Why Is King Charles Called Sausage Fingers? Here's What We Know About His Hands

King Charles has been called plenty of names throughout his life, from the future king of England to a cheater — he's dealt with it all. But there is one nickname that has stuck with the royal, and it might be a bit shocking. In the past couple of years, King Charles has been referred to as "sausage fingers," but why?

Charles is no stranger to facing criticism, whether it's because of his royal policies or how he looks. For the longest time, the monarch was picked on for his rather large ears, and it started at an early age. A former classmate even told The Telegraph that the future monarch was bullied as a young kid and teen because of his ears. They said, "A couple of the boys decided it would be funny to 'do' him. This meant punching him, pulling his ears, all out of sight in the scrum." It wasn't just in his early years of schooling that Charles had to deal with the constant bullying. Ahead of his 2023 coronation, a costume that poked fun at Charles' large ears was for sale for people to buy, per the New York Post.

The royal can't seem to catch a break when it comes to his appearance. After years of facing criticism for his ears, the conversation began to shift toward his fingers, and he has since been dubbed "sausage fingers" by the public because of the way they look.

The conversation around King Charles' fingers has been around for years, but really took off following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. As Charles made more public appearances, people took notice of the king's large and swollen hands, and many said his fingers resemble sausages. Photos of his hands went viral, as people dubbed Charles "sausage fingers". One user on X, formerly Twitter, joked about how difficult it must be to get one of Charles' rings that he was wearing off his swollen hands. They wrote, "Whoever can pull that ring off his finger will become the next king like Arthur with that sword in the stone." The criticism got so bad that in 2022, a butcher even began selling sausages inspired by the king's fingers, per the New York Post.

There have been countless remarks about King Charles' fingers, but it doesn't seem to get to him. The monarch jumped in on the jokes in a BBC documentary leading up to his coronation, per Page Six. In the video, Prince William is seen helping his father clasp a robe around him. William joked that, on the actual day, the robe probably won't clasp, but Charles hilariously responded, "No, you haven't got sausage fingers like mine." While people have been glad to see Charles join the banter about his sausage fingers, many have also raised concerns as to what has caused them to look so swollen.

All jokes aside, King Charles' fingers have also raised some concerns among the public. Many have wondered whether his swollen hands are because of an underlying health condition. While Charles has never revealed whether a medical condition was causing his fingers to swell, that hasn't stopped doctors from weighing in. GP Chun Tang, medical director at Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, told the Daily Mail that Charles' sausage fingers are most likely dactylitis. He explained, "This condition arises due to inflammation and can be a result of arthritis, multiple bacterial infections or even TB. Other possibilities include high salt levels, allergic reactions, medicinal side effects, injury and autoimmune diseases."

Many online users have even suggested that Charles' swollen fingers could have been an indication of his latest cancer diagnosis. In February 2024, Buckingham Palace revealed the monarch had been diagnosed with cancer after doctors discovered it while he was set to take on a prostate procedure, per BBC. Although the type of cancer has yet to be revealed, they did specify it is not prostate cancer. The public took to social media to talk about his serious health issue and how his sausage fingers should have been a telltale sign something was wrong. One person tweeted, "King Charles sausage fingers were pointing towards a medical condition." Regardless of whether Charles' hands have anything to do with his cancer diagnosis, many online users have been concerned about the way his hands and fingers look.