King Charles is looking back on one of the most frightening experiences of his life, nearly four decades after he narrowly survived an avalanche that killed his close friend.
The 77-year-old monarch recalled the 1988 disaster while hosting members of Scotland’s Assynt Mountain Rescue Team earlier this month.
Charles was speaking to the team as it celebrated its 50th anniversary and praised the dangerous work carried out by mountain rescuers.
The conversation also brought back memories of the day an avalanche struck while Charles and his group were skiing off-piste in Switzerland.
“It was a close thing,” Charles said of the incident.
For the King, the memory remains tied not only to his own survival but to the death of Major Hugh Lindsay.
The avalanche happened in 1988 while Charles and his group were skiing off-piste at a resort in Switzerland.
The massive slide caught the group, killing Major Hugh Lindsay, a close friend of Charles and a former aide to Queen Elizabeth II.
Another member of the group was seriously injured.
Charles escaped the avalanche unharmed, but the danger did not end when the snow stopped moving.
He later returned with others to help dig the victims out from beneath the snow.
Lindsay was taken to a hospital following the rescue effort, but died from his injuries.
The tragedy became one of the most serious incidents of Charles’ years as an avid skier.
Nearly 40 years later, the experience remains vivid enough for Charles to describe his survival simply as “a close thing.”
His comments came during a meeting with the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team in Scotland.
The group was marking its 50th anniversary, giving Charles an opportunity to recognize the work of rescuers who routinely respond to dangerous situations in mountainous terrain.
The meeting also provided an unexpected connection to his own history.
Charles was not simply discussing mountain rescue as an abstract subject. He had personally experienced the consequences of a mountain disaster and had participated in efforts to help those caught in the avalanche.
The incident also carried an additional royal connection.
Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson were on the same skiing trip in 1988, but both were safely back at their chalet when the avalanche struck.
That meant the tragedy unfolded around Charles while other members of the royal party were away from the slopes.
Charles had a long-standing interest in skiing before the 1988 tragedy.
The Swiss trip became a defining moment, however, after the avalanche claimed Lindsay’s life and seriously injured another member of the group.
Lindsay was particularly close to Charles, having served as an aide to Queen Elizabeth II.
His death transformed what had been a recreational skiing trip into a devastating personal tragedy.
Charles’ response also involved returning to the avalanche site and helping with the rescue effort.
The experience stayed with him for decades.
In fact, Charles announced last year that he had decided to leave skiing behind, bringing an end to his days on the slopes.
His recent remarks to the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team therefore offered a rare reflection on a dangerous chapter from his younger years.
Charles’ recollection underscores how quickly recreational activities in mountainous environments can become life-threatening.
The 1988 avalanche was not simply a close call for the future king. It resulted in the death of someone close to him and serious injuries to another member of the group.
That personal experience helps explain why Charles took the opportunity to praise mountain rescue professionals.
The Assynt Mountain Rescue Team has spent five decades responding to emergencies in challenging terrain, and Charles’ comments came as the organization marked that milestone.
For a monarch known for decades of public appearances and official duties, the memory offered a glimpse into a much more dangerous moment from his past.
There is a striking contrast between Charles’ brief description of the avalanche and the scale of what happened.
“It was a close thing” captures his own narrow escape, but the same event cost Lindsay his life.
Charles later helped search for those buried under the snow, meaning he experienced the tragedy both as a survivor and as someone involved in the immediate rescue effort.
Decades later, that memory remains connected to his appreciation for the people who go into dangerous environments to save others.
Nearly four decades after the avalanche, King Charles still remembers how narrowly he escaped the disaster that claimed his friend’s life. His message to mountain rescuers was simple: he knows firsthand how much their work can matter.
