Captain General Royal Marines is the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines. The current Captain General is King Charles III.[1] This position is distinct from that of the Commandant General Royal Marines, the professional head of the corps, who is currently ranked as a General.
Captain General Royal Marines | |
---|---|
Royal Marines | |
Abbreviation | Capt-Gen |
Appointer | The Monarch |
Term length | At his own pleasure |
Formation | 1 January 1901 |
First holder | King George V (As Colonel-in-Chief) King George VI (As Captain General) |
Appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines was the Colonel in Chief until the title changed to Captain General in 1948.[2] The uniform and insignia worn by the Captain General are those of a Royal Marines Colonel or higher depending on the appointee's current or previously held rank. As Captain General Royal Marines, Prince Harry was entitled to wear the rank insignia of a Field Marshal or Major General.[3] Despite this, Prince Harry, at least on some occasions, wore the rank insignia of a Colonel,[4][5] which is traditionally worn by some Colonels-in-chief in the British Army.[6]
King Charles III was announced as Captain General on 28 October 2022, on the 358th anniversary of the corps' founding by King Charles II in 1664.[7]
The post has been held by the following:
No. | Portrait | Name (Born–died) |
Title | Term of office | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | King George V (1865–1936) |
Colonel-in-Chief | 1 January 1901 | 20 January 1936 | 35 years, 19 days | [8] | |
2 | King Edward VIII (1894–1972) |
23 March 1936 | 11 December 1936 | 263 days | [9] | ||
3 | King George VI (1895–1952) |
11 December 1936 | 8 October 1948 | 15 years, 57 days | [10] | ||
Captain General | 8 October 1948 | 6 February 1952 | [11] | ||||
4 | The Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021) |
1 June 1953 | 19 December 2017 | 64 years, 201 days | [12][13] | ||
5 | The Duke of Sussex (born 1984) |
19 December 2017 | 19 February 2021[Note 1] | 3 years, 62 days | [19][20] | ||
6 | King Charles III (born 1948) |
28 October 2022 | Incumbent | 1 year, 152 days | [1] |
His Majesty trained and served alongside the Royal Marines during his Naval career.