COMM ANDER IN CHIEF
As head of the armed forces, the King continues a long tradition linking the crown with those who serve
Throughout his life, the King has participated in military events such as Trooping the Colour and (right) honoured the nation’s war dead at the Cenotaph in London – here laying his wreath last year for the first time as monarch
A sKing, Charles is commander-inchief of the armed forces, a role he inherited from the Queen, and that means he is ultimately the person in charge of the army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. He now holds regular audiences with the Secretary of State for Defence, as well as receiving reports from the Chief of the General Staff, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff.