Charlotte King
Charlotte Elizabeth King (2015–2016)
Erika Heynatz
Episodes: 6224–6351, 6416–6417
Date of Death: 9th December 2015
Parents: Ernest (deceased) & Peggy King
Children: Hunter King
Occupation: Biology Teacher; Waitress
Charlotte King was first seen in Summer Bay in Angelo’s, when she made googly eyes at Matt Page – the man she eventually went home with later that night. The next morning, she emerged from his caravan, and started her new job at the high school. There, she was introduced to Leah as Zac’s ex-girlfriend and to Matt as his new biology teacher. After this, Matt and Charlotte decided to keep their one-night stand a secret.
As her presence in Summer Bay began to be known, she helped Josh locate his brother, Andy when he went off on a drunken bender. Later, Charlotte reluctantly agreed to tutor Matt, and this led to a kiss and ultimately the reignition of their affair. While in bed with Charlotte, Matt took several photos of them together. Maddy later witnessed Matt giving Charlotte a flower and she came to the conclusion that they were seeing one another and was sworn to secrecy. When Charlotte found out, she threatened Maddy and ended things with Matt. Leah then realised that Charlotte was seeing someone and Andy stepped in as her fake suitor. This led to a bitter and jealous Matt threatening to release their raunchy post-sex photographs, and in the heat of the moment, she lunged herself at him in an attempt to get his phone. He assured her that the photos are on his laptop. Later that day, Leah’s house was burnt to the ground.
With the situation seeming all too coincidental to Matt, he accused Charlotte of burning down Leah’s house, however withdrew the accusation and they decided to move on amicably. After the fire, Zac learnt that his house insurance had lapsed whilst Leah was in hospital, and he approached Charlotte for a loan. She gave him $20,000, and later admitted to Andy that she was still in love with Zac. However, when she tried to kiss him, he rejected her, assuring her that he loved Leah. Charlotte was then confronted by an intruder in her apartment who turned out to be her son Hunter, who demanded that he be introduced to his father – Zac. Charlotte and Hunter gate-crashed a beach banquet thrown for Leah and Zac and announced publicly that Zac was Hunter’s father. Charlotte soon thereafter realised that Hunter was the person responsible for knocking Josh down a flight of stairs in Summer Bay House, for setting Leah’s house on fire, and for breaking into the Diner and stealing a safe, which resulted in Marilyn’s electric shock and amnesia. Charlotte ordered Hunter to leave Summer Bay.
Charlotte was visited by Denny Miller, Zac’s niece, who came to offer Hunter her job at the Bait Shop. Denny noticed the Diner’s safe on Charlotte’s counter and when she tried to take it, a scuffle ensued, resulting in Denny falling and hitting her head on the coffee table, killing her instantly. After deciding not to call the police, a terrified Charlotte buried Denny in the bush. Visions of Denny plagued Charlotte in the subsequent weeks, and continued when Charlotte learnt that the MacGuires were questioning her disappearance as she hadn’t updated her Facecloud account. In a panic, Charlotte broke into the farmhouse, stole Denny’s diary and used it to hack into her social media accounts and post updates. Soon thereafter, Charlotte began to be followed by Trystan Powell who revealed that he knew what Charlotte had done. He blackmailed her for money and she used Hunter’s trust fund to pay her debt to him.
Her relationship with Matt eventually started up again until a newly returned Hunter uncovered the illicit rendezvous and told Leah and Zac about their trysts. After an investigation by the Department of Education, Charlotte was fired from her job as a teacher, only narrowly escaping criminal charges. Hunter moved in with Leah and Zac, which upset Charlotte immensely and further fuelled her downward spiral. Trystan continued to use Charlotte as an information mule, and told her that he and Trevor “Gunno” Gunson believed that Brax was still alive. To her shock, she was asked to find out information from his family, and after Kyle gave her a job, she began to get close to him.
It became evident to Charlotte that the majority of Summer Bay had turned against her when her car was rubbished and a brick was thrown through her window. When Irene attempted to evict her, an argument ensued, that ended with Charlotte threatening Olivia. In retaliation, Olivia trashed Charlotte’s apartment. She was then told by Alf that Hunter had been kidnapped but returned safely and when she confronted Trystan about it, he threatened Hunter’s life. Charlotte, in a bid to protect her son’s life, ran Trystan down with her car, ultimately killing him. Charlotte assured Irene and Kat that it was an accident, but Kat refused to believe her. She then received a call from Gunno and went to visit him in prison. Gunno told Charlotte that he was annoyed that she had murdered Trystan, but she assured him that it was an accident and was adamant that she was finished working for him. When questioned by Kat about her visit to Gunno, Charlotte told her that he was an ex-boyfriend, however Ash knew that this was a lie. Charlotte eventually got Ash to admit that Brax was still alive and promised to keep it a secret.
Feeling that her life was in danger, Charlotte drugged Kat and stole her gun and handcuffs. When Kat began asking questions, Charlotte contacted Gunno and organised for a hit to be taken out on Kat. Despite Gunno’s hitman knocking Kat unconscious and leaving her in a house, filling with gas, she was rescued. After a storm the following week, Denny’s body was found in the bush. Charlotte, worried she would go down for her crimes, planted Kat’s handcuffs in Billie’s bag, framing her for Kat’s assault after learning she was thought to be the culprit behind Leah’s house fire. When Ash realised Charlotte was behind Billie’s framing, he confronted her and grabbed her by the throat. He has to be forcibly removed by Kat, who assured Charlotte that she had seen nothing.
On the day of Zac and Leah’s wedding, Charlotte arrived mid-ceremony and threatened to reveal the secrets of people in Summer Bay – Andy murdering Jake Pirovic, the truth about Brax’s disappearance, and Hunter being responsible for Marilyn’s accident and Leah’s house fire. After being told to leave by Alf, Charlotte later violently broke down in her car. When Kat found Charlotte’s DNA on Denny’s body, she went to her apartment to arrest her but found it empty. She then arrived at the wedding and revealed that it was Charlotte who killed Denny. Later that night, Charlotte stood next to the rockpool and was approached by someone she knew. The unknown person then shot Charlotte and she fell into the ocean. Her body was recovered from the rocks two days later.
Three months later, Kat’s refusal to give up on the Charlotte King case eventually led her to the discovery that Josh Barrett was the person who shot Charlotte. When she confronted him, he revealed that he had regained his eyesight and upon learning that she had threatened to reveal Andy’s secret, he went to confront her. When he found her, however, she pulled Kat’s gun on him and in a tussle to try and protect himself, the gun was fired and Charlotte was killed.