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Being the head of the British royal family, King Charles III has another role as an older brother to his three siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, followed by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh. The siblings were often seen at their mother’s sign during her historic reign. They dedicated much of their lives to the monarchy and participated in royal engagements for various charitable causes.
Following King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, his sister and brothers have become pillar stones for him and have stood by his side as they did for their mother. In fact, King Charles also showed up for his siblings when Princess Anne suffered minor injuries and a concussion at her country home in 2024. Although his siblings are not much of the talk of the town, here’s everything to know about King Charles’ siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
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Born to the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, King Charles is the eldest child and the first one to inherit the throne. He was born in 1948, followed by Princess Anne who was born in 1952. The couple welcomed Prince Andrew in 1960 and Prince Edward in 1964, making King Charles almost 12 years older than Prince Andrew and 15 years older than Prince Edward.
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King Charles and his siblings have two kids each. While King Charles is father to Prince William and Prince Harry, Princess Anne has a son Peter, and a daughter Zara with Olympic gold medalist Captain Mark Phillips. Prince Andrew has two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York while Prince Edward has a daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, and a son, James, Earl of Wessex with Sophie Rhys-Jones.
Princess Anne and Prince Edward recently became the Counselors of State to support their big brother. This title officially authorizes them to stand in for King Charles and carry out his duties should he be abroad or unwell. While the Counselors of State should have gone to Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, since they were too young to serve, and Prince Andrew and Prince Harry are no longer senior working royals, Princess Anne and Prince Edward stepped in.
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Princess Anne has been known to be the hardest-working royal as she has attended more events than anyone else in the family. In 2023, she conducted 457 engagements while King Charles conducted 425, beating her older brother. She began participating in the events when she was 18 and remained an important figure in the family. Princess Anne is also an avid horsewoman and became the first British royal Olympian to compete at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal riding Goodwill.
Following Prince Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, he was stripped of his royal duties. In 2015, a Florida civil suit was filed by a woman who alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Edward on three different occasions. Prince Andrew faced scrutiny over the allegations and later explained his regrets over his friendship with Epstein. In 2021, the woman filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew, and in 2022, he was stripped of all his royal titles. While he settled with the woman in 2022, his name appeared in the list of unsealed documents related to a lawsuit involving Epstein.
While Prince Edward enlisted in the military like all the other royal families, he didn’t join. Initially, he joined the Royal Marines in 1986, but after four months, he resigned. He became the first member not to continue his career in the military and later worked for composer Andrew Lloyd Webber before launching his film production company Ardent Productions in 1993. His company was later shut down in 2009, and years later, he and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh are taking on the duties of the monarchy.
In 1974, Princess Anne was the target of a kidnapping attempt when she was returning to Buckingham Palace. When Ian Ball blocked the car she was riding in and began firing shots at her driver and private detective, he climbed into the front seat and ordered Princess Anne to get out. Fortunately, Ian was stopped by a passerby and later caught by police and sentenced to life imprisonment in a psychiatric hospital. Princess Anne recalled her kidnapping in a 1980 interview where she admitted that she first refused to cooperate with Ian but she saw no point in being rude during the attack, which she estimated lasted at least 10 minutes.
She added, “I was scrupulously polite because I thought it was silly to be too rude at that stage. That was his most dangerous moment. I lost my rag at that stage.”
Despite Prince Andrew losing his royal duties, he was seen at King Charles’ family events including Easter church service in 2024. He was joined by King Charles and Queen Camilla. He continued to make appearances at family events.
The late Prince Philip was titled the Duke of Edinburgh after he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947. After his death, King Charles conferred it on Prince Edward on his 59th birthday in 2023. Prince Edward got to know about him becoming the future Duke of Edinburgh shortly before his marriage to Sophie. The new title made Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, while their sons became the new Earl of Wessex.
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