Charles Theodore Royer (August 22, 1939 – July 26, 2024) was an American news reporter and politician who served as the 48th mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1990.

Royer briefly worked on the East Coast and was a visiting associate at the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies from 1969 to 1970.

Royer returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1970, when he joined KING-TV in Seattle as a news analyst and shared a beat with his brother Bob.

In 1990, Royer succeeded Richard Thornburgh as director of the Harvard Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

"[citation needed] Royer's appointment created recognition that, as The Seattle Times commented, "not all political savvy emanates from the East Coast.

"[4] From 1995 to 2006, Royer served as director of the National Program Office for the Urban Health Initiative, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

UHI worked closely with five United States cities (Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Philadelphia, and Richmond, Virginia) to help improve the health and safety of children living in those areas.