Prince Charles unrecognisable in the ultimate throwback snap

Prince Charles has paid his own tribute to William Shakespeare as he shared a picture of himself playing Macbeth aged 17.

The prince is unrecognisable with a beard in the black and white image, which was posted on Clarence House’s Instagram page.

The caption read: “In the run up to the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth on 23rd April, @TheRSC invite you to #ShareYourShakespeare and help celebrate the Bard’s birthday.

“Follow @TheRSC for inspiration and how to get involved - they will will share some of their favourites on Shakespeare’s birthday.

“Here, The Prince of Wales, President of @TheRSC, plays the lead in ‘Macbeth’ at 17 years old.”

The prince’s early love of acting was revealed to modern-day audiences in series three of The Crown on Netflix.

The Prince of Wales was in the Dryden Society – the drama group at Trinity College, Cambridge – as a student. He is said to have written his own material, as well as appeared in plays and sketches.

He read anthropology, archeology and history while at Cambridge and received a 2:2 in his Bachelor degree. He was the first heir apparent to get a university degree, and followed it up with a Master of Arts, also from Cambridge.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is asking people to celebrate Shakespeare, despite closed theatres, with pets and even emojis as the Bard’s birthday approaches.

The company is planning the “largest ever celebration of Shakespeare by audiences in its history”, backed by actor David Tennant.

RSC artistic director Gregory Doran said: “As a global pandemic cuts us off from one another… we need stories now, more than ever before.”

The best contributions will be unveiled on 23 April, thought to be the anniversary of the Bard’s birth, through a Shakespeare performance “delivered by and for the global community” online.

Words by Rebecca Taylor

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