Ahead of the Coronation in May, King Charles III has been featured in TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list.
The list has guest contributors write about the 100 individuals chosen, across the arts, politics, the world of business and music.
For The King, it was down to British Vogue editor-in-chief and European editorial director of Condé Nast, Edward Enninful, who was given the top job.
The then-Duchess of Cornwall spoke to British Vogue last year to mark her 75th birthday.
Enninful wrote that growing up he didn’t pay much attention to the Royal Family as he questioned what the Royal Family would ‘have to do with young Black boys in Ladbroke Grove’.
Reminiscing on his youth, he released that it had more to offer, especially through the work of The Prince’s Trust, which ‘put our friends and family into steady employment, its outreach programs inspired many of us and instilled confidence’.
He said: ‘I didn’t realise then just how close our now-King was to all of this.’
The King features in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people list, written about by Edward Enninful (i-Images / Pool)
King Charles III joins supermodel Bella Hadid, TV host Drew Barrymore, author Neil Gaiman, Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, US fashion designer Thom Browne, and activist Maria Herrera Magdaleno, in this year’s list.
He was listed in the ‘Icons’ group.
Showcasing the type of person that Charles is, Edward notes how ‘he didn’t have to do any of [the work he he has done]. He could’ve let his privilege shield him from the realities of our hardship in a time when these were not a cause célèbre’.
‘But he always met us with an open mind and a listening ear.’
Becoming a global ambassador of the Prince’s Trust, Enninful has had a first-hand experience in meeting The King and described him as ‘charming, funny, socially confident, with a kindness that always seeks to put others at ease’, something many would not always assume.
Enninful, who received an OBE in 2016, concluded his piece on The King but highlighting how Charles is a man of tradition but not afraid to move with the times and is excited ‘to see him carry his passions with him into a whole new era’.
‘The monarchy is not perfect,’ he writes, ‘but in Charles we have a King who understands both tradition and what it takes to evolve with the times. It is a delicate balance and a rare ability.’
