Charles 111 -1st Scuba diving monarch

May 6, 2023/Simon Read

Charles 111 -1st Scuba diving monarch

King Charles III, will officially be the first British qualified Scuba diving monarch counts among, which he took up in the early 1970s.

Photo taken by TSAC member Bob Fields. Aged 29 Bob went to work at the Mary Rose site for a week clearing mud. At this stage the wreck was still mast tip under mud and recovered 7or 8 years later.

He learnt to dive in the Navy at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in September 1971.

He wasn’t the first member of the Royal family to dive as his father Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had had qualified with the BSAC.

The Duke was president of the BSAC from 1960 to 1963.

Charles also took on that role as an active diver in 1974. and was president till 2014

In 2014 his son, Prince William, took on the role.

  • Prince Charles has dived under Arctic ice in Canada in April 1975.
  • A series of dives on the Tudor warship Mary Rose in the Solent. on 30 July, 1974 and remained actively involved in the huge wreck project for the next eight years.
  • He became president of the Mary Rose Trust, and was one of the last divers to visit the wreck, shortly before the hull was raised on 11 October, 1982.

Prince Charles comically deflates thick scuba diving suit in rare documentary footage | Watch (msn.com)

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Simon Read

Simon Read

I have always loved the sea and diving gives me that little bit of extra special interaction. I love diving anywhere and always find sites interesting and an exhilarating activity, constantly enhancing and improving my skills and knowledge. My favourite diving has to be around the British Isles and in particular St Abbs. It has everything, the sea life, the socialising, the history and the thrill. TSAC has opened up many areas and opportunities for me and hopefully will continue to do so in the future. Here’s to the next adventure.