King Charles III and Queen Camilla

King Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is England’s, and later the United Kingdom’s, 40th monarch since the time of William I, known as ‘William the Conqueror;’ (1066-1087).

England’s monarchy, however, can be dated further back to the time of Athelstan (924-939 AD), a Saxon king who united the country under his rule nearly 1,100 years ago.

Five countries however, have longer monarchical roots: Japan (660 BC), Cambodia (68 AD), Oman (751 AD), Morocco (788 AD) and Norway (872 AD).

Of the 195 countries in the world, 42 are still monarchies, including Japan, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait.

14 countries other countries are nominally monarchies through membership of the Commonwealth, of which Kenya is one.

King Charles Heir Apparent

King Charles III was 73 years old at the time he became king after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. Elizabeth had been queen for 70 years and 214 days.

King Charles has been heir apparent for seven decades and is the oldest British monarch to ascend to the throne. As such, he has been training and preparing to be king for longer than any of his ancestors.

A Titillating Piece of Royal History

Edward VII (king from 1901 to 1910), Charles’ great grandfather, was heir apparent for 60 years due to the longevity of his mother Queen Victoria (queen from 1837 to 1901).

Edward VII died on May 6th, 1910. Edward’s favourite mistresses was a woman called Alice Keppel. Through her daughter Sonia Cubitt, Alice Keppel was the great-grandmother of King Charles’s wife Queen Camilla. And the coronation takes place on Saturday May 6th.