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Now that King Charles III is the royal family’s monarch, he has dozens of important tasks on his agenda every day. That’s not counting the drama that comes from planning his official coronation celebration (and being labeled cruel by some because of the date). Times were simpler for Charles when his reign was in the distance, such as when he became a multimedia star with a little help from his brothers.

King Charles III reads 'The Legend of Lochnagar,' a story he told his brother which helped him become a multimedia star with a book and two cartoon versions.
King Charles III became a multimedia star with ‘The Legend of Lochnagar’ | Martin Keene – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

King Charles reportedly has strained relationships with his siblings

Charles has always lived under a microscope. The scrutiny is even more intense now that he’s king.

The world almost lost it when Charles became perturbed over a leaky pen. Royal watchers glimpse photos and say Charles is sending a clear message to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Every gesture he makes toward his family — both physical and verbal — gets analyzed. That extends to Charles’ relationships with his brothers and sister.

By many accounts, Charles doesn’t get along with his siblings. At the very least, there have been well-documented feuds between the king and his sister, Princess Anne, and his brother, Prince Andrew. Charles’ youngest sibling, Prince Edward, largely stays out of the spotlight. His relationships with his brothers seem rocky now, but in a way, they helped Charles become a multimedia star.

Charles became a multimedia star because of stories he told his brothers as a child

If a story about a man who takes a bathtub into a cave near Balmoral Castle in hopes of taking a hot bath sounds like a great idea for a children’s book, that’s because it is. 

King Charles penned The Old Man of Lochnagar in 1980. The children’s book was based on stories he told princes Edward and Andrew when they were children, according to Mental Floss. The book was just the beginning. The childhood stories helped Charles become a multimedia star twice over.

Charles read The Old Man of Lochnagar on an episode of the long-running BBC show Jackanory in 1984. Less than a decade later, he narrated his story when ABC Weekend Specials presented it as The Legend of Lochnagar in 1993. Future Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane provided the voice of the titular old man.

The future king made frequent TV appearances

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Charles’ duties as king will likely involve some work in front of the camera. That shouldn’t faze the monarch since he has proven to be comfortable performing, and not just his multimedia stardom with The Old Man of Lochnagar.

He was a member of the drama society at Trinity College, and Charles was a magician who joined the Magic Circle, a century-old society of stage magicians, in 1975.

More recently, Charles appeared as a stand-in weatherman on a 2012 BBC broadcast (via YouTube). He did a capable job reading the lines and going with the flow when some humorous parts of the script popped up. He also teamed up with several British celebrities to tape a reading of The Night Before Christmas in 2020.

Charles the multimedia star might have to take a back seat to Charles the king, but his past projects should make him very comfortable in front of the camera.

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