King Charles III

King Charles III is the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms, a king nearly three decades in the waiting who finally ascended the throne at 73.

By Alexandre Le Hégarat · datastats · Updated June 15, 2026

King Charles III: Britain’s Long-Awaited King

Charles Philip Arthur George was born on 14 November 1948 at Buckingham Palace, the first child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was immediately heir apparent, and would spend a record-breaking 70 years as Prince of Wales before his mother’s death on 8 September 2022 made him King of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and ten other Commonwealth realms.

Before the Crown, Charles built an unusually activist royal profile. He championed organic farming and environmental causes decades before they were mainstream, founded the Prince’s Trust in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people, and became notorious for speaking his mind on architecture, homeopathy, and climate change, positions that made him polarising but impossible to ignore.

His personal life has been relentlessly public. His marriage to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 became a global spectacle; their separation and divorce in 1996 a global soap opera. His long relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, and the public’s slow reconciliation to it, is one of the more remarkable rehabilitation arcs in modern royal history. They married in 2005, and Camilla was crowned Queen Consort alongside him in May 2023.

Charles III’s coronation on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey was the first in 70 years, watched by hundreds of millions worldwide. It balanced centuries of tradition with deliberate modernising touches, including multi-faith elements and a slimmed-down guest list, a signal that this King intends to run a leaner, more focused monarchy.

In early 2024, Buckingham Palace confirmed Charles had been diagnosed with a form of cancer (not publicly specified beyond prostate-related investigations). He stepped back briefly from public duties but returned to work relatively quickly, demonstrating the pragmatic resilience that has defined his unusually long apprenticeship for the Crown.

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King Charles III's principal official residence is Buckingham Palace in London, the traditional working headquarters of the British monarch. He also uses Windsor Castle, which was reportedly his preferred private home even before becoming King, as well as Clarence House and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, the country estate he has owned since 1980.

King Charles III is British. He was born in London, England, and is a citizen of the United Kingdom. As the reigning monarch, he is also formally the head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but his nationality is straightforwardly British.

King Charles III was born on 14 November 1948, making him 76 years old as of 2025. He became the oldest person ever to accede to the British throne when he was proclaimed King at age 73 in September 2022.

King Charles III is reported to stand approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall (around 178 cm). This is a widely cited figure across reputable media sources, though like most royal physical stats it has never been officially confirmed by the Palace.

A precise, verified net worth for King Charles III is not publicly disclosed, and any single figure should be treated with caution. Estimates from outlets like Forbes have historically placed the broad royal fortune, including the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duchy of Cornwall (now passed to Prince William), property, and investments, in the hundreds of millions of pounds range. The Crown Estate, worth billions, is technically owned by the Crown as an institution rather than by Charles personally. No official figure exists.

King Charles III's wife is Queen Camilla, formerly Camilla Parker Bowles (née Shand). She was crowned Queen Consort at the coronation on 6 May 2023, a moment that would have seemed unthinkable to many when their relationship first became public knowledge decades ago.

King Charles III is married to Queen Camilla. The two wed on 9 April 2005 in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, followed by a blessing at St George's Chapel, Windsor. They had known each other since the early 1970s.

King Charles III's first wife was Lady Diana Spencer, known globally as Princess Diana. They married on 29 July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral in a ceremony watched by an estimated 750 million people worldwide. They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996; Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.

King Charles III is a member of the Church of England, and as monarch he holds the title Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He has, however, long expressed a broader, more inclusive view of faith, famously saying he would prefer to be seen as 'Defender of Faith' rather than 'Defender of the Faith,' reflecting his respect for Britain's multi-faith society.

The official portrait of King Charles III by artist Jonathan Yeo, unveiled in May 2024, features a striking, almost entirely red background with the King emerging from a wash of crimson, a deliberate artistic choice by Yeo to evoke drama, transformation, and the weight of the monarchy. A butterfly resting on the King's shoulder adds a layer of symbolism around metamorphosis and change. The painting divided opinion sharply, which is exactly what ambitious portraiture is supposed to do.

King Charles III is the reigning King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 14 other Commonwealth realms. Born in 1948, he is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, served as Prince of Wales for 64 years, and ascended to the throne on 8 September 2022 following his mother's death.

King Charles II (1630–1685) was a completely different monarch, the son of the executed King Charles I. He was restored to the English throne in 1660 after the collapse of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, earning him the nickname 'The Merry Monarch' for his famously lively, pleasure-seeking court. He had no legitimate children, and the current King Charles III is his distant descendant, not a direct successor.

The heir apparent to King Charles III is his eldest son, Prince William, Prince of Wales, born in 1982. After William, the line of succession passes to his children: Prince George (born 2013), Princess Charlotte (born 2015), and Prince Louis (born 2018), in that order.

King Charles III's mother was Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022), the longest-reigning British monarch in history, who sat on the throne for 70 years. Her death on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland is what made Charles King.

King Charles III's paternal great-grandmother was Princess Victoria of Hesse (later Marchioness of Milford Haven), and his maternal great-grandmother was Queen Mary (1867–1953), consort of King George V. Queen Mary is the more publicly prominent of the two, a formidable figure who shaped the modern British royal family and whose jewellery collection remains legendary.

King Charles III was crowned on 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who performed the anointing and placed St Edward's Crown on the King's head, following a tradition stretching back to 1066. Queen Camilla was crowned alongside him.

King Charles III's father was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021), a Greek and Danish prince by birth who renounced his foreign titles and became a British subject when he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947. Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle, aged 99, just over a year before his wife.

The King Charles III Coronation Medal is an official commemorative medal issued to mark the coronation of 6 May 2023. It was awarded to serving members of the Armed Forces, emergency services, and others in public service, a tradition maintained for every British coronation. The medal features the King's effigy on the obverse and is a coveted piece of official regalia for those who received it.

King Charles III's last name, to the extent that a British monarch uses one, is Mountbatten-Windsor. This surname was established by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960 for her descendants who do not carry a royal title. As a reigning monarch, Charles does not typically use a surname at all, but Mountbatten-Windsor is the official family name.

King Charles III's full name is Charles Philip Arthur George. He was born with these four given names on 14 November 1948, and upon accession chose to reign as Charles III, using his first name, as most British monarchs do, though there had been brief, unfounded speculation he might choose to reign as 'George VII.'