King Charles is currently enjoying a private breakup in the Scottish Highlands, where he is staying at the Castle of Mey, and during his time away the monarch marked a special milestone.
With his reign now having lasted for over 326 days, Charles is no longer the shortest-serving British monarch having surpassed King Edward VIII, his uncle.
Edward abdicated from the throne less than a year into his reign in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
At the time, it was believed that a woman who had been divorced would be unacceptable as a Queen Consort, and likewise, Edward’s plans to marry her would have conflicted with his role as head of the Church of England.
Edward’s insistence to marry Wallis looked to create a constitutional conflict as the government of the day was looking to resign over the issue, which would have threatened the then King’s role as a politically neutral figure.
His abdication, however, eventually led to Charles’ ascension to the throne, as without any heirs the next King was Charles’ grandfather, George VI.
Although Charles is no longer the shortest-reigning British monarch, he has long surpassed several monarchs who only ruled over England, with Lady Jane Grey’s disputed claim to the throne only lasting for nine days. Sweyn Forkbeard, who was also the King of Denmark, only ruled for 40 days before his death.
Charles has been pictured out and about during his time in the Scottish Highlands, and has appeared to have been in good spirits throughout his vacation, not even letting the August showers get to him.
On Wednesday, the monarch, 74, was pictured in John O’Groats, Caithness, where he was opening up the 8 Doors Distillery, and he made quite the nifty fashion choice for his outing, going for a traditional Scottish kilt.
After opening the venue, His Majesty was given a tour and was even invited to fill an American Oak, Pedro Ximénez Hogshead cask, before sampling the new make spirit. Following his visit to the distillery, the King met with local food producers as he viewed market stalls.
Kerry Campbell, the co-founder of 8 Doors Distillery, said: “We were honoured to welcome The King to 8 Doors Distillery and thoroughly enjoyed sharing our story and what makes our distillery so unique with him, as well as offering him the opportunity to fill a cask in our warehouse.
“Throughout his visit, he had the opportunity to meet many of our team, from those working in our distillation team through to our retail and distillery lounge staff, all of whom embody our passion for both the whisky industry and the local area.”
Charles arrived in the Scottish Highlands over the weekend. The monarch typically spends a week at the remote location, before heading down to his Birkhall residence on the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire.
