King Charles III had a near-death experience that changed his life forever.
The 77-year-old monarch still remembers the tragedy, spared by seconds himself, but losing one of his closest friends.
Prince William and Harry’s father recently opened up about escaping a 1988 avalanche that killed his loved one, Major Hugh Lindsay, an equerry to Queen Elizabeth II, and seriously injured Patti Palmer-Tomkinson.
“Those close to the king have always shared that the event increased his sense of mortality and awareness, overall, of the fragility of life,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News.
“… The avalanche and its outcomes were confirmations that even with his position in the royal family, he was not immune from tragedy.”
“Charles has lived his entire life knowing that one day he would become king,” said Kinsey Schofield
“The avalanche presented him with the opposite possibility, that he might never become king at all. He survived by seconds. … I think an experience like that inevitably changes your understanding of how fragile even the most carefully predetermined life can be. … There is something very poignant about hearing a 77-year-old king reflect on a moment at 39 when he very nearly lost his life.”
The King recalled the horrible moment at a special event held at The Castle of Mey for members of the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team, marking the group’s 50th anniversary.
The BBC reported that the incident occurred on March 10, 1988, while Charles and his companions were skiing off-piste above his favorite Swiss resort of Klosters.
Lindsay was sent 1,312 feet down the mountainside when the avalanche hit the royal party. Palmer-Tomkinson suffered serious leg injuries. The then-prince and several other members of the group, including their guide, were able to ski to safety.
At the time, Marie Griffiths told the outlet she saw Charles being airlifted off the mountain.
“As far as I know, he hadn’t been injured,” she said. “He looked very distressed; somebody said he was crying, but he did walk to the helicopter, so he looked uninjured.”
Christopher Andersen, author of “Kate!,” said that Charles later reflected, “I’ve never forgotten the sound of it. The whole mountain exploding outwards — vast clouds of snow. A whirling maelstrom. I thought to myself, ‘My God, the horror.'”
“Charles and his friends ignored the danger and went off to tackle an infamous slope that was off the beaten path,” Andersen explained.
The King said in an account released after the accident that he and several others managed to ski out of the avalanche’s path, while Lindsay and Palmer-Tomkinson were swept away. He said Lindsay had been “killed outright during the fall.”
2026-08-22 19:21:00
