THE BOY BORN ΤΟ REIGN

The Queen was the only person who could show the future king the ropes - and he followed her lead dutifully

It was not the easiest of entrances into the world. When Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Sunday November 14, 1948, his mother, then Princess Elizabeth, had been in labour for 30 long hours.

While her husband Prince Philip slept, ate and played squash with his private secretary, the 22-year-old princess was in the Buhl Room at Buckingham Palace being tended to by two royal obstetricians and a midwife. It had been decided that Her Royal Highness would undergo what was then known as the twilight sleep technique, which involved giving labouring women injections of morphine and scopolamine to put them in a drowsy state. Unfortunately, it led to prolonged labours and after 30 hours, Elizabeth's doctors decided a Caesarean was the best course of action. The Buhl Room was converted into a mini operating theatre and the future heir to the throne arrived at 9.14pm, weighing 7lb 6oz (3.3kg).

Following tradition, a proclamation was posted on the palace railings just before midnight, announcing the arrival of the baby and his name. The birth was also announced on BBC radio, cannons were fired in nearby Hyde Park and the bells at Westminster Abbey were rung to welcome newborn Charles, destined to one day be king.

A month after his birth, Charles was christened at Buckingham Palace. Because the usual venue for baptisms the Private Chapel - had been damaged by bombs during World War II, the ceremony took place in the music room.

Being an heir to the British throne meant the youngster - known as Prince Charles of Edinburgh for the first few years of his life would never have a normal childhood. But even before his mother became Queen and took on the enormous responsibility that the role entailed, Charles' life was somewhat fractured.