Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, who recently announced his retirement from the political aspect of his role, was born in 1935. The Dalai Lama said on March 10 that he plans to formally step down as political leader in a widely anticipated move seen as modernizing the Tibetan government-in-exile. Kanwal Krishna/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama was selected as the rebirth of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th in 1950, at age 15. He inherited control over Tibet just when the People's Republic of China wanted to take it over. STR/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama (second l.) arrives in Beijing in 1954 with (from left) communist leader Chu Teh, the Panchen Lama, and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. akg-images/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama (second r.) and the Panchen Lama (second l.), are flanked by Mao Zedong (c.), Chairman of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai (l.), and Liu Shaoqi (r.) in Beijing in 1956. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, denounced the People's Republic of China, and set up an exile government. STR/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama enjoys a laugh with Biswanath Das, the governor of Uttar Pradesh, in New Delhi, India, in 1966. k09/ZUMA Press/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama speaks at Freedom House in New York in 1979. The exiled spiritual leader won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. k09/ZUMA Press/Newscom/File
Pope John Paul II meets the Dalai Lama at Vatican City, Rome, in 1982. The Dalai Lama met with the Pope eight times. AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama attends Riverside Church in New York with actor Richard Gere, one of his most high profile disciples, in 1991. co2/ZUMA Press/Newscom/File
President Clinton meets with the Dalai Lama in the White House Map Room in Washington in 1998. Clinton met with the Buddhist leader in defiance of Chinese wishes. White House/Reuters/File
Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti shakes hands with the Dalai Lama during the 'Pavarotti & Friends' concert in Modena, Italy, in 2000. Giorgio Benvenuti/AFP Photo/Ansa Files/Newscom/File
Prince Charles greets the Dalai Lama at a reception in London in 2004. AH/AAD/starmaxinc.com/Newscom/File
The Dalai Lama is introduced by Maria Shriver at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women in Long Beach, Calif., in 2006. Reed Saxon/AP/File
The Dalai Lama receives an honorary doctorate at the University of Washington from Stanley Barer (l.), Board of Regents chair, and university president Mark Emmert, in Seattle in 2008. The Dalai Lama headlined a conference featuring workshops on subjects related to compassion, hosted by the organization Seeds of Compassion. Elaine Thompson/AP/File
The Dalai Lama wears a cowboy hat and holds fur mittens and an eagle feather presented to him by native elders after arriving in Calgary, Canada, in 2009. Jeff McIntosh, The Canadian Press/AP/File
The Dalai Lama reads during a ceremony marking 52 years since he fled Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese, in Dharamsala, India, on March 10. Stringer/Reuters
Meeting the Dalai Lama can have sharp diplomatic and economic consequences with Beijing, as Britain's Prime Minister Cameron, who wants to lead a trade mission to China, has found out.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, has never had very good relations with the Chinese government. But now his personal envoy to Beijing is offering to help another British leader who seems to be even more firmly in the Chinese doghouse – Prime Minister David Cameron.
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