KING CHARLES

A quick profile of “the longest-serving heir in British history.”

Though as bland as its subject’s public persona and so compressed that the multiple schools “little Charles Philip Arthur George” attended on his way to college are reduced to one—illustrated with a historically unlikely view of the young prince being paraded before a racially diverse line of fellow students—this thumbnail biography does mention his two marriages and the protests that greeted his early residence in Wales. On more worthwhile notes, it also points to his creation of the Prince’s Trust (this paired to a more plausibly inclusive group of beneficiaries) and justifiably makes much of his devotion to environmental causes. Also, Hunt gets the royal ears, hair, and blank expression just right in the cartoon views of Charles in outdoor settings, waving at crowds, and (in earlier years, anyway) posing with various family members. An afterword with four photos adds a bit more detail to this view of an earnest, low-key figure who, following “a lifetime of preparing for the job,” ascended to the throne after his long-lived mother’s death and “hoped not to let anyone down.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Too sketchy and impersonal to last; at best a stopgap to meet the current rush of interest.