Social media was abuzz recently after new photos of King Charles III surfaced, showing a rather peculiar feature. In the now-viral snapshot, the king’s fingers appear swollen and unhealthy, prompting many to question his ability to rule as monarch of the United Kingdom. While critics express concerns about his health, others believe that the swollen fingers simply indicate a busy day for the king.
The viral photo captures Charles III with his hands resting on his jacket, his index fingers seemingly touching each other. Notably, he wears a small golden ring on his pinkie finger that appears too tight for his swollen digits. When the photo was shared on Reddit with the caption “The Kings fingers,” it quickly gained over fifteen thousand upvotes and thousands of comments from people around the world.
Some comments on Reddit reflect users’ surprise at the tight-fitting ring:
“That ring is holding on for dear life.”
“Can he please take the ring off?”
There were also suggestions that the king might be experiencing high blood pressure:
“He’s running 32psi boost.”
“In humans, we say 180/120.”
Some Reddit users expressed concerns about King Charles III’s health and speculated about his longevity:
“That’s a sign for a not-very-long-reign… because it’s heart disease.”
“Or kidney failure. I’m sure someone has a betting pool over what is actually causing the edema, lol.”
Interestingly, conspiracy theories even emerged about the king’s fingers:
“He’s had these fingers for a long, long time, though. My personal theory is that he has ten fingers per hand and wears gloves so as to not terrify the townspeople.”
One person suggested that the king might actually be suffering from arthritis rather than heart disease:
“I’m basically a doctor (I googled ‘red nose ears sausage fingers,’ so don’t @ me. I did my research). This is likely either arthritis or some long-term, well-managed autoimmune condition. I’ve found weak references back to 1982 when Charles wrote about it in a letter. I found a better reference from 2005 where it’s directly referenced.”
Another user claimed to have observed the king’s swollen fingers for decades:
“I watched a Diana documentary recently, and his fingers looked like that when he was in his 30s too. So either he’s had whatever disease his entire life (very possible,) or he’s just got crazy ham hands.”
Ultimately, only time will reveal the true reason behind King Charles III’s swollen fingers. In the meantime, let’s appreciate the intrigue surrounding this viral photo of the new king.
