King Charles Reportedly Doesn't Own One Modern Device That Even Queen Elizabeth Had

King Charles wearing a gray suit with a purple tie and pocket square smiling and looking to the right — (Image credit: Getty Images)

King Charles has always been ahead of his time when it comes to certain issues like environmentalism, adapting sustainable practices long before it was mainstream or acceptable to do so. But even though he's quite a modern monarch, there's one piece of technology that The King reportedly doesn't love.

According to Hello!, His Majesty doesn't own a cell phone. While that might seem incredible in 2024, he does have an entire team of people running his schedule (and entire life), so his need to make a call on the go is probably pretty slim. And there's always the good old-fashioned land line.

Per the outlet, this means Charles doesn't have to follow one royal rule. Staffers inside royal residences are required to turn their mobile phones off, "unless they are in a desk job that requires them to use one."

A black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth speaking on a corded telephone wearing pearls and a dress — Queen Elizabeth might have owned a cell, but she preferred to use a land line.

Kate Middleton wearing a white dress with a black belt and talking on a member of the public's cell phone during the coronation as people take her photo — Princess Kate borrowed a fan's cell phone to make a surprise call to one of the woman's family members in 2023.

Unlike her son, Queen Elizabeth—who died at the age of 96 in 2022—owned a cell phone, and it was no ordinary model. Per commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti (via the Mirror), Her Majesty used "a Samsung model outfitted with anti-hacker encryption by MI6."

However, The Queen, who preferred to use a land line, would only answer the phone for two people. One was daughter Princess Anne, and the other was her racing manager, John Warren. Sorry, Charles.

Queen Camilla is only slightly more technologically advanced than her husband, with her son Tom Parker Bowles telling Woman & Home (via the Express) that his mom "uses an old-fashioned Nokia telephone."

Because she hasn't updated her tech, Parker Bowles revealed The Queen can't join the family WhatsApp group. "I think it's for security," he added.

Perhaps Tom can gift his mom and royal stepdad some iPhones this holiday season.

TOPICS

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.