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Royal family members often pose for pictures, but some of their best photos are unplanned.
Candid photos show King Charles III wearing balloon hats, drinking beer, and dodging bumblebees.
Photos of Charles at ease with his relatives capture a more relaxed side of the monarch.
King Charles III was coronated in a solemn ceremony on May 6 at Westminster Abbey, but the newly crowned king has also exhibited a sense of humor while carrying out his royal duties of the years.
Here are 16 candid photos that show a more relaxed side of the monarch.
Throughout his years in royal life, King Charles III has found moments of spontaneity and humor amid his duties.
Drinking beer in Wales in 2015.
Pool/Getty Images
Charles grinned as he drank a pint of beer in Talgarreg, Wales, in 2015.
His face lit up while meeting a cow in Wales in 2013.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, meets a cow in 2013.
Matt Cardy - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Charled viewed livestock at the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells, Wales.
That same year, he acquainted himself with a bald eagle.
Getting acquainted with a bald eagle in 2013.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Charles held a bald eagle named Zephyr at the Sandringham Flower Show in 2013.
When a bumblebee flew into his suit while he held a tuatara in 2015, Charles took it in stride.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, react as a large bumblebee briefly flies inside his jacket as he handles a tuatara in 2015.
GERARD O'BRIEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Charles and Camilla shared a laugh after their encounter with a bumblebee during their 2015 tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Just as his mother Queen Elizabeth II was, Charles is a fan of corgis.
Greeting a corgi in 2011.
Arthur Edwards - WPA Pool via Getty Images
He has dressed up as a cheesemonger while sampling wheels of cheese.
Visiting Dewlay Cheesemakers in Preston, England, in 2017.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Charles paid a visit to Dewley Cheesemakers in Preston, England, in 2017.
He has also worn balloon hats while visiting schools.
Making balloon hats.
Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images
At a community service lesson at a London school in 2017, Charles learned how to make balloon hats.
He joked around while trying on a pair of safety goggles in 2015.
Trying out safety goggles in 2015.
Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Charles wore safety goggles before trying his hand at engraving while visiting the Art Workers' Guild in London in 2015.
An avid environmentalist, Charles wasn't afraid to get dirty while visiting an organic farm later that year.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, visits an organic farm in 2015.
Anwar Hussein/WireImage
Charles crouched down on the ground while participating in a wilderness survival skills class at an organic farm in Monmouth, Wales, in 2015.
Charles gleefully prepared a mojito on a visit to Cuba in 2019.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, make drinks in Cuba in 2019.
Chris Jackson/ Pool/ Getty Images
Charles and Camilla were the first members of the royal family to visit Cuba in an official capacity.
During that same trip, he also enthusiastically helped grind sugar cane.
Charles, then prince of Wales, laughs as he grinds sugar cane during a visit to Cuba in 2019.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Charles learned the skill at a restaurant called Habanera in Havana.
Photos of Charles at ease with members of his family show a relaxed side of the monarch.
Queen Elizabeth II and Charles, then prince of Wales, laugh as they watch the tug-of-war during the Braemar Highland Games in 2010.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Getty Images royal photographer Chris Jackson previously told Insider that the Highland Games in Scotland are one of his favorite royal engagements because "it's a lovely opportunity to photograph the royal family at an event where they're quite relaxed."
"To see them at an event like this, clearly enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed, it reminds me of these family bonds and this relationship," he said.
At the 2014 Invictus Games, he shared a laugh with Prince William and Prince Harry over something amusing on William's phone.
Goofing off at the 2014 Invictus Games.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Harry founded the Invictus Games, a sports competition for injured veterans, in 2014.
After taking a formal family portrait for Charles' 70th birthday in 2018, Jackson snapped a candid photo of Charles holding Prince Louis.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, holds Prince Louis after a family portrait photoshoot in the gardens of Clarence House in 2018.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
"For my job as royal photographer, a lot of it is capturing that formality, the pomp and ceremony that makes the royal family the royal family," Jackson previously told Insider about the photo. "But it is most special to capture these lovely family interactions. That's definitely the thing I enjoy the most, and really puts a smile on your face."
In June 2022, Charles held Louis on his lap during Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee celebrations.
Prince Louis sits with Charles, then Prince of Wales, as they attend the Platinum Pageant on The Mall in June 2022.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
At the Coronation Concert in Windsor in May, Charles affectionately touched Prince William's arm as he took his seat.
King Charles touches Prince William's arm as he arrives at the Coronation Concert on May 7, 2023.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
The day after the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, royal family members attended a coronation concert featuring performances by Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Take That, among other artists.
William gave a speech, broadcasted by the BBC, highlighting his father's dedication to public service and saying that Queen Elizabeth "would be a very proud mother."
"When the king arrived, he just sort of touched William on the arm as he walked past," royal photographer Chris Jackson told Insider. "It was just a lovely speech and a lovely moment."
