Royal Family: The title King Charles held for just 517 days for a heart-breaking reason

The royals have many titles that they use

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The King gained the three extra titles in April 2021(Image: 2023 Getty Images)

Members of the Royal Family have hugely important official titles and styles that date back centuries, and it is no different today. But what you may not realise is that royals such as the King or the Prince of Wales don’t just have one title – but several.

For example, His Majesty’s full and official title is: Charles III, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of his other realms and territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

Before his accession, the-then Prince Charles held several senior Dukedoms and later gained three more titles when his father passed away in April 2021. However, The King doesn’t have them anymore as they reverted to the Crown upon his accession 517-days later.

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The King inherited the titles from his late father (Image: 2016 Mark Cuthbert)

Before the deaths of both of his parents, the King had eight different titles, these were: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cornwall, the Duke of Rothesay, the Earl of Chester, the Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

Following Prince Philip’s death at the age of 99, his eldest son inherited the three extra titles of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich.

King George VI granted his eldest daughter and the Dukedom of Edinburgh when she married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in 1947. The title dates back to 1726 when King George I made his grandson Frederick the first Duke of Edinburgh, the title was subsequently inherited by his son, the future King George III.

The second creation came in 1866, when Queen Victoria gave her second son Prince Alfred the title. After Prince Philip’s death, the titles passed to Charles before they merged with the crown upon his accession on September 8, 2022. As a result, the King only held these three titles for the 517-days that lie in between the dates of his parents’ deaths.

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The King’s titles reverted to the crown upon his accession 517 days later(Image: 2022 Max Mumby/Indigo)

The Dukedom of Edinburgh isn’t currently used by any member of the family and has to be granted by the King himself. While it was previously thought that The Earl and Countess of Wessex would inherit the title, it has been suggested that the monarch intends to keep it vacant until his granddaughter Princess Charlotte can inherit it in her own right.

Traditionally, a female member of the Royal Family has only been granted a title when she married, with her husband holding the male equivalent. However, it seems the King hopes to modernise the precedent for his young grandchildren.

“Discussions are under way, but the favoured outcome for the King is that this title ought to go to Princess Charlotte,” a source told the Mail on Sunday. “It would be a fitting way to remember the Queen – who, of course, had the title Duchess of Edinburgh – and a way for His Majesty to honour the line of succession.”