Tertius News is an AI-native newsroom: an AI model reads the source articles linked below — on this story, all of them from one outlet — and extracts what that outlet reported, claim by claim. How this works →
King Charles's Equerry Lt Col Jonny Thompson to Step Down
Lt Col Jonny Thompson, the equerry to King Charles who gained a large following on social media, is to leave both the Royal Household and the British Army at the end of the year. A palace spokesman expressed the King and Queen's gratitude for his seven years of service.
By Tertius News AI Desk1 distinct · 1 masthead · 1 articleVersion 1Coverage Published
Lt Col Jonny Thompson, the equerry to King Charles who has attracted a devoted following on social media, is to step down from his role. According to The Sun, he will leave both the Royal Household and the British Army at the end of the year.
A palace spokesman said: "Their Majesties were of course aware of this plan in advance. I know they are most grateful to Jonny for his support over the past seven years and wish him all the best for the future."
Military and Royal Career
Thompson was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into The Royal Regiment of Scotland in April 2006. He served on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan before commanding Balaklava Company, 5 SCOTS, based in Edinburgh.
He led the ceremonial and military support for the late Queen's annual residence at Balmoral in 2018 and 2019. In December 2019, he was appointed Equerry to The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. Following the accession of King Charles in September 2022, he became The King's Equerry. The Sun reported in 2024 that he had been appointed Senior Equerry to The King and The Queen.
Born in Morpeth, Northumberland, Thompson graduated from Aberystwyth University in 2004 with a degree in economics and politics with international studies. While at university, he was a member of the undergraduate officer training corps. He was part of the procession when the late Queen's coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state.
Recent Departures from the Royal Household
Thompson's departure makes him the third major aide to leave the King in recent months. Private Secretary Sir Clive Alderton announced this summer that he would step down next year. Bernie Flannery, the King's long-time butler, stepped down from his role this weekend after more than 40 years of service.
Personal Life
Thompson married his second wife, Olivia Lewis, at a low-key ceremony in late May 2025. He is known to fans on TikTok as "Major Eye Candy."
How this outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: The headline frames the story around the aide's fan appeal and his step-down, noting his nickname and role. — The tone is enthusiastic and admiring, focusing on his physical appeal and fan following, with an informal tone.
Facts Included:
KING Charles’ heartthrob equerry Lt Col Jonny Thompson is stepping down from his role
The hunky kilt-wearing aide, dubbed the “hot equerry”, will leave both the Royal Household and British Army at the end of year.
Kilted Jonny scored an army of female fans during his years working for the King.
A palace spokesman said: “Their Majesties were of course aware of this plan in advance.
“I know they are most grateful to Jonny for his support over the past seven years and wish him all the best for the future.”
He was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into The Royal Regiment of Scotland in April 2006.
Jonny served on operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan before commanding Balaklava Company, 5 SCOTS, based in Edinburgh..
The rugged equerry led the ceremonial and military support for The late Queen’s annual residence in Balmoral in 2018 and 2019.
Jonny was appointed Equerry to The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in December 2019.
He then became The King’s Equerry on Accession in September 2022.
In 2024, The Sun exclusively revealed he was appointed Senior Equerry to The King and The Queen.
He married second wife Olivia Lewis at a low-key ceremony in late May 2025.
Jonny is the third major aide to leave the King in recent months.
Private Secretary Sir Clive Alderton announced this summer that he would step down next year.
And Bernie Flannery, the King’s long-time butler stepped down from his role this weekend, more than 40 years of service.
Jonny – nicknamed ‘Major Eye Candy’ by fans on TikTok – was born in Morpeth,Northumberland.
He graduated from Aberystwyth University in 2004 with a degree in economics and politics with international studies.
While at university he was a member of the undergraduate officer training corps.
He was in the procession when the late Queen’s coffin was escorted from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the four days of lying in state.
Major Thompson was one of the late Queen’s most senior bodyguards and was spotted at several events with her.
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimLt Col Jonny Thompson is stepping down from his role as equerry to King Charles.
ClaimA palace spokesman said: "Their Majesties were of course aware of this plan in advance. I know they are most grateful to Jonny for his support over the past seven years and wish him all the best for the future."