<\/p>\n
King Charles III (File photograph)<\/p>\n
Details are limited on the upcoming royal visit to Bermuda by King Charles III \u2014 but the monarch\u2019s passion for art as well as the natural world offer some clues of potential sites of royal interest on the island.<\/p>\n
King Charles was heir to the throne when he called on the island for the first time, as Prince Charles.<\/p>\n
His official visit to Bermuda, from October 20 to 22, 1970, marked the formal opening of the 350th session of what was then known as the Colonial Parliament.<\/p>\n
Although the three-day visit was uneventful, the island\u2019s simmering social unrest at the time sparked security concerns <\/a>and a bodyguard of Royal Marines was dispatched to Bermuda to provide additional protection while Charles stayed at Government House.<\/p>\n In 1973, Prince Charles arrived without pomp and ceremony as a sub-Lieutenant on board HMS Minerva<\/em>.<\/p>\n He attended a number of social functions during a four-day stay \u2014 but his main duties kept him aboard the Royal Navy ship.<\/p>\n In March 1982, Prince Charles and his new wife, Princess Diana, made a quick stop on their way to the Bahamas.<\/p>\n Although they were only on the ground for two hours, the Special Branch gave them a tour of St George’s upon Prince Charles\u2019s request.<\/p>\n The couple had wed in July 1981 and during their brief stopover Princess Diana was heavily pregnant with their first child, William, now Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne.<\/p>\n King Charles\u2019s accession to the throne<\/a> in September 2022 was marked in Bermuda with a 21-gun salute on Front Street, after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>, whose 70-year reign was the longest in British history \u2014 and who made four visits to Bermuda after her coronation in 1953.<\/p>\n The King is known in Bermuda for his support <\/a>of the Masterworks Foundation after granting his patronage to the museum in 2003.<\/p>\n At the time he wrote: \u201cMy involvement with Masterworks reflects the importance I attach to the preservation of cultural heritage through art \u2014 a cause that has relevance to communities across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2007, he marked the 20th anniversary of Masterworks by donating<\/a> a proof of his own watercolour, Wensleydale from Moorcock<\/em>, to be auctioned off for fundraising.<\/p>\n Last May, in a Bermuda Day message<\/a> to Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, the King highlighted efforts to sustain the island\u2019s natural beauty and support the environment.<\/p>\n