Captain General Royal Marines is the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines. The current Captain General is King Charles III.[a][1] The uniform and insignia currently worn by the Captain General are those of a Field Marshal.
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 first Captain General Royal Marines was King George VI. Following his death he was succeeded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort to Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip is the longest serving Captain General to date.[3]
Following Prince Philip's retirement from royal duties in 2017, Prince Harry was appointed as Captain General.[4] Unlike his predecessors and successors, who had worn Field Marshal uniforms,[5] as Captain General, Prince Harry was instead entitled to wear the rank insignia of a Major General.[6] Despite this, Prince Harry, at least on some occasions, wore the rank insignia of a Colonel,[7][8] which is traditionally worn by some colonels-in-chief in the British Army.[9]
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.[10] Charles III separately holds the position of Head of the Armed Forces, which like some of his predecessors also makes him the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Marines.[11]
^The Queen made an agreement with the Duke of Sussex to suspend his duties on 31 March 2020.[18][19][20] An announcement by Buckingham Palace on 19 February 2021 confirmed the relinquishment of the Duke of Sussex's honorary military appointments.[21][22]