King CharlesEverything you need to know about King Charles III.
Trooping the Colour, London, June 2023 — the first of King Charles III's reign
Trooping the Colour, June 2023 — the first of the King's reign (Open Government Licence 3.0; photograph by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street).

People

Family, mentors, and the public figures of the reign — who they are and how they connect to the King.

Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) — mother

The longest-reigning British monarch (1952–2022). Charles was three when she acceded; their relationship combined the formal distance of the era’s royal parenting with a close working partnership in his adult years. He paid tribute to her “life well lived” in his first address as King.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021) — father

Naval officer and the Queen’s consort for 73 years. Philip shaped Charles’s education — notably the decision to send him to Gordonstoun — and the two men differed in temperament while sharing a work ethic and a dry humor. Philip died in April 2021, seventeen months before the accession.

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) — first wife

Married Charles in 1981; mother of William and Harry. The marriage’s breakdown and the couple’s separation (1992) and divorce (1996) were intensely public. Diana died in Paris on 31 August 1997. This site treats the marriage’s history neutrally: both accounts, neither’s mythology.

Queen Camilla (b. 1947) — wife

Camilla Parker Bowles married Charles in 2005 after a relationship stretching back to the 1970s. As Duchess of Cornwall she built a working public role around literacy, domestic abuse awareness, and animal welfare; on the accession she became Queen Consort, now styled Queen Camilla.

William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982) — elder son

Heir apparent since 8 September 2022; created Prince of Wales by his father on 9 September 2022. A former RAF search-and-rescue and air-ambulance pilot, he now leads the Earthshot Prize and took over the Duchy of Cornwall on the accession.

Catherine, Princess of Wales (b. 1982) — daughter-in-law

Married William in 2011. Her early-childhood work (the “Shaping Us” campaign) and her 2024 cancer diagnosis and treatment — announced publicly, as her father-in-law’s was — have defined her recent public years.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984) — younger son

Second son of Charles and Diana. After military service in Afghanistan he stepped back from working royal life with his wife in 2020 and moved to California. His memoir Spare (2023) criticized his family, including his father — a rift the palace has not publicly repaired.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (b. 1981) — daughter-in-law

American actress who married Harry in 2018. The couple’s 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview made allegations about the royal household that the palace answered with a brief statement noting “recollections may vary.”

Anne, Princess Royal (b. 1950) — sister

Charles’s only sister and the hardest-working royal by engagement count for many years. An Olympic equestrian (Montreal 1976), she runs a famously unsentimental public operation and is widely reported to be among the King’s closest confidants.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960) — brother

Second son of Elizabeth II. His friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ended his public role: he stepped back in 2019, settled a US civil case in 2022 without admitting liability, and plays no part in public royal life.

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1964) — brother

Youngest child of Elizabeth II. He took on the Duke of Edinburgh title in 2023 — fulfilling Philip’s wish — and with his wife supports the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme and the arts.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (b. 1965) — sister-in-law

Married Edward in 1999. A former PR executive, she is a full-time working royal focused on avoidable blindness, sexual violence in conflict, and women’s issues.

Princess Margaret (1930–2002) — aunt

The Queen’s younger sister; Charles was close to her as a child. Her bohemian public image contrasted with his earnestness, and her 2002 death — weeks before the Queen Mother’s — marked the end of an era weeks into his fifties.

Lord Mountbatten (1900–1979) — great-uncle and mentor

Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Philip’s uncle, was Charles’s closest older confidant — “the grandfather I never had,” Charles said. Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA in August 1979, a loss Charles has described as one of the defining griefs of his life.

George VI (1895–1952) — grandfather

King from 1936 until his death, when Charles was three. Charles has spoken of him rarely but with evident respect; the wartime King’s example of duty is a recurring reference point in Charles’s own statements about service.

Liz Truss — prime minister at the accession

Truss became prime minister on 6 September 2022 — appointed by Elizabeth II at Balmoral two days before the Queen’s death — making her the last prime minister of the old reign and, briefly, the first of the new one. She resigned on 20 October 2022.

Rishi Sunak — first prime minister appointed by the King

Appointed by Charles III on 25 October 2022, Sunak was the first prime minister of the new reign and the first appointed at Buckingham Palace by Charles. He served until July 2024.

Justin Welby — Archbishop of Canterbury

As Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2025), Welby anointed and crowned Charles III on 6 May 2023. He resigned in November 2024 over the handling of an abuse scandal; the see’s role in the coronation is documented in The Coronation.

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