King Charles III — king of the united kingdom with roots in the Russian Empire
Charles Philip Arthur George was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948, the eldest child of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He became heir apparent at the age of three when his mother succeeded to the throne in 1952, and was created Prince of Wales in 1958.
His Russian descent comes through his father. Prince Philip's paternal grandmother was Queen Olga of Greece, born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna at Pavlovsk Palace near St Petersburg on 3 September 1851, the elder daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I. Olga's son Prince Andrew of Greece was Philip's father, which makes her Charles's great-grandmother. Philip's mother's family added a second tie: her mother was a sister of Empress Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II. When remains believed to be those of the last imperial family were examined in the early 1990s, Philip's DNA helped confirm their identity.
Charles was the first heir to the British throne to take a university degree, reading history at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduating in 1970. He trained as a jet pilot in the Royal Air Force and served in the Royal Navy until 1976, when he left to found The Prince's Trust, which has since helped more than a million young people. He made the environment, architecture, rural communities and interfaith understanding the themes of his public life, and spent five decades as Prince of Wales, the longest any heir has held the title.
He married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981; their sons are William, now Prince of Wales, and Harry. They divorced in 1996, and Diana died the following year. In 2005 he married Camilla Parker Bowles.
He became king on 8 September 2022, on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and was crowned with Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023. As king he is also head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Through him, the descent from a grand duchess born at Pavlovsk passes to his son William and his grandson George, the next two in line to the throne.
Tracing the roots — Pavlovsk (great-grandmother)
His father's grandmother, Queen Olga of Greece, was born Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna at Pavlovsk in 1851, a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I. His father's DNA helped identify the remains of the last imperial family in 1993.
Great-grandson of Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna (b. Pavlovsk 1851), granddaughter of Nicholas I and later Queen Olga of Greece, through his father Prince Philip and grandfather Prince Andrew of Greece.
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Pavlovsk (great-grandmother). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.