Captain General Royal Marines

Captain General Royal Marines is the ceremonial head of the Royal Marines. The current Captain General is King Charles III.Template:Efn The uniform and insignia currently worn by the Captain General are those of a Field Marshal.<ref name="tweetoctober2022">Template:Cite tweet</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following Prince Philip's retirement from royal duties in 2017, Prince Harry was appointed as Captain General.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Unlike his predecessors and successors, who had worn Field Marshal uniforms,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as Captain General, Prince Harry was instead entitled to wear the rank insignia of a Major General.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite this, Prince Harry, at least on some occasions, wore the rank insignia of a Colonel,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which is traditionally worn by some colonels-in-chief in the British Army.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="bbcfounding">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Post holders

The post has been held by the following:

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (Born–died)	Title	Term of office			Template:Abbr
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
Template:Nts	File:King George 1923 LCCN2014715558 (cropped).jpg	King George VTemplate:Efn Template:Smaller	Colonel-in-Chief	Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Template:Nts	File:HRH The Prince of Wales No 4 (HS85-10-36416).jpg	King Edward VIIITemplate:Efn Template:Smaller		Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Template:Nts	File:King George VI of England, formal photo portrait, circa 1940-1946.jpg	King George VITemplate:Efn Template:Smaller		Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
			Captain General	Template:Start date	Template:End date		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Nts	File:Prince Phillip of Edinburgh.jpg	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Template:Smaller		Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Nts	File:Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex 2020 cropped 02.jpg	Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Template:Smaller		Template:Start date	19 February 2021Template:Refn	Template:Ayd	<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Template:Nts	File:King Charles III (July 2023).jpg	King Charles IIITemplate:Efn Template:Smaller		Template:Start date	Incumbent	Template:Ayd

See also

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

References

NATO rank code / Service branch	N/A	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6 ★	OF-7 ★★	OF-8 ★★★	OF-9 ★★★★	OF-10 ★★★★★
Royal Navy	OC	Midshipman	Sub Lt	Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Captain	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Admiral	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines	OCdt	2Lt	Lt	Capt	Major	Lt Col	Colonel	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	General	Capt Gen RM
British Army	OCdt	2Lt	Lt	Capt	Major	Lt Col	Colonel	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	General	Field marshal
Royal Air Force	Off Cdt	APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	Mshl of the RAF
lists	Template:Hlist

Template:UK-mil-stub Template:Mil-rank-stub