“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.”

Kinsey Schofield · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-22

Kinsey Schofield analyzed how narrowly surviving the avalanche altered King Charles' view of mortality.