Fact Check: Did King Charles III Run In School Race Like Princess Diana?

A recurring wave of posts on social media celebrates Princess Diana and her alleged breaking of royal protocol to participate in parent's races at her children's schools during the 1980s.

These posts resurface around the time of major anniversaries or birthdays associated with the princess, most recently during the 25 anniversary of her death, which occurred on August 31, 1997 when she was just 36 years old.

In recent days, a number of posts on social media appear to show a little known aspect of this competitive royal pastime, with King Charles III (then Prince of Wales), running in what appears to be a similar race.

The images of Diana informally taking part in these races are often used to illustrate and highlight her non-conformity to the rigorous formality of stuffy royal life. But do the new viral images shed light on a different side of Charles?

The Claim

Across social media a number of posts claim to show King Charles III taking part in a parent's race at Princes William and Harry's school, Wetherby, in 1989.

One such post, uploaded by Twitter user @CountessCommon1, claims:

"The King running in the dad's race during Prince William's sports day at Wetherby, 1989.

"I'm curious who has seen this before? The photo of Princess Diana on the same day is legendary - it's almost as if the media falsely portrayed one parent as fun and loving & the other not 🤔"

As of November 7, 2022 the post has over 13,000 likes and 1,500 retweets.

The Facts

Each year at the Wetherby school field day, that both Princes William and Harry attended before moving up to Ludgrove prep school and then Eton College, special parent's races were held to see which of the pupil's mothers and fathers were the fastest.

Princess Diana famously took part in the races, which were held in London's Richmond Park from 1988 to 1991.

In her first year, the princess won the race, in her second (1989) she came in second place, third place in 1990 and fourth in 1991.

The claim made in the viral social media posts is accurate: in 1989 Prince Charles did indeed take part in a Wetherby field day father's race.

Reports from the time confirm that the royal took part in the race where the participants were required to tie a plastic bag to their ankle as a handicapping measure.

Britain's tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror reported (archived here under paywall) on June 28, 1989 that though "the dashing princess" hadn't let Prince William down, his father's effort was less celebrated.

"Prince Charles didn't do half as well as his wife," royal correspondent James Whitaker wrote at the time.

"He did not look comfortable taking part in the father's race in his dark suit. It didn't help that he had to suffer the handicap of tying a plastic bag around his foot before setting off.

"He had hardly started before the winner flashed over the line. When he eventually finished, only five of the 35 starters were behind him. And the plastic bag had disappeared."

The prince came in thirtieth place and was photographed alongside the other participants by a press photographer.

Press coverage of the event largely focussed on Princess Diana's impressive second place finish, with Charles' participation mentioned mostly as a footnote.

Newsweek has reached out to the Buckingham Palace for comment.

The Ruling

True.

King Charles III did participate in a school race during Prince William's 1989 Wetherby school field day.

The royal took part in the father's race in Richmond Park with 35 participants and came in 30th place, in contrast to his wife Princess Diana, who came in second in the mother's race.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK