Captain General Royal Marines

Not to be confused with Commandant General Royal Marines (Professional head of the Royal Marines)
see also Head of the Armed Forces The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Marines.

Captain General Royal Marines is the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines. The current Captain General is King Charles III.^[a] The uniform and insignia currently worn by the Captain General are those of a Field Marshal.^[1]

Captain General Royal Marines
Incumbent King Charles III since 28 October 2022
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)

This position is distinct from that of the Commandant General Royal Marines, the professional head of the corps, currently occupied by General Gwyn Jenkins.

History

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]

Post holders

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[b] (1865–1936)	Colonel-in-Chief	1 January 1901 (1901-01-01)	20 January 1936 (1936-01-20)	35 years, 19 days	[12]
2		King Edward VIII[a] (1894–1972)		23 March 1936 (1936-03-23)	11 December 1936 (1936-12-11)	263 days	[13]
3		King George VI[a] (1895–1952)		11 December 1936 (1936-12-11)	8 October 1948 (1948-10-08)	15 years, 57 days	[14]
			Captain General	8 October 1948 (1948-10-08)	6 February 1952 (1952-02-06)		[15]
4		Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021)		1 June 1953 (1953-06-01)	19 December 2017 (2017-12-19)	64 years, 201 days	[16][17]
5		Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (born 1984)		19 December 2017 (2017-12-19)	19 February 2021[Note 1]	3 years, 62 days	[23][24]
6		King Charles III[a] (born 1948)		28 October 2022 (2022-10-28)	Incumbent	2 years, 173 days

See also

• United Kingdom portal

• British and U.S. military ranks compared
• British Army Other Ranks rank insignia
• British Army officer rank insignia
• Captain General
• Lord High Admiral

Notes

1. Concurrently served as Head of the Armed Forces also making them Commander in Chief of the Royal Marines.
2. From 1910 onwards concurrently served as Head of the Armed Forces also making them Commander in Chief of the Royal Marines.

Notes

1. 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]