Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Leyla Nathlu. I'm outside

London's Westminster Abbey, the scene of the coronation of his majesty Charles III as

King of the United Kingdom and 15 Commonwealth realms around the world.

He is 74, the oldest monarch to assume the throne here in Britain. And things have changed

since his late mother Elizabeth was crowned in 1953 at the age of 27. She was famously

inscrutable, but the world has had decades to observe Charles and he's become a surprisingly

familiar figure in some quarters.

I call him my Uncle Charlie.

That's Gina Moffett from Tottenham, an area of inner city London which couldn't be further

removed from the regal corridors of Buckingham Palace, but one which Uncle Charlie knows

well, more from Tottenham later.

I, Charles Prince of Wales, do become your leech man of life and limb and of earthly worship.

Back in 1969 at the age of 20, Charles first took on public royal duties when he was formally

invested as Prince of Wales. He spoke then to the BBC.

When did you first realise that a little by that you were heir to the throne and not just

an ordinary chap?

I think it's something that dawns on you, the most ghastly, inexorable since I didn't

suddenly sit to wake up in my prime one day.

You be, you know.

But Prince Charles didn't just sit back and wait for his inexorable fate to arrive. He got

to work, developing a sprawling portfolio of campaigns and causes, taking in the environment,

farming, architecture, inner city deprivation, young people's life chances and interfaith

...