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King Charles Makes Rare Comments About Near-Death Experience 38 Years Ago That Killed His Close Friend

Charles said the avalanche was a close call as he met a mountain rescue team marking its 50th anniversary.

  • King Charles reflected on the 1988 avalanche that killed close friend Major Hugh Lindsay while hosting the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team at the Castle of Mey, describing the accident as "a close thing."
  • The avalanche occurred on March 10, 1988, when Charles, then Prince of Wales, was skiing off-piste above the Swiss resort of Klosters, where a snowslide began approximately 300 feet above the group.
  • While Charles and others reached safety, Lindsay was carried approximately 400 metres down the slope and died; Patti Palmer-Tomkinson suffered serious leg injuries, and Charles later accompanied the coffin back to Britain.
  • Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were unharmed at a chalet in Davos when the incident occurred, though the tragedy was later dramatized in the fourth season of The Crown despite objections from Lindsay's widow, Sarah.
  • Team leader Ben Dyson recalled the experience gave the King a deeper understanding of risks faced by mountain rescue teams, noting it remains "clearly etched in the King's memory.
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17 Articles

Lean Left

In March 1988, Queen Elizabeth II's son lost his close friend, Commander Hugh Lindsay, after falling down the mountain and getting trapped under the snow while skiing in Switzerland.

·Madrid, Spain
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Lean Right

A ski holiday in Switzerland would have ended almost fatally for King Charles. Now the monarch remembers the avalanche of 1988 and speaks of a "knappen" situation.

·Berlin, Germany
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Voici.fr broke the news on Sunday, August 9, 2026.
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