Prince Charles may take on a completely different name when he becomes King due to royal protocol.
- A lesser-known royal rule allows monarchs to choose a different name for their royal moniker.
- It’s claimed that Prince Charles will likely drop his name for one of his three middle names, due to negative connotations around ‘King Charles’.
- This royal news (opens in new tab) comes after Meghan Markle’s ‘shudder-inducing’ comment before her royal wedding to Prince Harry was revealed (opens in new tab).
Prince Charles may choose to drop his name when he becomes King, instead opting for one of his middle names.
Charles is first in the line of succession (opens in new tab) and will take the throne when the Queen dies (opens in new tab), however, we may not know him as ‘King Charles’.
According to royal protocol, monarchs are allowed to choose any of their middle names as their royal moniker. The Queen’s eldest son has three middle names, ‘Philip Arthur George’ so could pick one of these for his reigning name.
He will not be the first royal to change his name, the Queen was also met with this choice, but decided to keep Elizabeth as her name. The Queen’s own father however chose to become King George VI after his father George V, dropping his birth name of Albert.
Charles could theoretically become ‘King Philip’, ‘King Arthur’, or ‘King George’ after his grandfather.
This seems likely as there are negative connotations around previous Kings called Charles. For example, according to the royal website (opens in new tab), King Charles, I’s reign was fraught with controversy, as he was deeply unpopular throughout the nation, leading to several civil wars and his own beheading in 1649.
This choice is something the future King will likely not be dwelling on after it’s been reported he’s ‘terrified’ of taking the throne (opens in new tab), as it will inevitably mean the death of his mother.
He will have his wife Camilla as support, however, as the Queen has now named her Queen Consort. This means she will share in Charles’ rank and status when he becomes King.
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