The Unscientific King: Charles III’s History Promoting Homeopathy

King Charles III has a long history of promoting homeopathic or alternative medical treatments not supported by scientific evidence.

Written bySophie Fessl, PhD
| 6 min read
A photo of King Charles III, then formally Prince of Wales, wearing a dark suit, shown from the shoulders up.
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King Charles III has been conferred many new titles following the recent death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, but one existing title that remains is “Royal Patron of the Faculty of Homeopathy,” an organization of healthcare practitioners who also practice the pseudoscientific form of medicine. And the new king’s ties with alternative medicine go beyond this patronship and a dalliance with alternative medicine: In several instances, then-Prince Charles appears to have lobbied for homeopathy and other fields of alternative medicine. As King Charles ascends the throne, experts are reflecting on his influence on medical science in the UK as Prince of Wales, and how he might affect alternative medicine in the UK going forward as monarch.

Edzard Ernst, a retired academic physician who specialized in the study of complementary and alternative medicine at the University of Exeter and published his book Charles, The Alternative Prince at the beginning of ...

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Meet the Author

  • Headshot of Sophie Fessl

    Sophie Fessl is a freelance science journalist. She has a PhD in developmental neurobiology from King’s College London and a degree in biology from the University of Oxford. After completing her PhD, she swapped her favorite neuroscience model, the fruit fly, for pen and paper.

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