King Charles III is celebrating his 76th birthday today. Here's the best photo from every year of his royal career.

1971: Having become the first heir to the throne to graduate with a university degree (a 2:2 from Trinity College Cambridge), Prince Charles flew himself to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire to train as a jet pilot.

1972: After passing his RAF training, Charles embarked on a career in the Royal Navy.

1973: The then-prince visited the Bahamas for the islands' last days as a British colony. After more than 300 years of British sovereignty, the Bahamas became an independent nation on July 9.

1974: Charles made his maiden speech in the House of Lords, becoming the first royal to do so since his great-great-grandfather Edward VII in 1884.

Source: The New York Times

1975: Continuing to dip into military training, Charles returned to Cambridge to receive his masters degree.

1976: Prince Charles took command of his first ship, the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington. It was also his last year of active military service and the year he started his charity, The Prince's Trust.

Source: The Prince's Trust

1977: The prince appeared in a disastrous interview on Australian television. The host of the show "Countdown" suffered a complete meltdown on-air, even saying: "Your Royal Highness... oh, oh, I'm sweating like a pig."

Watch the interview here.

1978: Prince Charles made the cover of TIME magazine. The publication described him as a "most uncommon bloke."

Source: TIME

1979: Prince Charles attended the funeral of his great uncle and mentor, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, who was murdered by the IRA.

1980: Prince Charles met Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. He also published a children's book, "The Old Man of Lochnagar," originally written for his younger brother Prince Edward.

Source: The Telegraph

1981: Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, who became the Princess of Wales. At the time of their February engagement, Diana was 19 years old, while Charles was 31.

1982: Prince William of Wales was born, and Charles became the first royal father to be present at the birth of his son.

1983: The Prince and Princess of Wales toured Australia and New Zealand — a trip that was mirrored by newlyweds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018.

1984: Prince Harry was born, making the Wales' a family of four.

1985: Charles and Diana whipped the US into a frenzy when they visited Washington D.C. At the White House, the princess took to the dance floor with John Travolta.

Watch Travolta talking about his dance with Diana here.

1986: Charles and Diana visited Tokyo, Japan, and watched a sumo tournament.

1987: Charles and Diana were invited on a Majorcan holiday by the King of Spain. Charles later said his marriage had broken down completely by this point.

Source: The Guardian

1988: Charles diced with death while skiing with friends in Klosters, Switzerland, when an avalanche hit. The prince's friend Major Hugh Lindsay was killed and another friend, Patti Palmer-Tomkinson, was seriously injured.

Source: The Telegraph

1989: Prince Charles gave a speech at the Saving the Ozone Layer World Conference in London, saying "human beings have been upsetting that balance [of nature], persistently" since the Industrial Revolution.

Source: The Telegraph

1990: The prince broke his arm after falling off his horse during a game of polo. Charles later required a second operation after the fracture failed to heal.

Source: The Telegraph

1991: The prince resigned as the patron of Scotland's national museum over a competition to design a new building. He said too much weight had been given to the opinion of "so-called experts."

Source: BBC

1992: Andrew Morton published "Diana: Her True Story," detailing the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage. In December, the Prime Minister, John Major, announced to the House of Commons that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate.

1993: 'Camillagate' — The Daily Mirror leaked recordings of an explicit phone conversation between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in which the prince expressed his desire to live inside her trousers.

Source: The Daily Mirror

1994: In this photo taken in Sydney, Australia, Prince Charles is pushed to safety by security personnel after 24-year-old student David Kang fired two blank rounds from a starter gun at him. Kang was protesting the treatment of Cambodian asylum seekers in Australia.

Source: LA Times

1995: Diana gave an interview to Panorama where she said: "There were three of us in this marriage." British press reported that the Queen had written to Charles and Diana urging them to divorce.

Sources: The Guardian, BBC, The New York Times

1996: Charles and Diana's marriage dissolved after 15 years. The princess was still regarded as a member of the royal family and continued to live in Kensington Palace.

Source: The Prince of Wales

1997: Princess Diana is killed in a car crash in Paris. Charles flew to Paris with Diana's two sisters to bring her body back to London.

1998: Prince Charles dropped Prince Harry off at the prestigious Eton College where he would join his brother William as a boarder.

Read more: See inside Prince Harry's Eton dorm room — complete with posters of bikini-clad women and a portrait of Princess Diana — here

1999: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles made their first public appearance together at The Ritz in London.

2000: Camilla met with the Queen for the first time at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. The meeting was a sign that Camilla was finally being accepted into the royal folds and by the public.

2001: Charles launched a report warning that half of all British villages no longer have a pub. "Rural pubs must draw on their resourcefulness and resilience," the prince said.

2002: Charles visited Brazil and took to the football pitch before heading to Mexico as part of a royal visit.

2003: Prince Charles posed for a photo with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation.

2004: Charles shared a laugh with son Prince William during the family's annual skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps in March.

2005: Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor, on April 9. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did not attend, although they did host a reception.

2006: Prince Charles greets former Spice Girls Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell during a garden party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Prince's Trust.

Source: BBC

2007: The Prince of Wales was awarded the Global Environmental Citizen Award from Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment.

Source: The Harvard Gazette

2008: Prince Charles celebrated his 60th birthday — the first Prince of Wales to reach this milestone without becoming monarch.

2009: Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II, presented him with the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour on May 18, 2009 — the highest accolade the society can give.

2010: The Prince of Wales dabbled in a putt or two ahead of the Ryder Cup golf tournament in Newport, Wales.

2011: Charles' son Prince William married Kate Middleton in a celebration that caught the attention of the entire world. It was also the year Prince Charles became the oldest heir apparent to bear the title Prince of Wales.

2012: The whole country — and the world — celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

2013: Prince Charles became a grandfather for the first time when Kate Middleton gave birth to Prince George. He looked pretty delighted to receive a teddy bear to give to his new grandson a few days later.

2014: The Invictus Games, an international sports event for wounded warriors founded by Prince Harry, took place in September 2014 in London.

2015: During a 12-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, the Prince of Wales placed a poppy on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

2016: As part of a celebration for the 500th Anniversary of the Royal Mail, Prince Charles took a ride on a motorbike that was once used for delivering telegrams.

2017: In November, Charles spent three days visiting the Caribbean islands that were hit by earthquakes in September. Here, he surveys the devastation in Barbuda.

2018: Prince Charles took Meghan Markle's arm as he prepared to walk her down the aisle when she married his son, Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex did not have her own father present at the wedding.

2019: Charles became a grandfather again, this time to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first son, Archie Harrison. He attended the christening ceremony alongside the royal family in July.

2020: It was a difficult year for Charles, who tested positive for COVID-19 in March shortly before his son, Prince William, also tested positive in April. "I thought to myself, if anybody is going to beat this, it's going to be him," William told the BBC of his father's recovery.

Source: BBC

2021: Prince Charles was one of 30 guests permitted to attend Prince Philip's funeral on April 17. Charles' father died on April 9 at the age of 99.

2022: Charles became King Charles III upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8. He led the procession at the Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey.

2023: King Charles celebrated his coronation in May. That same year, the palace announced that Camilla's title would change from "Queen Consort" to "Queen."

2024: It's been a tough year for King Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer in January. He has continued royal duties, and most recently undertook a visit to Australia in October.