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Colonel-in-chief is a ceremonial position in a military regiment. It is in common use in several Commonwealth armies, where it is held by the regiment's patron, usually a member of the royal family.

Some armed forces take a light-hearted approach to the position, appointing animals or characters as colonel-in-chief. The Norwegian Army, for example, appointed a king penguin named Sir Nils Olav as a colonel-in-chief.^[1]^[2]

History

Historically a colonel-in-chief was the ceremonial head of a regiment, usually a member of a European country's royal family. The practice extends at least back to 1740 in Prussia when Frederick II held that position (German: Regimentschef) in the newly created Garde du Corps, an elite heavy cavalry regiment.^[3]^{[unreliable source?]}

By the late 19th century the designation could be given to the children of royalty; there are pictures of the daughters of Russian Czar Nicholas II in the uniforms of their regiments.^[4] The German Kaiser Wilhelm II carried the title to an extreme, holding it in dozens of German and (by diplomatic courtesy) Austro-Hungarian (called Inhaber), British, Russian, and Portuguese regiments. His mother, wife, son, and daughters were also full or deputy colonels-in-chief of various units. ^[3]

Role

In modern usage, the colonel-in-chief of a regiment is its (usually royal) patron, who has a ceremonial role in the life of the regiment. They do not have any operational role, or the right to issue orders, but are kept informed of all important activities of the regiment and pay occasional visits to its units. The chief purpose of the colonel-in-chief is to maintain a direct link between the regiment and the royal family.^{[citation needed]} Some artillery regiments have a captain-general instead of a colonel-in-chief, but the posts are essentially the same.

The position of colonel-in-chief is distinct from the other ceremonial regimental posts of colonel of the regiment and honorary colonel, which are usually retired military officers or public figures with ties to the regiment.

Colonels-in-chief are appointed at the invitation of the regiment. While it is traditional for a royal personage to hold the position,^{[citation needed]} it is at the discretion of each regiment whom they invite.

As of 2024^[update], most colonels-in-chief in the British Army are members of the British royal family. However, one foreign monarch holds the position:^{[citation needed]}

Abdullah II of Jordan - The Light Dragoons

In the past non-royal persons have held, or been invited to hold, the post of colonel-in-chief. The Duke of Wellington was colonel-in-chief of the regiment that bore his name. The Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson was invited to be colonel-in-chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry,^[5] while the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps decided to ask the Governor-General of Australia to serve as its colonel-in-chief.^[6]

The role has spread to other armies in the Commonwealth of Nations, at least in countries which have royal families.^{[citation needed]}

List of colonels-in-chief

United Kingdom

Royal Navy (styled Commodore-in-Chief)

Plymouth, Royal Naval Command — King Charles III
Aircraft Carriers — King Charles III
Royal Navy Medical Service — Queen Camilla
Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service — Queen Camilla
Scotland — William, Prince of Wales
Submarines — William, Prince of Wales
Fleet Air Arm — Catherine, Princess of Wales
Royal Fleet Auxiliary — Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Portsmouth — Anne, Princess Royal
Maritime Reserves — Prince Michael of Kent
Small Ships and Diving — vacant
Royal Marines — King Charles III (styled Captain General Royal Marines)
Women in the Royal Navy — Anne, Princess Royal (styled Chief Commandant)

British Army

Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps

Household Cavalry

The Life Guards — King Charles III
- Sir Edward Smyth-Osbourne (Colonel of the Regiment)
The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) — King Charles III
- Anne, Princess Royal (Colonel of the Regiment)

Line Cavalry

1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards — Catherine, Princess of Wales
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) — King Charles III
- Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Deputy Colonel-in-Chief)
The Royal Dragoon Guards — Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
- Katharine, Duchess of Kent (Deputy Colonel-in-Chief)
The Queen's Royal Hussars (Queen's Own and Royal Irish) — Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) — Queen Camilla
The King's Royal Hussars — Anne, Princess Royal
The Light Dragoons — King Abdullah II of Jordan

Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment — King Charles III

Yeomanry

The Royal Yeomanry — vacant
- Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Royal Honorary Colonel)
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry — vacant
- Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Royal Honorary Colonel)
The Queen's Own Yeomanry — vacant
- Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (Royal Honorary Colonel)
The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry — vacant

Infantry

Foot Guards

Grenadier Guards — King Charles III
- Queen Camilla (Colonel of the Regiment)
Coldstream Guards — King Charles III
- Sir James Bucknall (Colonel of the Regiment)
Scots Guards — King Charles III
- Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Colonel of the Regiment)
Irish Guards — King Charles III
- Catherine, Princess of Wales (Colonel of the Regiment)
Welsh Guards — King Charles III
- William, Prince of Wales (Colonel of the Regiment)
London Guards — vacant
- Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Colonel of the Regiment)

Line Infantry and Rifles

The Royal Regiment of Scotland — King Charles III
- Anne, Princess Royal (Deputy Colonel-in-Chief)
- Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland — King Charles III
- 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland — Anne, Princess Royal
- 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland — King Charles III
The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) — vacant
The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) — King Charles III
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers — Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
The Royal Anglian Regiment — Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
The Royal Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) — vacant
The Royal Welsh — King Charles III
The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) — William, Prince of Wales
Royal Irish Regiment — Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh
The Royal Gurkha Rifles — King Charles III
The Rifles — Queen Camilla
- 1st Battalion — Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Royal Colonel)
- 2nd Battalion — Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Royal Colonel)
- 3rd Battalion — Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Royal Colonel)
- 5th Battalion — Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (Royal Colonel)
- 6th Battalion — Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Royal Colonel)
- 7th Battalion — Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester (Royal Colonel)