King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, and a founding constituent college of the federal University of London. King's was established in 1829 by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington, when it received its first royal charter (as a university college), and claims to be the fourth oldest university institution in England. In 1836, King's became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. In the late 20th century, King's grew through a series of mergers, including with Queen Elizabeth College and Chelsea College of Science and Technology (in 1985), King's has five campuses: its historic Strand Campus in central London,

three other Thames-side campuses (Guy's, St Thomas' and Waterloo) and one in Denmark Hill in south London. In 2016/17, King's had a total income of £778.2 million, of which £192.6 million was from research grants and contracts. It is the 12th largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment. It has the fifth largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, and the largest of any in London. Its academic activities are organised into nine faculties which are subdivided into numerous departments, centres and research divisions.the Institute of Psychiatry (in 1997), the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery (in 1998).