countered the criticism by stating: "We entirely reject the accusation that our online publication ''Complementary Healthcare: A Guide'' contains any misleading or inaccurate claims about the benefits of complementary therapies. On the contrary, it treats people as adults and takes a responsible approach by encouraging people to look at reliable sources of information... so that they can make informed decisions. The foundation does not promote complementary therapies." Ernst has recently published a book with science writer Simon Singh condemning alternative medicine called ''Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial''. The book is ironically dedicated to "HRH the Prince of Wales" and the last chapter is very critical of his advocacy of "complementary" and "alternative" treatments.

The Prince's Duchy Originals produce a variety of CAM products including a “Detox Tincture” that Professor Edzard Ernst has denounced as "financially exploiting the vulnerable" and "outright quackery". In May 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority criticised an email that Duchy Originals had sent out to advertise its Echina-Relief, Hyperi-Lift and Detox Tinctures products saying it was misleading. The Prince personally wrote at least seven letters to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) shortly before they relaxed the rules governing labelling of such herbal products, a move that has been widely condemned by scientists and medical bodies.

On 31 October 2009 it was reported that Prince Charles had personally lobbied Health Secretary Andy Burnham regarding greater provision of alternative treatments in the NHS.

In 2010, following accounting irregularities noted by the auditor, two former officials at the Prince's Foundation were arrested for fraud believed to total £300,000. Four days after the arrests, the FIH announced that it would close, claiming that it "has achieved its key objective of promoting the use of integrated health." The charity's finance director, accountant George Gray, was convicted of theft totalling £253,000 and sentenced to three years in prison. The Prince's Foundation was re-branded and re-launched in late 2010 as the ''College of Medicine.'' It continues to act as an alternative medicine lobby group.

Humanitarian issues

The plight of various peoples has been a target of Charles' efforts, predominantly the long-term unemployed, people who have been in trouble with the law, people who are in difficulty at school, and people who have been in care. The Prince's Trust is the main outlet through which Charles works with young people, offering loans to groups, business people, and others who have had difficulty receiving outside support. Fundraising concerts are regularly held in benefit of the trust, with leading pop, rock, and classical musicians taking part. In Canada, Charles has also supported humanitarian projects, taking part, along with his two sons, in the ceremonies marking the 1998 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and helping to launch the Canadian Youth Business Foundation in Saskatchewan in 2001, when he also visited Scott Collegiate, an inner-city school in Regina.

After spending time in the Northwest Territories in 1975, Charles formed a special interest in the Canadian north, as well as Canada's Aboriginal Peoples, the leaders of which he met and sometimes took time to walk and meditate with. Reflecting this association, the Prince of Wales has been conferred with special titles from First Nations communities: in 1996 Cree and Ojibway students in Winnipeg named the Prince ''Leading Star'', and in 2001 he was dubbed ''Pisimwa Kamiwohkitahpamikohk'', or "the sun looks at him in a good way", during his first visit to the province of Saskatchewan. He was also one of the first world leaders to express strong concerns about the human rights record of Nicolae Ceauşescu, initiating objections in the international arena, and subsequently supported the FARA Foundation, which runs Romanian orphanages.

Charles attended the Bilderberg Group conference in 1986 specifically to attend a debate on the South African economic crisis.

An example of his concern for humanitarian issues has been his recent (2011) launch of his Pakistan Recovery Fund which aims to raise a minimum of £2million towards health, education, reconstruction and livelihood projects.

Hobbies and sports

Since his youth the Prince was an avid player of polo, as a part of competitive teams until 1992, and strictly for charity from then until 2005, after which he ceased to participate because of two notable injuries he suffered during play: in 1990 he broke his arm, and in 2001 was briefly unconscious after a fall. Charles also frequently took part in fox hunting, before the sport was banned in the United Kingdom in 2005. By the late 1990s, as opposition to the activity was growing, the Prince of Wales' participation in this activity was viewed as a "political statement" by those opposed to it, such as the League Against Cruel Sports, which launched the attack against Charles after he took his sons on the Beaufort Hunt in 1999, at a time when the government was trying to ban the hunting of foxes with hounds. The Prince has also been a keen salmon angler since youth, and a supporter of Orri Vigfússon's efforts to protect the North Atlantic Salmon. Charles has frequently fished the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, while he claims his most special angling memories are from his time in Vopnafjörður, Iceland.

Charles has also pursued the visual arts, focusing on watercolour, and exhibiting and selling a number of his paintings, as well as publishing books on the subject. In university he dabbled in acting, appearing in amateur productions of a comedic nature, an enjoyment of which continued later into the Prince's life, as evidenced by his organising of a comedy gala to celebrate his 60th birthday. He also has an interest in illusionism, becoming a member of The Magic Circle after passing his audition by performing the cups and balls effect. The Prince acts today as patron of a number of theatres, acting troupes, and orchestral ensembles, including the Regina Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is reportedly a fan of Canadian singer and song writer Leonard Cohen. He is also a collector of automobiles, particularly the British marque Aston Martin, having acquired numerous models and such tight connections with the brand–being a frequent visitor to the factory and its service department, and a guest of honour at most of the company's special launch events– that special ''Prince of Wales'' edition Aston Martins have been created on occasion.

Charles is a supporter of Burnley Football Club.

Official duties

As Prince of Wales, Prince Charles undertakes a number of official duties on behalf of his mother, in her role as sovereign of any of the Commonwealth realms. He will frequently stand in for the Queen at the funerals of foreign dignitaries (which the Queen customarily does not attend), and at investitures into British orders. It was when he attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II that Charles caused controversy: when shaking hands with other guests, Charles was surprised to find himself shaking that of Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, who had been seated next to the Prince. Charles' office subsequently released a statement saying: "The Prince of Wales was caught by surprise and not in a position to avoid shaking Mr. Mugabe's hand. The Prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent. He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime. The Prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."

Both Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall travel abroad on behalf of the United Kingdom. The Prince has been regarded as an effective advocate of the country, with his visit to the Republic of Ireland, where he delivered a personally researched and written speech on Anglo-Irish affairs that was warmly received by Irish politicians and the media, being cited as an example. His service to the Canadian Armed Forces permits him to be informed of troop activities, and allows him to visit these troops while in Canada or overseas, taking part in ceremonial occasions. For instance, in 2001, the Prince placed a specially commissioned wreath, made from vegetation taken from French battlefields, at the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and in 1981 he became the patron of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

Prince Charles makes regular tours of Wales, going there for a week of engagements each summer, attending important national occasions, such as opening the Senedd. In 2000, Charles revived the tradition of the Prince of Wales having an official harpist, in order to foster Welsh talent at playing the harp, the national instrument of Wales. He and the Duchess of Cornwall also spend one week each year in Scotland, where the Prince is patron of a number of Scottish organisations.

Prince Charles is a Director of "The Royal Collection Trust". and an Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights.

On 27 March 2011 Prince Charles attended in the Christchurch memorial service at Westminster Abbey for acknowledging the generosity, sympathy and support New Zealand has received from the United Kingdom since the earthquake hit.

Media

Sometimes referred to as ''Chazza'' (along the lines of ''Gazza'', ''Hezza'', and similar coinages), and parodied, such as on ''Spitting Image'', and by Craig Ferguson—in a segment known as ''The Rather Late Programme with Prince Charles''—on ''The Late Late Show'', Prince Charles has been a focus of the world media since his birth, attention that increased as he matured. Prior to his first marriage, he was presented as the world's most eligible bachelor on the cover of ''Time'', and his various affairs and exploits were followed and reported. With his marriage to Diana the attention increased, though predominantly towards a Princess of Wales, who became a star attraction, chased by the paparazzi, and her every move (including every change in hairstyle) closely followed by millions. As their relationship began to deteriorate, Diana began to use the media to her advantage, and became closely involved in placing stories about the royal marriage in the press, thenceforth splitting the media's support, with Charles having ''The Mirror'' and the ''Telegraph'' on his side.

In their quest to gain ever more stories on a Prince of Wales, the media breached Charles' privacy on a number of occasions. In 2006, the Prince filed a court case against the ''Mail on Sunday'', after excerpts of his personal journals were published, revealing his opinions on matters, such as the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997, in which Charles described the Chinese government officials as "appalling old waxworks." Others have used their past connections with the Prince to profit from the media, such as when an ex-member of Charles' household took to the press an internal memo in which Charles commented on ambition and opportunity, and which was widely interpreted as blaming meritocracy for creating a combative atmosphere in society. In retort, Charles stated: "In my view, it is just as great an achievement to be a plumber or a bricklayer as it is to be a lawyer or a doctor," and the memo was cited in Lynne Truss' critique of British manners, ''Talk to the Hand'', as a valid observation on how the positive motivational impact of meritocracy might be balanced against the negative impact of a competitive society.

Overall, Charles developed a dislike for the popular press, which was accidentally revealed when his comments to his son, William, during a press photo-call in 2005 was caught on a nearby microphone: "I hate doing this... These bloody people," and about the BBC's royal reporter, Nicholas Witchell, in particular: "I can't bear that man. I mean, he's so awful, he really is."

The Prince of Wales though has appeared as himself on a number of occasions in continuing series. In 1984 he read his children's book, ''The Old Man of Lochnagar'', on the BBC's ''Jackanory'' programme. The UK soap opera ''Coronation Street'' featured an appearance by Charles during the show's 40th anniversary in 2000, as did the New Zealand adult cartoon series ''bro'Town'' (2005), after he attended a performance by the show's creators during a tour of the country. He reportedly turned down an invitation to appear in a cameo role in an episode of ''Doctor Who''. Charles also continues to give interviews, such as that which was conducted by Ant & Dec for the 30th anniversary of The Prince's Trust in 2006.

Residences

Clarence House, the former London residence of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is the Prince of Wales' current official residence. Previously, he resided in an apartment at St James's Palace. Charles also holds a private estate in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, and one in Scotland, the Birkhall estate near Balmoral Castle and also previously owned by the Queen Mother. Upon the occasion of his marriage to Diana, Charles had reduced his voluntary tax contribution from the profits generated by the Duchy of Cornwall from 50% to 25%.

In 2007 the Prince purchased a 192–acre (150 acres of grazing and parkland, and of woodland) property in Carmarthenshire, and applied for permission to convert the farm into a Welsh home for him and the Duchess of Cornwall, to be rented out as holiday flats when the royal couple is not in residence. Though neighbours said the proposed alterations flouted local planning regulations, the application was put on hold while a report was drafted on how the alterations would affect the local bat population. Charles and Camilla took residence at the new property, called ''Llwynywermod'', in June 2008.

In 2006 the Prince bought a house in the village of Viscri in south-eastern Transylvania, one of the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania designated in 1993 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; in 2008 he bought another house in the village of Valea Zălanului / Zalánpatak in the Székely Land region of Transylvania, a 16th century village probably founded by one of the Prince's Transylvanian ancestors. Both properties are rented out as guest houses when the Prince is not in residence.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Charles has held a number of titles throughout his life, as the grandson of the monarch, the son of the monarch and, later, honoured in his own right with princely and noble titles. When in conversation with the Prince of Wales, the practice is to initially address him as ''Your Royal Highness'' and thereafter as ''Sir''.

There has been speculation as to what regnal name the Prince will choose upon his succession to the throne. If he keeps his current first name, he will be known as ''Charles III''. However, it was reported in 2005 that Charles has suggested he may choose to reign as ''George VII'' in honour of his maternal grandfather, and to avoid association with the Stuart kings Charles I (who was beheaded) and Charles II (who was known for his playboy lifestyle), as well as to be sensitive to the memory of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was called "Charles III" by his supporters. Charles' office immediately denied this report.

Honours and honorary military appointments

Charles' first honorary appointment was as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969; since that time, the Prince has also been installed as Colonel-in-Chief, Colonel, Honorary Air Commodore, Air Commodore-in-Chief, Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, Royal Honorary Colonel, Royal Colonel, and Honorary Commodore of at least 36 military formations throughout the Commonwealth. He is also the commander of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, which is the only foreign regiment in the British army.

Charles has also been the recipient of a number of honours and awards from various countries. He has been inducted into eight orders and received five decorations from amongst the Commonwealth realms, and has been the recipient of 17 different appointments and decorations by foreign states, as well as nine honorary degrees from universities in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Arms

Bannerimage	Prince of Wales Standard.svg
Notes	The Prince's own coat of arms are the escutcheon of the arms of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom with a label for difference. The version used everywhere but Scotland is listed here. Within Scotland, the arms of the Duke of Rothesay, which quarters the arms of the Great Steward and of the Lords of the Isles, placing the arms of the heir apparent to the Scots throne on an inescutcheon in the centre, are used.
Adopted	1911
Crest	Upon the Royal helm the imperial crown Proper, thereon a lion statant gardant Or crowned with the crown of the Prince of Wales
Escutcheon	Quarterly 1st and 4th gules three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langed azure 2nd or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second 3rd azure a harp or stringed argent overall an escutcheon of Royal Badge of Wales.
Supporters	Dexter a lion rampant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper, sinister a unicorn Argent, armed, crined and unguled Or, gorged with a coronet Or composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or
Motto	ICH DIEN''(German: I serve)''
Orders	The Order of the Garter ribbon.HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE''(French: Shame be to him who thinks evil of it)''
Other elements	The whole differenced by a plain Label of three points Argent, as the eldest child of the sovereign.
Banner	The banners used by the Prince vary depending upon location. Apart from the exceptions below, the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is used, differenced as in his arms with a label of three points argent, and the escutcheon of the arms of the Principality of Wales in the centre. This is the standard that is used outside the United Kingdom by the prince and also that used throughout the entire United Kingdom when the prince is acting in an official capacity associated with the UK Armed Forces. 30px In Wales the banner is based upon the Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales, (the historic arms of the Kingdom of Gwynedd), which consist of four quadrants, the first and fourth with a red lion on a gold field, and the second and third with a gold lion on a red field. Superimposed is an escutcheon vert bearing the single-arched crown of the Prince of Wales. 30px In Scotland the personal banner used since 1974 is based upon three ancient Scottish titles: Duke of Rothesay, (The heir apparent to the King of Scots), High Steward of Scotland and Lord of the Isles. The flag is divided into four quadrants as per the arms of the Chief of Clan Stewart of Appin; the first and fourth quadrants comprise a gold field with a blue and silver checkered band in the centre; the second and third quadrants displaying a black galley on a silver field. The arms are differenced from those of Appin by the addition of an inescutcheon bearing the tressured lion rampant of Scotland; defaced by a plain label of three points Azure to indicate the heir apparent. 45px Also used in Scotland is a standard, ''viz'' the Royal Standard of Scotland, again defaced with a label of three points Azure to indicate the heir apparent. 40px In Cornwall, the banner is "sable fifteen bezants Or", that is, a black field bearing fifteen gold coins, which Prince Charles uses in his capacity as Duke of Cornwall. 50px The Prince of Wales also holds a personal heraldic banner for Canada, consisting of the shield of the Canadian Royal Arms defaced with both a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves, within which is a depiction of the Prince of Wales' feathers, and a white label of three points.
Badge	Three ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet
Symbolism	As with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. The first and fourth quarters are the arms of England, the second of Scotland, the third of Ireland.
Previous versions	}}

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Charles, Prince of Wales |2= 2. Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark |3= 3. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom |4= 4. Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark |5= 5. Princess Alice of Battenberg |6= 6. George VI of the United Kingdom |7= 7. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon |8= 8. George I of Greece |9= 9. Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia |10= 10. Prince Louis of Battenberg |11= 11. Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine |12= 12. George V of the United Kingdom |13= 13. Mary of Teck |14= 14. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne |15= 15. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck |16= 16. Christian IX of Denmark |17= 17. Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel |18= 18. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia |19= 19. Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg |20= 20. Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine |21= 21. Countess Julia Hauke |22= 22. Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine |23= 23. Princess Alice of the United Kingdom |24= 24. Edward VII of the United Kingdom |25= 25. Princess Alexandra of Denmark |26= 26. Francis, Duke of Teck |27= 27. Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge |28= 28. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne |29= 29. Frances Dora Smith |30= 30. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck |31= 31. Caroline Louisa Burnaby }}

Due to the insistence of the royal family to remain to be called Windsor, Charles is a member of the House of Windsor, a cadet branch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (also known simply as the House of Glücksburg), a branch of the House of Oldenburg, ultimately descended from Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg. The male-line descendants of the Queen Elizabeth II are distinct from other members of the House of Windsor, who are descended in male line from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Issue

29 April 2011 15 September 1984

style="background:#708090;"	Name !! style="background:#708090;">Birth !! style="background:#708090;" colspan="2"	Marriage	Issue
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge	21 June 1982	|	Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge>Catherine Middleton
Prince Harry of Wales	|

See also

Charles, Prince of Wales bibliography

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of HRH The Prince of Wales

Official Duchy of Cornwall Cottages website

Monarchy Wales – leading campaign organisation

Military Career

Prince Charles as a Young Bachelor – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – House of Windsor

Family Ties to the Royal Wedding 9 April 2005

Official website of 'The Prince's Trust'

View an image of an official portrait of Prince Charles by David Griffiths

The Prince's Official Canadian Visit (2001)

"Saskatchewan Honours Future King" (2001)

Significance of Treaties Reaffirmed Through Historic Royal Visit (2001)

View clip from Prince Charles interview by David Frost in 1969

Sympathetic appraisal of the Prince's contributions to architecture

The Prince of Wales brushes up on first aid skills

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:House of Windsor Category:Mountbatten-Windsor family Category:Current heirs apparent Category:Heirs to the British throne 023 023 Category:Princes of the United Kingdom Category:Princes of Wales Category:English Anglicans Category:People educated at Geelong Grammar School Category:Old Gordonstounians Category:Alumni of Aberystwyth University Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Companions of the Queen's Service Order Category:British businesspeople Category:Monarchy in Australia Category:Monarchy in Canada Category:Monarchy in New Zealand Category:English environmentalists Category:English gardeners Category:English polo players Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) Category:Knights of the Elephant Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Recipients of the Canadian Forces Decoration Category:Knights of the Order of Australia Category:Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Category:Members of the Order of Merit Category:Order of the Oak Crown recipients Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Category:Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:People associated with Swansea University Category:People associated with the Royal Agricultural College Category:People associated with the University of Wales Category:People associated with the Royal National College for the Blind Category:People from Westminster Category:RAF College Cranwell graduates Category:Royal Air Force air marshals Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Royal Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:Traditionalism Category:Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients Category:Welsh-speaking people Category:Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Category:People educated at Hill House School

af:Charles, Prins van Wallis ang:Carl Wēala Þēoden ar:الأمير تشارلز az:Uels şahzadəsi Çarlz bs:Charles, princ od Velsa br:Carlo bg:Чарлз (принц на Уелс) ca:Carles de Gal·les cs:Charles, princ z Walesu cy:Y Tywysog Siarl, Tywysog Cymru da:Charles, prins af Wales de:Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales et:Charles, Walesi prints el:Κάρολος, Πρίγκιπας της Ουαλίας es:Carlos de Gales eo:Karlo, princo de Kimrujo eu:Karlos Galeskoa fa:چارلز فیلیپ آرتور جورج fr:Charles de Galles ga:Charles, Prionsa na Breataine Bige gd:Prionnsa Tearlach, Prionnsa a' Chuimrigh gl:Carlos de Inglaterra gu:પ્રિન્સ ચાર્લ્સ ko:웨일스 공 찰스 hy:Արքայազն Չարլզ hi:चार्ल्स, वेल्स के युवराज hr:Charles, princ od Walesa id:Charles dari Wales is:Karl Bretaprins it:Carlo, principe di Galles he:צ'ארלס, נסיך ויילס ka:ჩარლზ მაუნტბატენ-უინძორი kw:Charlys, Pryns Kembra la:Carolus Walliae Princeps lv:Princis Čārlzs lt:Princas Čarlzas hu:Károly walesi herceg mk:Чарлс (принц од Велс) mr:वेल्सचा युवराज चार्ल्स arz:تشارلز (امير ويلز) ms:Charles, Putera Wales mn:Уэльсийн хунтайж Чарльз my:ချားလ်စ် ဝေလမင်းသား nl:Charles, prins van Wales ja:チャールズ (プリンス・オブ・ウェールズ) no:Charles, fyrste av Wales nn:Prins Charles av Wales oc:Carles Windsor pnb:شہزادہ چارلس pl:Karol, książę Walii pt:Carlos, Príncipe de Gales ro:Charles, Prinț de Wales ru:Чарльз, принц Уэльский se:Charles (Walesa prinsa) sco:The Prince Charles, Duke o Rothesay simple:Charles, Prince of Wales sl:Charles, valižanski princ sr:Чарлс, принц од Велса fi:Walesin prinssi Charles sv:Prins Charles, prins av Wales ta:வேல்சு இளவரசர் சார்லசு te:చార్లెస్, వేల్స్ యొక్క యువరాజు th:สมเด็จเจ้าฟ้าชายชาลส์แห่งเวลส์ tr:Galler Prensi Charles uk:Чарльз, принц Уельський vi:Charles, Hoàng thân xứ Wales war:Charles, Prinsipe han Wales zh-yue:查理斯王子 zh:查爾斯 (威爾斯親王)

}}

James Cracknell, OBE (born 5 May 1972) is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport. He is also a trained geography teacher, as stated in an episode of BBC comedy quiz ''School's Out''.

Biography

James Cracknell began rowing whilst attending Kingston Grammar School and rowed at the Junior World Championships in 1989 and 1990, winning a gold medal in 1990. He graduated from the University of Reading with a Bachelor of Science in Human Geography in 1993. Moving into the senior squad, Cracknell made numerous appearances in the World Rowing Championships; however, he did not win any medals prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics. He qualified in the double scull for the 1996 Games, but fell ill with tonsilitis and was unable to race. In 1997, he won a seat in the men's coxless fours, with Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and Tim Foster. With this crew, he won the rowing World Championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999 (with Ed Coode replacing the injured Foster), and finally the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever. This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold.

With Redgrave then having retired, Cracknell swapped from rowing on strokeside to bowside in order to join Pinsent in the coxless pairs. The pair won the World Championships in 2001, when they also won the coxed pairs, and 2002. However, in 2003 a disappointing season was capped by a failure to win the World Championships, and Pinsent and Cracknell were shifted into the coxless four, with Steve Williams and Alex Partridge. Ed Coode replaced the injured Partridge in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics and this crew won the gold medal in Athens, beating world champions Canada by 0.08s.

He came second the pairs division of the 2005–2006 Atlantic Rowing Race in "''Spirit of EDF Energy''", partnered by Ben Fogle. Although they took first place in the line honours of the pairs event (overall, they were third to finish the race behind the two men's fours), the use of ballast water during the race resulted in the pair being moved to second position of the pairs event in accordance with the race rules. The event helped raise money for Children In Need.

They made landfall in Antigua at 07:13 GMT on 19 January 2006, a crossing time of 49 days, 19 hours and 8 minutes. In February 2006, he announced his decision to retire from competitive rowing. Shortly after, ''Through Hell and High Water'', a BBC/Twofour television programme of Cracknell and Fogle's experience of the Atlantic race, was aired. The pair wrote a book called ''The Crossing: Conquering the Atlantic in the World's Toughest Rowing Race'', about their trip.

On 4 March 2006, Cracknell's home was burgled: his Olympic gold medals were stolen, together with his wedding ring and a computer containing 20,000 words of a new book and family photographs. The gold medals were subsequently recovered by a neighbour's dog where the thief had discarded them. The thief, Mark Murphy, 30, was caught and jailed.

He ran the London Marathon on 23 April 2006, in a time of 3 hours, finishing over an hour ahead of his rowing team mate Matthew Pinsent.

In January 2008 Cracknell set up Threshold Sports with Julian Mack and Charlie Beauchamp.

In December 2008 he set off yet again with former team-mate from the Atlantic Row Ben Fogle, and Dr. Ed Coats (the winner of a nationwide search), this time to take part in the inaugural Amundsen Omega3 South Pole Race. The team traversed the 473.6 miles suffering frost-bite, infected blisters, dramatic weight-loss, pneumonia and exhaustion and came second only to a pair of Norwegians (over 20 hours ). The BBC aired a 5 x 1 hour, prime-time Sunday night series of the adventure, ‘On Thin Ice’(TwoFour), in June/July 2009. The series was accompanied by a self-penned book of the race, ''Race to the Pole'' (MacMillan).

In July 2008 Cracknell competed in the European Triathlon Championships for GBR for his age group and in November 2009 he took part in the New York Marathon. In April 2009, James completed the 125 mile non-stop Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon in a two-man racing K2 kayak with canoe partner Bernie Shosbree.

In August 2009 Cracknell attempted to break the non-stop Land's End to John O'Groats mixed tandem world record along with Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Romero. The pair got just past Johnstone Bridge in Scotland before being forced to stop due to problems with Romero's knees. They were on course to break the record by over three hours. The attempt was to launch the 2010 Ride Across Britain that Cracknell's company organised

In April 2010 Cracknell became the highest placed Briton ever in the 25 year history of the Marathon Des Sables - finishing 12th. His exploits were filmed for a Discovery Channel documentary "The Toughest Race on Earth" to be aired in October 2010.

Six months after his cycling accident which damaged his frontal lobe, Cracknell competed in the Yukon Arctic Ultra. He finished second in the 430 mile race across the frozen Alaskan countryside, beaten only by British cyclist Alan Sheldon who beat Cracknell's 163:20 with his own 99:30. Cracknell's participation in the race was filmed for the documentary The Coldest Race on Earth aired on the Discovery Channel .

Presenting and journalism

He now presents sport on ITV and Channel 4. He covered The Boat Race 2007 with Mark Durden Smith for ITV and is the presenter of ITV's coverage of the British Superbike Championship. He is also the main presenter of Channel 4's Red Bull Air Race World Series coverage. He is a contracted columnist with the Daily Telegraph writing about various topics. The topics include: sport, motoring, gardening, cookery and others. His Daily Telegraph column can be found online at telegraph.co.uk.

Charitable activities

From 27 February 2008 James Cracknell covered over 1,400 miles from Britain to Africa in 10 days, rowing, cycling and swimming. He rowed from Dover, England to Cap Gris Nez, France, then cycled to Tarifa, Spain, and finally swam across the Straits of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Punta de Cires, Morocco. He asked the comedian David Walliams to join him for the final part of his journey because of his previous experience in swimming the English Channel. The money raised by the challenge goes towards the BBC's Sport Relief charity, with highlights of the action broadcast on 14 March. He is to be the special guest at The WiG GiG which aims to raise £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

In January 2009, James took part in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race with his TV Presenter friend Ben Fogle and Dr Ed Coats as members of Team QinetiQ, finishing in second, 20 hours behind the winning Norwegian team. The race and the reasons behind was broadcast on BBC Television during summer 2009 in the series On Thin Ice. The trio raised funds for the Children's medical research charity Sparks, chosen as the charity partner in memory of Cracknell's niece, Eva, who died at six days old after suffering oxygen deprivation at birth.

On Saturday 3 October 2009, Cracknell and Ben Fogle started a 60 hour (estimated) journey from Edinburgh to London riding a rickshaw in support of SSAFA. They aimed to arrive in time for the ''Pride of Britain Awards'' ceremony on Monday 5 October 2009. They had to endure storm force gales in Scotland and Northumberland on their first day of the 450 mile ride. Early on the last day they made a stop at Etonbury Middle School in Arlesey, off the A1 road to London, where about 100 children welcomed them and to wave them on their way.

Cycling accident, helmet advocacy

On 20 July 2010, Cracknell was hit from behind by a truck whilst attempting to cycle, row, run and swim from Los Angeles to New York within 16 days. The accident happened at around 5.30am on a quiet stretch of road outside Winslow, Arizona. He has attributed his survival to the fact he was wearing a cycle helmet at the time, which was "shorn in two". In the crash he suffered a contre-coup injury to the frontal lobes of his brain. He is now back at home with his family, although his recovery may never be complete.

Since the accident he has been conspicuous in advocating the use of bicycle helmets, although he has since appeared on a bicycle without a helmet; about this his wife said "Unfortunately, one of the effects of James’s condition is memory loss..."

Achievements

Olympic Medals: 2 Gold

World Championship Medals: 6 Gold

Junior World Championship Medals: 1 Gold

Olympic Games

2004 – Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Steve Williams, Ed Coode)

2000 – Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)

World Championships

2003 — 4th, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)

2002 — Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)

2001 — Gold, Coxless Pair (with Matthew Pinsent)

2001 — Gold, Coxed Pair (with Matthew Pinsent, Neil Chugani)

1999 — Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Ed Coode, Steve Redgrave)

1998 — Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)

1997 — Gold, Coxless Four (with Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, Steve Redgrave)

1995 — 10th, Double Sculls

1994 — 8th, Eight

1993 — 6th, Eight

1991 — 7th, Coxless Four (with John Garrett, Gavin Stewart, James Walker)

Junior World Championships

1990 — Gold, Coxless Four

1989 — 10th, Coxed Pair

Styles and Honours

Mr James Cracknell (1972–2001)

Mr James Cracknell MBE (2001–2004)

Mr James Cracknell OBE (2004)

References

External links

James Cracknell's personal website

Atlantic Rowing Race

Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race

James Cracknell's column archiveTelegraph.co.uk

BBC Woman's Hour interview with James' wife, Beverley Turnerbbc.co.uk

Category:1972 births Category:English rowers Category:Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain Category:Olympic rowers of Great Britain Category:Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Alumni of the University of Reading Category:Alumni of Brunel University Category:Living people Category:Members of Leander Club Category:Olympic medalists in rowing Category:People educated at Kingston Grammar School

de:James Cracknell pl:James Cracknell

honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
name	The Lord Coe
honorific-suffix	KBE
birth date	September 29, 1956
birth place	Chiswick, London, UK
nationality	British
party	Conservative
spouse	Nicky McIrvine (divorced)
relations	Peter Coe (father, deceased)
children	2 sons, 2 daughters
alma mater	Loughborough University
occupation	Peer and Athlete
footnotes	}}

}}

Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, KBE (born 29 September 1956), often known as Seb Coe, is an English former athlete and politician. As a middle distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle distance track events (and also participated in a world record relay). His rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.

Following his retirement from athletics he served as a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1992–97, and became a life peer in 2000. He was the head of the London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and, after the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to London, became the chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was also elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations. On August 25, 2011, he was re-elected for another four year term.

Background

Coe was born in Chiswick, London. His mother, Tina Angela Coe, died in Hammersmith and Fulham, London, in 2005, aged 75. She was half-Indian, born to Punjabi father Sardari Lal and English mother Vera. His father, Peter Coe (born Percy N. Coe in Kingston-upon-Thames), died on 9 August 2008, aged 88, while Coe was in Beijing.

Coe was brought up in Sheffield attending Tapton and Abbeydale Grange schools. He joined athletics team Hallamshire Harriers at the age of 12, and quickly became a middle-distance specialist. He is probably better remembered as representing Loughborough University and later Haringey when not competing for his country.

He was coached by his father who designed workouts specifically for his son. Coe studied economics and social history at Loughborough University and won his first major race in 1977—an 800-metre event at the European indoor championships in San Sebastián, Spain. It was at Loughborough University that he met athletics coach George Gandy who had developed "revolutionary" conditioning exercise to improve Coe's running.

Athletic career

He first ran against Ovett in a schools cross country race in 1972. Neither won, nor did either win in their first major encounter in the European Championships Prague in 1978 in an 800 metre race, where Ovett (breaking Coe's UK record with a run of 1:44.09) was second and Coe finished third behind the East German Olaf Beyer. According to Pat Butcher, Coe's father and coach Peter Coe had encouraged him to run as fast as he could from the start. The early pace was indeed exceptionally fast: Coe ran 200 metres in 24.3 seconds, 400 metres in 49.32 seconds and 600 metres in 1:16.2: then he slowed down and finished third in 1:44.76.

A few weeks later Coe was to reclaim the UK record, setting an all-comers' mark of 1:43.97 at Crystal Palace to rank him second in the world that year. In October 1978, Coe displayed impressive endurance for an 800m runner by winning a four-mile road-race in Ireland in 17:54, defeating Eamonn Coghlan (1983 World 5000m champion) and Mike McLeod (1984 Olympic 10000m silver medalist), and breaking Brendan Foster's course record of 18:05.

The next year, 1979, Coe set three world records in 41 days. He set his first world records in Oslo, Norway in the 800-metre (1:42.33) and the mile (3:48.95) and later broke the world 1500 metre record (3:32.03) in Zurich, Switzerland. He easily won the 800m at the European Cup in Turin in August, covering the last 200m in 24.1 and anchored the British 4 x 400m relay team with the fastest split of the quartet, 45.5. He remained undefeated at all distances that year, was voted "athlete of the year" by Athletics Weekly and Track and Field News and was ranked number one in the world at 800m and 1500m: no other athlete since has ranked number one at these distances in the same year.

In 1980 Coe broke Rick Wohlhuter's world record for 1,000-metres with a time of 2:13.40 and held all four middle distance world records simultaneously, the 800m, 1000m, 1500m and the mile, for one hour until Ovett broke his mile record, another unique feat. In the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Ovett and Coe won each other's speciality; Ovett the 800 metres, and Coe the 1500 metres (Coe came in second in the 800 after running what he described as "the worst tactical race of my life", while Ovett took third in the 1500). It was Ovett's first defeat at either one mile or 1500 metres in three years and 45 races, and Coe covered the last 400 m in 52.2 and the last 100 m in 12.1 seconds, the fastest ever finish at this distance.

1981 started off in February with an indoor world record over 800 m at Cosford, time 1:46.0. His world record in the 800 metre race in Florence on June 10: his 1:41.73 in the 800 metres remained unbeaten until August 1997. As of 2010, this still stands as the UK record and makes him the third fastest man ever. A month afterwards he set another record with 2:12.18 for 1000 m, which was to last 19 years and to this day has only been bettered once. Coe was more than 1.7 seconds (about 14 m in distance) faster than anyone on record at both distances. Between these two record breaking runs he won the Europa Cup 800 m semi-final, running the last 100 m in 11.3 (the fastest ever recorded in a major international race), and achieved a personal best of 3:31.95 in the 1500 metres, despite dreadful pace making in the initial stages. In August he won the gold medal at the European Cup final, before going on to better the standard for the mile twice; first with a 3:48.53 in Zürich and then with a 3:47.33 in Brussels, either side of Ovett's world record in Koblenz (3:48.40). He ended a remarkable season with gold over 800m at the World Cup in Rome in September, and remained undefeated in both the 1500 metres/mile and the 800 metres for the entire season, as in 1979. Track & Field News and Athletics Weekly magazines voted Coe Athlete of the Year, an honour he had also won in 1979.

Although he had a short season in 1982 due to injuries in June and July, he still managed to rank number one in the world in the 800 metres and participate in a world record 4 x 800 metres relay in which Coe, Peter Elliott, Garry Cook and Steve Cram's time of 7:03.89, was to remain the world record for 24 years. Coe's leg was the fastest of the day, a solo 1:44.01. However he unexpectedly won only silver in the 800 m in the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens. It transpired the next day by British team doctors, that he had been suffering from glandular fever. Coe decided to withdraw from the 1500 metres in those European Championships (Pat Butcher, The Perfect Distance).

1983 started with world indoor records in the 800 metres in Cosford, England (1:44.91, breaking his own 1981 1:46.0) and the 1,000 metres (2:18.58) in Oslo, Norway, but Coe spent most of the year battling health problems including a prolonged bout with toxoplasmosis. He missed the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The disease was severe and he spent several months in and out of hospital on strong medication.

Coe returned to competition in spring 1984 and was selected for 800 and 1500 metres at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, despite being narrowly beaten by Peter Elliott in the AAA Championships. In the 800 metres he took silver behind Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, but in the 1500 metres he took gold with an Olympic record of 3:32.53. His last 800 m was run in 1:49.8, his last lap 53.2 and his last 100 m in 12.7. He remains the only person to win successive Olympic 1500 metre titles.

Coe planned to have a somewhat quiet season in 1985, due in part to the intensity of the previous year's efforts to get himself ready in time for the Olympics, as well as a planned move up to 5000m, which never materialised. He suffered a recurrence of a back problem which had plagued him on and off since 1980, causing him to miss several weeks of training mid season. Despite this he managed to set some fast times towards the end of the season, but was to lose his Mile world record to Cram, who beat him in Oslo.

In 1986 Coe won the gold medal over 800 m at the European Championships in Stuttgart, beating Tom McKean and Cram. with a stunning last 200 m of 24.7. It was his only 800 m title at an international championship. He won the silver in the 1500 metres, behind Cram, after running a bad tactical race, and set a personal best over 1500 m with a 3:29.77 min performance in Rieti, Italy, becoming the fourth man in history to break 3:30 for the 1500 m. For the fourth year in his career ('79, '81, '82, '86), Coe ranked number one in the world in the 800 metres and was in the top two for 1500 metres for the 5th time.

He got injured in May 1987 after winning an 800m for his club, Haringey, and was out for the entire season.

The following year he wasn't selected for the British 1988 Olympic Games team, when he failed to qualify from the heats of the 1500m at the Trials in Birmingham. He had shown good early season form, but after a spell of altitude training he picked up a chest infection. The Daily Mirror ran a campaign and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, unsuccessfully tried to have the rules changed in Coe's favour. It was said that the Indian team was willing to include him on account of his mother's parentage.

Coe had one more good season in 1989, when, at the age of 33 and past his absolute best, he still won the 1500 m AAA title, was ranked number 1 Britain over both 800 m and 1500 m, ran the second fastest 800 m of the year (1:43.38) and won the silver medal at the World Cup over 1500 m. He retired from competitive athletics in early 1990, after having to bow out at the Auckland Commonwealth Games with yet another chest infection. He ended his career with eight different seasons of sub 1:44 800 metre times.

The Trinity College Challenge

One scene in the 1981 film ''Chariots of Fire'' recreates a race in which the runners attempt to round the perimeter of the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge in the time it takes the clock to double strike the hour at midday or midnight. Many have tried to run the 367 metres (401 yards) around the court in the 43.6 seconds that it takes to strike 12 o'clock. Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the evening of the Matriculation Dinner. The only person recognized to have actually completed the run in time is Lord Burghley in 1927. It was thought that Sebastian Coe had succeeded when he beat Steve Cram in a charity race in October 1988, in a time of 42.53 seconds. But a video of the race apparently shows Coe was 12 metres short of the finish line when the last chime sounded which is why Trinity College never officially accepted his time.

Later career

Name	Sebastian Coe
Constituency mp	Falmouth and Camborne
Term start	9 April 1992
Term end	2 May 1997
Predecessor	David Mudd
Successor	Candy Atherton
Birth date	September 29, 1956
Birth place	Chiswick, London
Nationality	British
Party	Conservative
Profession	Athlete
Footnotes	}}

Coe became Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne in 1992, for the Conservative Party, but lost his seat in the 1997 general election. He returned to politics for a short time as William Hague's chief of staff, having taken a life peerage in 2000. During this time he tried his hand at a marathon, running a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.

When London announced its bid to hold the 2012 Olympics, Coe became an ambassador for the effort and a member of the board of the bid company. With the May 2004 resignation of chairman Barbara Cassani, Coe became the chairman for the latter phase of the bid. As Coe was a well-known personality in Olympic sport, it was felt he was better suited to the political schmoozing needed to secure the IOC's backing. Coe's presentation at the critical IOC meeting in July 2005 was viewed by commentators as being particularly effective, and the bid won the IOC's blessing on 6 July.

Coe has often said that London 2012 is not only about five weeks of summer sport but about encouraging more people to take up sport at all levels of competition. Coe is the Patron of the British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA).

In September 2008 Coe controversially told reporters "Fuck 'em" when asked about the opposition to the creation of a footballing Team GB from Scottish and Welsh supporters as reported in ''The London Paper'', 30 September 2008, page 5 "Coe: Yes to 2012 GB footy team - The Scots and Welsh? F*** 'em".

FIFA

Coe was appointed the first chairman of FIFA's new independent watchdog, FIFA's ethics commission. The commission will judge all cases alleging conflicts of interest and breaches of Fifa rules.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter made the announcement in Zurich on 15 September 2006 and said: "It is perhaps a surprise but it has been very well received. We have found an outstanding personality in the world of sport, a great personality in the Olympic movement." His appointment makes him one of the most senior Englishmen to work for FIFA.

He stood down from this post to join the committee bidding to bring the 2018 World Cup to England.

Personal life

Coe married Nicky McIrvine, a former Badminton three-day-event champion, in Surrey, in 1990, with whom he has two sons and two daughters. The marriage ended in divorce in 2002 after twelve years and Coe moved out of the family home.

In 2003, Coe began a relationship with Carole Annett, the commercial retail editor for ''House & Garden'' magazine. In 2004, she left her husband and moved in with Coe at his home in Tilford, Surrey. The couple married in summer 2011.

He is a worldwide ambassador for Nike and owns a string of health clubs with a membership of 20,000. Coe is a knowledgeable follower of a wide range of sports, including football (he is a season ticket holder at Chelsea Football Club) and boxing (he was a steward for the British Boxing Board of Control). He is a multimillionaire and a member of the East India Club, a private Gentlemen's Club in London. He has supported London athletic events like the London 10K of Nike and the British 10K charity race.

On 12 February 2010, Coe was the 19th runner on the 106th day of the Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay. Coe's leg was along the Stanley Park Seawall, and he exchanged a "torch kiss" with the previous runner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the next runner, a 19 year old member of the Squamish community. He featured in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series) and is descended from Caribbean sugar farmers and slave owners, and a Governor General of New York (Hyde House) and Edward Hyde of Norbury.

Awards

Coe was awarded with the first Prince of Asturias Award in sports category in 1987.

Coe was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1990.

He was created a life peer in 2000 as Baron Coe, of Ranmore in the County of Surrey.

In December 2005, Coe was given a Special award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony.

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for services to sport.

Personal bests

!Distance

|	Mark	Date
''400 m''	46.87
''800 m''	1:41.73
''1000 m''	2:12.18
''1500 m''	3:29.77
''Mile''	3:47.33
''2000 m''	4:58.84
''3000 m''	7:54.32
''5000 m''	14:06.2

Trivia

Coe was featured in the ''Brass Eye'' spoof documentary on paedophilia.

He was a model for menswear retailer Horne Bros.

American Olympic 1500 m and 5000 m athlete Jim Spivey is said to have named a son after Coe.

Appeared as himself in the episode 'Not a Good Day' from the 4th series (season) of the British sitcom "The Brittas Empire"

Sebastian Coe is a Judo enthusiast. He is allergic to fish and amphetamines.

Styles and honours

Master Sebastian Coe (1956–1960)

Mr Sebastian Coe (1960–1982)

Mr Sebastian Coe MBE (1982–1990)

Mr Sebastian Coe OBE (1990–1992)

Mr Sebastian Coe OBE MP (1992–1997)

Mr Sebastian Coe OBE (1997–2000)

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Coe OBE (2000–2006)

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Coe KBE (2006–)

See also

Middle distance track event

References

External links

BBC Panorama: Fifa and Coe

Sebastian Coe's foreword to 'Running the Race', biography of Olympic champion Eric Liddell ISBN 9780852346655

Sebastian Coe's entries on the official blog of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Sebastian Coe Profile: Made In Sheffield

Guardian profile of Sebastian Coe

Article by Sebastian Coe about his amazing rise to fame in 1979, The Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2009, Accessed 11 August 2009.

Sebastian Coe has revamped London's bid for the 2012 Olympics

Sebastian Coe promises Olympics to remember

Sebastian Coe greatest race: the 2012 Olympics

Why London won the games: The Sebastian Coe factor

Coe Pays Tribute To Lord Stratford

Students interview Sebastian Coe

Sebastian Coe's Biography

England Athletics Hall of Fame citation

Alberto Juantorena|title=Men's 800 metres World Record Holder|years=1979-07-05 – 1997-07-07|after= Wilson Kipketer}} Filbert Bayi|title=Men's 1500 m World Record Holder|years=15 August 1979 – 27 August 1980|after= Steve Ovett}} John Walker|title=Men's Mile World Record Holder|years=17 July 1979 – 1 July 1980|after= Steve Ovett}} Steve Ovett|title=Men's Mile World Record Holder|years=19 August 1981 – 26 August 1981|after= Steve Ovett}} Steve Ovett|title=Men's Mile World Record Holder|years=28 August 1981 – 27 July 1985|after= Steve Cram}} Marcello Fiasconaro|title=European Record Holder Men's 800 m|years=5 July 1979 - 6 July 1997|after= Wilson Kipketer}} Jean Wadoux|title=European Record Holder Men's 1500 m|years=17 July 1979 - 26 August 1980|after= Steve Ovett}} Steve Ovett |after= Robin Cousins|years=1979}} Henry Rono|after= Edwin Moses|years=1979}} Edwin Moses|after= Carl Lewis|years=1981}} Liu Qi|after= Carlos Arthur Nuzman|years=Games of the XXX Olympiad|2012}}

Category:2012 Summer Olympics Category:Alumni of Loughborough University Category:People educated at Tapton School Category:Anglo-Indian people Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Category:British athlete-politicians Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for England Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers Category:English middle distance runners Category:Former world record holders in athletics (track and field) Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Living people Category:British judoka Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Category:Olympic athletes of Great Britain Category:Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain Category:Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain Category:People from Chiswick Category:English people of Indian descent Category:Sheffield Legends Category:Sport in Sheffield Category:Sports players and officials awarded knighthoods Category:UK MPs 1992–1997 Category:1956 births Category:Sportspeople from London Category:Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:English people of Jamaican descent

ca:Sebastian Newbold Coe cs:Sebastian Coe da:Sebastian Coe de:Sebastian Coe eo:Sebastian Coe es:Sebastian Coe et:Sebastian Coe eu:Sebastian Coe fi:Sebastian Coe fr:Sebastian Coe gl:Sebastian Coe he:סבסטיאן קו hr:Sebastian Coe io:Sebastian Coe it:Sebastian Coe ja:セバスチャン・コー nl:Sebastian Coe no:Sebastian Coe pl:Sebastian Coe pt:Sebastian Coe ru:Коу, Себастьян simple:Sebastian Coe sv:Sebastian Coe tr:Sebastian Coe uk:Себастьян Коу zh:塞巴斯蒂安·柯伊

name	Victoria Pendleton
fullname	Victoria Louise Pendleton
birth date	September 24, 1980
birth place
height
weight
currentteam	Britain
discipline	Track
role	Rider
ridertype	Sprinter
amateurteams	Mildenhall Cycling Club
proyears	??–20082008–Present
proteams	Science in Sport / TrekSky+ HD
updated	26 March 2011
medaltemplates	}}

}} }}

Victoria Louise Pendleton MBE (born Stotfold, Bedfordshire, England, 24 September 1980) is a British Olympic and world champion track cyclist. Her father, Max, was also a British national grass-track cycling champion.

Early years

Pendleton rode her first race, a 400m event on the grass track at Fordham at nine. Pendleton showed her promise at 13 and was spotted three years later by the assistant national track coach, Marshal Thomas. At that time she wanted to concentrate on her education, graduating from Fearnhill School in Letchworth Garden City, and later awarded a degree in Sport and Exercise Science by Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. She enjoyed some success on the track as a student before graduating and becoming a full-time cyclist.

Success on the track

Pendleton won one bronze and three silver medals in the British National Track Championships in 2001, while still a student. In 2002, she qualified for the England Commonwealth Games team, finishing fourth in the sprint. She again came fourth in the sprint at the 2003 world championships in Stuttgart and the 2004 World Championships in Melbourne. She ranked 2nd overall in the World Cup for the sprint in 2004, winning the World Cup event in Manchester.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished sixth in the time trial and ninth in the women's 200m sprint

At the 2005 World Championships, Pendleton won her first major medal with gold in the women's sprint. She became the third British woman to become a cycling world champion in 40 years.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she won silver in the 500m time trial and gold in the sprint.

At the 2007 UCI Track World Championships, she won the team sprint with Shanaze Reade, the individual gold in the women's sprint, and a third gold in the women's Keirin. She crowned the year by being named ''Sunday Times'' Sportswoman of the Year for 2007, becoming the first cyclist to win the award in its 20-year history. Pendleton was also voted Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain's sportswoman of the year for 2007. During her build-up to the Olympics she won two gold medals at the 2008 UCI Track World Championships in the women's sprint, and the women's team sprint (again with Shanaze Reade); she was also second in the women's keirin. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Pendleton won the gold medal in the Women's Individual Sprint Event.

Pendleton was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

She retained her world sprint title at the 2009 UCI Track World Championships in Pruszków. Each sprint was so closely matched it required several photos, leaving Pendleton emotional but victorious over her Dutch opponent, Willy Kanis.

Off-track

In July 2009, Pendleton appeared on the cover of men's magazine FHM. In February 2011 she stated she was engaged but planned not to marry until after the 2012 Olympics.

Palmarès

;1999 :3rd Sprint, British National Track Championships

;2000 :3rd Sprint, British National Track Championships

;2001 :2nd Sprint, British National Track Championships :2nd 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :2nd Scratch Race, British National Track Championships :3rd Points Race, British National Track Championships

;2002 :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships

;2003 :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :1st Keirin, British National Track Championships :1st Scratch Race, British National Track Championships :3rd Points Race, British National Track Championships

;2004 :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships

;2005 :1st Sprint, World Track Championships :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :1st Keirin, British National Track Championships :1st Scratch Race, British National Track Championships

;2006 :1st 15px Sprint, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne :2nd 15px Time Trial, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne :2nd 15px Sprint, World Track Championships :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :1st Keirin, British National Track Championships :1st Scratch Race, British National Track Championships :1st British National Derny Championships

;2007 :1st Sprint, World Track Championships :1st Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade), World Track Championships :1st Keirin, World Track Championships :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :1st Keirin, British National Track Championships :1st British National Derny Championships

;2008 :1st Sprint, World Track Championships :1st Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade), World Track Championships :2nd 15px Keirin, World Track Championships :1st 15px Sprint, 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships :1st Team Sprint (with Anna Blyth), British National Track Championships :1st Keirin, British National Track Championships

;2009 :3rd :2nd 15px Team Sprint (with Shanaze Reade), World Track Championships :1st Sprint, World Track Championships :1st 500m Time Trial, British National Track Championships :1st Sprint, British National Track Championships

;2010 :1st Sprint, World Track Championships :2nd 15px Keirin, World Track Championships ;2011 :2nd :3rd 15px Sprint, World Track Championships

References

External links

Official Website

Profile at British Cycling

Off the Bike – Victoria hosts the British Cyclosportive DVD – Cyclefilm

Victoria's secrets – The Guardian

Victoria Pendleton's secrets – The Times

Profile at Cycling UK

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Track cyclists Category:English cyclists Category:Female cyclists Category:UCI World Champions Category:Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Category:Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain Category:Alumni of Northumbria University Category:People from Stotfold Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award winners Category:Olympic medalists in cycling

cy:Victoria Pendleton de:Victoria Pendleton es:Victoria Pendleton fr:Victoria Pendleton it:Victoria Pendleton nl:Victoria Pendleton ja:ヴィクトリア・ペンドルドン no:Victoria Pendleton pl:Victoria Pendleton pt:Victoria Pendleton fi:Victoria Pendleton uk:Вікторія Пендлтон

Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Chris Huhne
honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Honorific-suffix	MP
Office	Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Primeminister	David Cameron
Term start	12 May 2010
Predecessor	Ed Miliband
Office2	Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman
Leader2	Nick Clegg
Term start2	20 December 2007
Term end2	12 May 2010
Predecessor2	Nick Clegg
Successor2	Post Abolished
Office3	Liberal Democrat Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Spokesman
Leader3	Menzies Campbell
Term start3	3 March 2006
Term end3	19 December 2007
Predecessor3	Norman Baker
Successor3	Steve Webb
Office4	Liberal Democrat Treasury Chief Secretary Spokesman
Leader4	Charles Kennedy
Term start4	16 May 2005
Term end4	3 March 2006
Predecessor4	David Laws
Successor4	Colin Breed
Office5	Member of Parliament for Eastleigh
Term start5	5 May 2005
Predecessor5	David Chidgey
Majority5	3,864 (7.2%)
Office6	Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Term start6	10 June 1999
Term end6	12 May 2005
Predecessor6	Constituency Created
Successor6	Sharon Bowles
Birth date	July 02, 1954
Birth place	Westminster, London, England
Party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Vicky Pryce (sep: June 2010)
Children	3 plus 2 step-daughters
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford
Website	Official website }}

Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne (, born 2 July 1954) is a Liberal Democrat politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire. He was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the 2010 general election.

He has twice run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats but was beaten on both occasions. In the 2006 election he came second to Sir Menzies Campbell and in the 2007 election he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg.

Early life

Education and upbringing

Huhne was born in an affluent section of west London to businessman Peter Paul-Huhne and amateur actress, Ann Muray, who had been the voice of the Speaking clock. He was educated at the fee-paying Westminster School. His family name was Paul-Huhne and he was known all through his school years as Christopher Paul-Huhne. At Oxford, he simplified his name to "Chris Huhne".

His education continued at the Sorbonne, where he obtained a certificate in French Language and Civilisation, and Magdalen College, Oxford where he was a scholar (Demy). At Oxford, he edited the student magazine ''Isis'', served on the executive of the Oxford University Labour Club, and achieved a first-class degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). Huhne was active in student politics supporting the Labour Party.

1973 student article

A news story in ''The Sunday Times'' on 21 October 2007 said an article credited to Huhne had appeared in the University of Oxford's ''Isis magazine'' in February 1973 saying that drugs such as opium, LSD, and amphetamines were an “accepted facet of our society”. In response to questions by ''The Times'' about his 1973 pronouncement, Huhne responded “To be honest I don’t have any memory of it,” saying he was entitled to a private life before politics. The issue about the 1973 article continued in the ''Daily Mail'' and ''The Sun''. In an interview published on the Kent News website on 10 November 2007, Huhne said, “I clearly regret the views and I don’t agree with those views at all. I was a teenager and I’m now 53 and I think all of us do tend to move on in life.”

Career before Parliament

Before embarking on his political career, he was a City entrepreneur. He told The Independent in 2008: "I don't claim that I'm in other than a very happy position compared with most people, because, having spent a bit of time in the City before I was elected, being able to make a bit of money while I was there, I have a cushion." He started a company named Sovereign Ratings IBCA in 1994 that tried to "scientifically measure the risks of investing in different countries". In 1997 he became managing director of Fitch IBCA, and from 1999 to 2003 was vice-chairman of Fitch Ratings.

Huhne was an economic commentator for ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday. '' He was the business editor of ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'' during its investigations into Robert Maxwell's fraud on the Mirror group pension fund. He started in as an undercover freelance reporter in India during Mrs Gandhi's emergency when western journalists had been expelled. He also worked for the ''Liverpool Daily Post'' and ''Liverpool Echo'' and ''The Economist''. He won both the junior and senior Wincott awards for financial journalist of the year (in 1980 and 1989 respectively).

Parliamentary candidate

Huhne contested the 1983 general election as a Parliamentary Candidate for the SDP–Liberal Alliance in Reading East but came a distant second. and in the 1987 general election, he was the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate in the Oxford West and Abingdon seat, a seat that would be won ten years later by Liberal Democrat candidate Evan Harris.

Member of European Parliament (1999–2005)

In June 1999 Huhne was elected as a member of the European Parliament for South East England. The Liberal Democrats came third with a total number of 228136 votes behind the Conservatives and Labour. The proportion of votes received meant that the party was able to send the top two list candidates to the European parliament, Emma Nicholson the top list candidate and Chris Huhne, 2nd on the list. During the 2004 European Parliament elections Huhne was re-elected along with Emma Nicholson with the party having received 338,342 votes, 15.3% of the total vote. In 2005 Huhne made the decision to stand for election to the United Kingdom parliament representing the seat of Eastleigh in Hampshire. After winning election to the House of Commons on 5 May 2005, Sharon Bowles the candidate third on the Liberal Democrat list replaced Huhne as representative for the South East of England.

During his time in the European Parliament, Huhne was the only Liberal Democrat MEP in a ranking by ''The Economist'' of the three most high-profile UK MEPs (the others being Glenys Kinnock and Caroline Lucas). He was a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, concerned with economic and financial policy including regulation of the financial sector. He was economic spokesman for the pan-European Liberal group in the European Parliament and was responsible for introducing "sunset clauses" – time limits on powers – into European legislation for the first time; for radically amending Commission proposals on financial services; and for opening up the European Central Bank to greater scrutiny.

In addition to his European Parliament responsibilities, he was also active in the development of Liberal Democrat policy as chairman of four policy groups: broadcasting and the media; globalisation; the introduction of the euro and the reform of public services. On public services, he argues that money was a necessary condition of improvement, but that the key is now decentralised and democratic control. Local voters need to be able to hold local decision-takers to account.

Member of Parliament (2005 – present)

Huhne was first elected to represent Eastleigh at the general election on 5 May 2005, a constituency within the area for which he was previously the Member of the European Parliament. The previous MP for the constituency, David Chidgey, was also a Liberal Democrat who won his seat in what was historically a Conservative area in a by-election in 1994 following the death of Stephen Milligan. The result in 2005 was close, with Huhne winning with a majority of just 568 over Conservative rival Conor Burns. In the General Election of 2010 Huhne retained his seat, this time with an increased majority of 3864 over the Conservative's Maria Hutchings.

Treasury spokesman

Following his election to the House of Commons then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy made Huhne the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury for the party. In this role Huhne led the parties debate on the Finance Bill 2005 suggesting that amendments should be made to stop a pensions loophole which would have allowed rich investors to get 40% discount on property and other investments in their pension. In the Pre-budget report for 2006, the Chancellor conceded the change.

Leadership contest, 2006

Huhne stood against Sir Menzies Campbell and Simon Hughes for the Liberal Democrat leadership after Charles Kennedy's resignation, formally launching his campaign on 13 January 2006.

Huhne was able to carve out a unique position on the issue of green taxation – he argued for a radical expansion of taxes on pollution, allowing for reductions in the income tax rate on the lowest paid. This theme endeared Huhne to environmentalists and market liberals alike, allowing him to gain a march on his rivals and pick up supporters as the campaign went on. He also argued for a repeal of elements of the Labour government's anti-terrorism legislation, which many felt had undermined British civil liberties, and for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq within a year. He described himself as a 'social liberal'.

Although the majority of Liberal Democrat MPs — and much of the party establishment — declared their support for Sir Menzies Campbell, Huhne did receive endorsements from some party notables including Lord Maclennan and Lord Rodgers. Amongst the media, ''The Economist'', ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'' supported his leadership bid. He was backed from an early stage by a number of bloggers, and gained much momentum from a sharp internet campaign.

In the final vote, Huhne finished runner-up, tallying 21,628 votes to Sir Menzies Campbell's 29,697. Campbell appointed him as Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the subsequent frontbench reshuffle, in order for Huhne to develop a viable programme to expand on his green campaign themes.

During the election campaign a news story in ''The Independent'' on 27 February 2006 reported that an unsigned document entitled "Chris Huhne's Hypocritical Personal Share Portfolio" was being circulated at Lib Dem leadership election meetings. The document alleged that Huhne had invested in companies that the document described as "unethical". The document stated "Chris Huhne is campaigning for the Lib Dem leadership on a green, carbon-neutral platform, and further advocates increasing tax for the wealthy, which would include himself. However, his shareholdings include, or have included, mining companies, oil companies, and tax shelters."

Huhne has spoken of the need to "roll back [Labour's] security-obsessed surveillance state". However, he holds shares – listed on the Register of Members' Interests – in UK company IRISYS, which specialises in producing thermal imagers "for process, people and queue monitoring" and "which sells cameras to let shops count their customers."

Environment spokesman, 2006–2007

The intellectual energy surrounding Huhne's leadership campaign did much to inform the Liberal Democrats' recent political agenda. His proposals for realigning green taxes and income tax – the ''green tax switch'' – were at the heart of the fiscal package endorsed at the party's September 2006 conference.

Huhne has continued developing his party's thoughts on climate change and the environment, including a consideration of the challenges and opportunities they create for British businesses. He has also been prominent in critiquing the divergence between the Conservative Party's recent environmental rhetoric and its policies.

Huhne was one of fourteen MPs forming an all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism in the UK. Their report criticised boycotts of Israeli academics as "an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange" and accused "some left-wing activists and Muslim extremists [...] of using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews". Huhne is, however, a critic of Israeli government policy in the Middle East, and strongly supports the creation of a separate Palestinian state. He described the Israeli response in Lebanon to Hezbollah's rocket attacks as disproportionate and counter-productive, arguing that a strong Lebanese state is in Israel's long-term interest.

In March 2007 it was falsely reported that he had written to executives at Channel 4 to try and stop their showing ''The Great Global Warming Swindle''. In an e-mail exchange with Iain Dale, Mr Huhne stated that he only wrote to ask for the channel's comments and ''The Daily Telegraph'' later ran a correction and apologised for the misunderstanding saying they were happy to accept that "Mr Huhne's letter was not an attempt to prevent the film being shown or suppress debate on the issue".

After Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg, announced his intention during the 2007 party conference to stand for the leadership should Sir Menzies Campbell retire, Chris Huhne, when asked about his leadership ambitions said that there was "no vacancy, and it would be premature to even talk about the position of there being a vacancy".

Leadership contest, 2007

Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 Huhne was considered to be one of the strongest contenders for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. On 17 October, Huhne became the first member of the party to announce his candidacy saying "I've decided to give it a go" and declaring his vision of a "fairer and greener society". Huhne said that he wanted the party to be committed to the idea that "everybody's individual worth and chance is given its full possibility"

On 28 October 2007, Huhne announced that he had secured the support of 10 of his 62 parliamentary colleagues for his formal nomination. His rival Nick Clegg announced the support of 33 MPs. Huhne also claimed backing from at least twelve peers, four MSPs and three Welsh Assembly members. After former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown announced his support for Clegg, a previous Lib Dem leader Lord Steel declared his support for Huhne, based in part on Huhne's position on the Trident missile system.

In the last week of campaigning his team were bullish about his chances, predicting a win. Following the final count the party membership chose his rival Nick Clegg by a narrow margin of 511 votes out of more than 41,000 counted.

About 1,300 postal votes were caught up in the Christmas post and missed the election deadline. An unofficial check of the late papers showed Huhne had enough votes among them to hand him victory. Huhne stood by the result, saying "Nick Clegg won fair and square on the rules counting the ballot papers that arrived in by the deadline. There is no question of any re-run." Following the leadership election, Clegg chose Huhne to be the Lib Dem's Home Affairs Spokesman.

Election conduct

During the leadership election, Nick Clegg registered a formal complaint about Huhne's conduct to Lord Rennard, the party's Chief Whip and returning officer. Clegg stated that his rival was indulging in "the politics of innuendo, mounting false challenges and running a campaign that is handing political ammunition to the party's political opponents". Huhne and Clegg were debating on live television on BBC's ''The Politics Show'' on Sunday 18 November 2007 when the presenter Jon Sopel produced a briefing document that had been specially delivered to the show's production team by the Huhne campaign team on the preceding Friday. The document excoriated Clegg on a number of policy and political issues and was titled "Calamity Clegg". When challenged about the document issued by his office, Huhne claimed that he had no knowledge of it and said he did not agree with the document title but agreed with the points within it. When challenged how it was possible that he had no knowledge of such a major document sent to the producer of the show he was due to appear on, Huhne replied "It's quite impossible to check everything that goes out of the office... But I can assure you that's not had my authorization." After Clegg complained about what he called "dirty tricks" and other senior party members condemned the Huhne campaign attack, Huhne's Campaign Manager Anna Werrin claimed that the title of the memo was just the product of an "over-zealous researcher" and had not been seen or approved by Huhne or any senior campaign officials prior to release. "The document title had not been approved before the document was sent out and neither Chris nor I were aware of it."

Speaking to the Independent on 21 November 2007 Huhne claimed ""Unfortunately it was a mixture of responsibilities. It was an over-zealous young researcher who was responsible for drawing up the document." The researcher was not on his staff, he said, denying that, as a former journalist he might have been expected to read what was put out in his name before it was put out. However, in June 2010, after Huhne's long-running affair with his full-time press agent Carina Trimingham was uncovered, the Guardian and the Daily Mail revealed that the "Calamity Clegg" dossier had actually been created and circulated by Trimingham who at that time was 41 years old, "one of Mr. Huhne's closest aides" and his official, on-staff press manager for the leadership campaign – reporting directly to Huhne.

Home Affairs spokesman, 2007–2010

In October 2008, Huhne led the Liberal-Democrat response to the government's announcement of plans to expand the capacity to collect records of people using electronic communications. The Home Secretary's announcement was in response to warnings by police and the security services that the growing fragmentation and complexity of communications was hindering their tackling of terrorism and organised criminality. But Huhne disagreed with the government's response to the police and security services, saying: "The Government’s Orwellian plans for a vast database of our private communications are deeply worrying. I hope that this consultation is not just a sham exercise to soft-soap an unsuspecting public.”

In January 2009, Huhne was credited with uncovering an incidence of data loss of government information caused by a courier company losing a computer disc containing bank details of up to 2,000 public servants working for the British Council. Huhne blamed the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and the government for the courier company's loss and said that the incident was an example of why the UK should not have Identity Cards: “This is another instance in a long line of slapdash data protection by government departments. If Whitehall cannot look after its own data records it should not be trusted with the personal information of every citizen as it wants with the identity card scheme.”

On 6 November 2007, Huhne made remarks about the Speaker of the House of Commons on the BBC television programme ''Newsnight'' in which he claimed that the Speaker, Michael Martin, had fallen asleep during a speech by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "The Speaker unfortunately fell asleep during Gordon Brown's speech ... I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but he reacted in an entirely understandable way to what was not the most riveting of parliamentary occasions." After the remarks were repeated in several publications, Huhne made a public apology to the Speaker in the House Of Commons on 8 November in which he withdrew his prior comments. “It was wrong of me to draw the Chair into a matter of political dispute. I hope you will accept I intended no personal offence and fully withdraw my comments.”

Controversy

Huhne was an avid supporter of Professor David Nutt after he was dismissed by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in November 2009. Nutt had criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug rather than keeping it as a class C. Huhne said the decision to sack Nutt was "disgraceful" and commented "what is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?." Attacking the government he said that if they did not want to take expert scientific advice they might as well have a "committee of tabloid newspaper editors to advise on drugs policy". Cannabis had been re-classified as a class C drug in 2004 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett only for Jacqui Smith to reverse the ruling in 2008, a decision taken despite official advisers recommending against the change.

As part of the ''Daily Telegraph'' investigation into expense claims by MPs, Huhne was reported to have claimed for various items including groceries, fluffy dusters and a trouser press. In 2006, he claimed £5,066 for painting work on his garden fences and chairs. He collected £119 for a mahogany Corby trouser press from John Lewis but later said he would repay the cost in order "to avoid controversy". He later claimed on a live Channel 4 news programme that he needed the trouser press to "look smart" for work. In June 2010, it was revealed that in the second half of 2009, a period after the expenses scandal news story became known, Huhne claimed £14,948 in expenses, including some minor amounts such as a 14p bill for stationery. The claim also included costs incurred in servicing an old boiler at his constituency home. Huhnes office running costs during the 2007/2008 financial year were the 206th highest, out of 645, his second home claims were 580th highest (or 65th cheapest) out of 645, his total expense claims were below average, ranking 418th most expensive.

Coalition Government (2010 – present)

Following the 2010 general election, Huhne formed part of the Liberal Democrats key negotiating team alongside Danny Alexander, David Laws and Andrew Stunell that brokered the agreement to go into a governing coalition with the Conservatives. Following the negotiations and the formation of a full coaltion Huhne was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the tenth most senior minister in the new government. There had been some speculation that Huhne might be appointed as Home Secretary as he had been the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs in the preceding three years although this post went to the Conservative Theresa May. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

A noted and vocal environmentalist, Huhne accepted the role of Secretary of State with the stated intention of making the nation more ecologically conscious. Among his first actions was launching National Wind Week by speaking at an event in London's Leicester Square on 15 June 2010. Underscoring his personal commitment to wind, Huhne has erected a wind turbine rising 8 feet above the roof of his constituency home in Eastleigh where he spends his weekends.

Position on nuclear energy

In government, Huhne has maintained a flexible approach on the subject of nuclear energy advocating the three-pronged ''portfolio'' approach to energy: a commitment to nuclear energy; the development of more renewable energy, such as wind and sea power; and new carbon-capture technology to mitigate the damaging environmental effects of fossil fuel-fired power plants and industrial facilities. In an interview with the Observer in March 2011 after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Huhne stated that "there are a lot of issues outside of the realm of nuclear safety, which we will have to assess. One is what the economics of nuclear power post-Fukushima will be, if there is an increase in the cost in capital to nuclear operators." This represents an evolution of his approach to the nuclear issue. In 2007, Huhne was quoted as saying "Nuclear is a tried, tested and failed technology and the government must stop putting time, effort and subsidies into this outdated industry."

Cancellation of Sheffield Forgemasters loan

In June 2010, Huhne cancelled an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters to build power plant components that had been pledged by the preceding Labour government. Though attacked by Labour Shadow energy secretary Ed Milliband who said that the money for the loan had been set aside and would have resulted in at least £110 million returning to the Exchequer. On 1 July 2010, Huhne replied to Milliband saying "The loan to Sheffield Forgemasters was not a commercial loan. If it was a commercial loan it would have been arranged through the banks and not by the government. It was precisely because of the public subsidy element, and the fact that the public subsidy element was not affordable, that the government decided not to proceed with it." The cancellation of the loan was one of a number of projects agreed by the previous Labour government cancelled in an announcement to the House of Commons on 17 June 2010.

Cancun climate change conference

On 9 December 2010, Huhne represented the United Kingdom at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The gathering, at which over 190 countries were represented, announced a deal to curb climate change which Prime Minister David Cameron described as a "very significant step forward." The agreement struck in Mexico included a recognition that deeper cuts in carbon emissions were needed and that a fund should be set up in order to help developing countries reduce their carbon emissions. Huhne described the deal as a "serious package" of measures but acknowledged that there was still more work to do prior to the next climate change meeting in Durban, South Africa, the following year. Following the conference David Cameron said that his government would be the "greenest ever" and said that Britain would meet its international obligations regarding climate change. Due to his attending the conference, Huhne was one of 8 Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain from the vote on Government proposals to increase university tuition fees. The vote had been particularly controversial for Liberal Democrats as many of the parties MPs had, prior to the election, signed an NUS pledge promising to vote against tuition fee increases. For the government, the controversial nature of the vote meant that, at one stage, it was considered that Huhne would have to return home from the conference in order to vote with the Government. Speaking about the possibility of the UK's minister potentially leaving the conference to attend a domestic vote Greenpeace Uk director John Sauven said to the BBC that Huhnes presence was vital adding "with the outcome of the Cancun summit now hanging in the balance, attention must now focus on whether he can help to broker a climate deal". Conservative minister Greg Barker, also at the summit, did however return for the vote.

Support for AV referendum campaign

Huhne was an enthusiastic supporter of the AV campaign and attacked anti-AV campaigners such as his cabinet colleague, Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi. "If Baroness Warsi thinks that AV will benefit fascism she has to explain why the BNP wants to stick with what we have and Operation Black Vote supports AV. The BNP know the present system is their only chance of election. This is another example of the increasingly Goebbels-like campaign from the anti-AV people, for whom no lie is too idiotic given the truth is so unpalatable to them. AV makes lazy MPs work harder and reach out beyond their tribe. It is what Britain needs to clean up politics."

Personal life

Huhne married a Greek-born economist Vicky Pryce (formerly Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) in 1984 shortly after she divorced her first husband, with whom she had two young daughters. Huhne and Pryce had three children together. In a video statement made during the 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election campaign, Huhne described his philosophy about family life: "Relationships, including particularly family relationships, are actually the most important things in making people happy and fulfilled". Talking about his wife to ''The Independent'' in 2008 he stated: "I also have a very hard-working and extremely intelligent wife, who manages to earn far more than I do." An election flyer distributed in his Eastleigh constituency prior to the May 2010 general election included several photographs of himself with his family members, each image accompanied by a hand-written caption.

In June 2010, after being observed and photographed spending a night in his constituency home with a woman other than his wife, Huhne admitted that he had been involved in an extra-marital sexual relationship with a woman named Carina Trimingham and stated that he had decided to leave his wife of 26 years to be with her. Huhne's wife and children were completely unaware of his infidelity and his plans to leave his wife for another woman. Within one week of Huhne's declaration, Pryce filed for divorce on the grounds of Huhne's "admitted adultery". A statement issued on her behalf by London-based solicitors Osbornes said: "The events of the past week have come as a tremendous shock to both Miss Pryce and her family." Trimingham had worked on Huhne's campaigns for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2006 and 2007 - and was also a paid staff member on his 2010 General Election campaign. She was press officer for another Liberal Democrat politician Brian Paddick during the 2008 Mayor of London election, and is now campaigns director at the Electoral Reform Society. Huhne was defended by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude who opined: “What goes on in people’s private lives is a subject that fascinates the tabloid press but is irrelevant to the job they are trying to do.”

Huhne owns seven houses—five that he purchased just as investments and that he makes money on as rental properties and two in which he lives. (One in Eastleigh, his constituency, and a town house in Clapham, south London). His wealth is estimated as £3.5 million.

Personal Interests

"Electoral reform" is among the personal interests that Huhne cites on his biography on the official Liberal Democrats website. He describes his other interests as "European single currency, economics, third world debt and development, Europe."

Huhne is a member of the European Movement, Green Lib Dems, Association of Liberal Democrat Trade Unionists and the National Union of Journalists.

Traffic conviction

Huhne was convicted in 2003 under the Road Traffic Act 1988 of using a mobile phone while driving his car on a busy London street. Following his conviction, he was banned from driving for three months.

Penalty points allegations

In May 2011 Huhne's estranged wife stated that Huhne had "pressurised people to take his driving licence penalty points" on his behalf. Huhne denied the allegations. After Huhne was reported to the police, Essex police said: "We take allegations such as this one extremely seriously and will take action where necessary." On 10 June 2011 it emerged that Essex Police had sent 'initial papers' to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the allegations and it was also revealed that Huhne had exercised his right to remain silent in response to a series of police questions in May.On 25 June 2011 Essex Police stated that they had obtained a court order to take possession of a recording from the Sunday Times in which the ex-couple apparently discuss the case. On 22 July it emerged that Huhne had once again been interviewed by police concerning the allegations and on 28 July the police handed the file to prosecutors.

In May 2011 a YouGov poll revealed that almost half of Brits thought that Huhne should resign over the investigation.

Publications and writing interests

Prior to his careers as a financial journalist, analyst and politician, Huhne wrote four books that are mainly on the themes either of third-world debt and development or European integration: the latest is entitled ''Both Sides of the Coin'' (1999, with James Forder), in which he argues the case for British membership of the euro. The first was ''Debt and Danger'' (Penguin Special, 1985), an analysis of the 1984 third world debt crisis co-written with Lord Lever of Manchester, the former Labour cabinet minister.

He was a contributor to the ''Orange Book'' (2004), in which he advocates reforms to the United Nations and international governance. Huhne was critical of the most controversial article in the Orange Book, in which David Laws proposed an insurance-based National Health Service. He did not take part in the successor volume, ''Britain after Blair'' and has voiced dismay at the way its predecessor was presented as a break with the party's social liberal traditions. More recently, he contributed to the book ''The City in Europe and the World'' (2005) and two articles to ''Reinventing the State'' (2007) edited by Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson and David Howarth. These cover the case for localism in which Huhne argues that there is no contradiction between localism and equality, and the need for environmental policy to tackle climate change.

Huhne has also written articles for the ''Financial Times'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'' and the ''New Statesman''.

References

External links

Chris Huhne MP ''official constituency website''

Eastleigh Liberal Democrats

Profile at the Liberal Democrats Party

Profile: Chris Huhne, ''BBC News'', 2 March 2006

Profile: Chris Huhne, ''BBC News'', 19 December 2007

|- |- |- |- ! colspan="3" style="background:#cfc;" | Order of precedence in Northern Ireland

Category:1954 births Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Category:Liberal Democrat (UK) MPs Category:Living people Category:Members of the European Parliament for English constituencies Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:Old Westminsters Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:UK MPs 2010– Category:Liberal Democrat (UK) MEPs Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1999–2004 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2004–2009

de:Chris Huhne fr:Chris Huhne la:Christophorus Huhne pl:Chris Huhne ro:Christopher Huhne ru:Хьюн, Крис simple:Chris Huhne fi:Chris Huhne