All The Actors Who Have Played King Charles III & What Happened To Them

Officially coronated in May 2023 at the age of 73, King Charles III waited an awfully long time to become Britain's monarch. He's actually the oldest monarch in British history to ever ascend to the throne. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned when Charles was just 3 years old, and he spent the next seven decades awaiting his turn. During that time, the world watched him grow up, from an awkward young boy to a slightly less awkward adult, and, ultimately, a senior citizen with a lifetime of scandals, gaffes, and missteps under his belt. 

Thanks to the unrelenting public interest in the British royals — particularly the drama surrounding his doomed marriage to Princess Diana — Hollywood has featured the royals in numerous film and TV projects — some of which have Charles as a focus, others in which he's more of a supporting player.

In any case, Charles has been portrayed by an array of different actors over the decades, depicting the royal at various stages in his life. Here's a look at all the actors who have played King Charles III and what happened to them.

Airing within days of CBS's 1982 royal-wedding TV movie, ABC's "Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story" featured Caroline Bliss as Diana and British actor David Robb as Charles. Since then, Robb has maintained a very busy acting career, extending through to the present; recent credits include the British TV miniseries "Grenfell: Scenes from the Inquiry." Robb has also provided his voice for video games (including "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" titles). However, he'll likely be best known on this side of the pond for playing Dr. Richard Clarkson on "Downton Abbey," the preferred physician of the Crawley family, in 34 episodes of the beloved British period drama. 

In 2013, Robb experienced the tragedy of losing his wife, actor Briony McRoberts, when she died by suicide. Speaking with the Daily Mail, Robb blamed his wife's death on her own feelings of worthlessness in relation to the success he'd been experiencing with "Downton Abbey," something he claimed led her to develop an eating disorder that left her dangerously underweight. "Briony felt washed up, that no one remembered her and no matter how much I reassured her she felt worthless, a failure," Robb said. "Of course she wasn't, but that is what this business can do to you, especially if you are a woman."

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

NBC's made-for-TV movie "Diana: Her True Story" aired in 1993, with Serena Scott Thomas as Princess Diana, and any question about which spouse came off sympathetically and which didn't should be easily answered by the title (and the fact that it was based on Andrew Morton's book of the same name, for which Diana cooperated). This time, Charles was played by David Threlfall, who'd previously appeared in numerous British TV series and a couple of big Hollywood movies, including "The Russia House," and "Patriot Games."

Threlfall continued to appear in both U.K. and American productions. Chief among his voluminous list of screen credits, however, is the role of malignant patriarch Frank Gallagher in "Shameless," the dark British comedy that was remade for American audiences by Showtime, with William H. Macy taking on the role originated by Threlfall. 

"I've always liked becoming different people," Threlfall told The Independent in 2007. "It used to be because I didn't know who I was. But now I think, 'Get over yourself.' I used to take roles home with me because I was frightened that I would lose touch with them. But there is no room for that; now I leave them on the mat with my shoes. I understand that there are more interesting and important things in life. That realization comes with experience and maturity. And any day now, I'll acquire those qualities!"

Arriving in 1996, the TV movie "Princess in Love" focused on the affair between Princess Diana (Julie Cox) and Capt. James Hewitt (Christopher Villiers) amid her crumbling marriage to Charles (British actor Christopher Bowen). 

Bowen went on to add to an already distinguished roster of screen credits that included playing Prince Edward in the acclaimed 1995 film version of Shakespeare's "Richard III," and, that same year, Charles Fairford in "Cold Comfort Farm." He subsequently portrayed Commander Richard Day in the 007 flick "Tomorrow Never Dies," and then appeared in the TV miniseries adaptation of "Jane Eyre," the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring miniseries "Parade's End," and in an episode of "Outlander."

Given Bowen's theater cred — he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company — it shouldn't be surprising that he's spent much of his career ping-ponging between screen roles and the stage. In addition to starring in various productions in London's West End, he also appeared on Broadway, in "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Much Ado About Nothing."

Launching in the U.K. in 2014, "King Charles III" debuted on Broadway the following year. In both the British and Broadway productions, Tim Pigott-Smith starred as Charles, imagining events that would actually come to pass in 2022 when Queen Elizabeth II died and Charles ascended to the throne. Pigott-Smith was nominated for a Tony, and the play was subsequently filmed and aired as a presentation on the PBS "Masterpiece" series in May 2017. In addition to all those years portraying Charles, Pigott-Smith also appeared in the films "6 Days," and "Victoria and Abdul," both released in 2017.

Interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, Pigott-Smith was the first to admit that he bore little resemblance to Charles, yet he left audiences convinced that he actually did. The actor credited director Rupert Goold and his edict of not attempting to impersonate the royal. "So I do a lot of little things," Pigott-Smith explained. "Charles talks out of the sides of his mouth. He twists his ring on his finger. When he holds his hands over his pockets, he doesn't put his hands in them, they just hover there. And this allows the audience to place their image of Charles on me. It's almost like I'm his shadow. You look at the shape but you get a sense of him."

Sadly, the PBS presentation of "King Charles III" proved to be posthumous for its star; Pigott-Smith died in April 2017 at the age of 70.

The third season of "The Crown" jumped ahead in time, with the cast replaced by older actors to play the characters in a later time period. As part of this cast overhaul, Josh O'Connor was tapped to play adult Charles, continuing in the role through the fourth season. The part proved to be a breakout for him, opening the door to a thriving film career that has included "Mothering Sunday," "Aisha," "Lee," "La Chimera, and "Emma." O'Connor also played Romeo in a TV adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy "Romeo and Juliet."

Playing Charles gave O'Connor a real empathy for the future king. "It was hard at times. There were days on set when I would say, 'Can we do a scene where Charles does express himself to the Queen?' He's always told: shut up, shut up, shut up. I felt I had to advocate for him, a bit, and give him a voice," O'Connor explained in an interview with The Guardian. 

For O'Connor, the attention he received from his performance — for which he won an Emmy — brought him to a level of fame he hadn't previously experienced — and which he found to be more than a little disconcerting. "It was a f***ed-up time," O'Connor told GQ. "I found it so impactful, people stopping me. You want to be in stuff that's successful and seen, but I think sometimes we underestimate how powerful even a slight loss of anonymity can be."

As was the case after the second season of "The Crown," the cast was completely changed after the fourth season. For the fifth season, debuting in 2022, Dominic West was hired to play an older version of Charles. While the previous installment had dramatized the courtship, wedding, and early years of his marriage to Princess Diana, this season jumped ahead to the events preceding their ugly split and the media explosion that ensued.

The choice of West — known for high-profile roles as Det. Jimmy McNulty in HBO's critically acclaimed crime drama "The Wire," and unfaithful writer Noah Solloway in "The Affair" — to play Charles was initially criticized by viewers who felt he was too handsome. West, in fact, had similar misgivings. "I knew I was in very good hands with the hair and makeup and the costume departments, and the movement department and the voice department," he said in a Tudum interview. "But I did think for quite a long time that absolutely no hands could deal with the task ahead because I thought, 'I don't look like him and sound like him, and I'm not going to be convincing as this guy.' That took a while to overcome."

West is continuing in the role of Charles in the sixth season of "The Crown," which — as of September 2023 — has yet to announce a premiere date, but is expected to debut sometime in the fourth quarter of 2023.