Dr. Charlotte King is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama Private Practice, portrayed by KaDee Strickland. Initially, Charlotte is the Chief of Staff at the fictional St. Ambrose Hospital in Santa Monica. She tends to have an adversarial role in the show, and is responsible for opening Pacific Wellcare Center, a medical practice in direct competition with the series' main practice, the Oceanside Wellness Group. Charlotte is also the wife of pediatrician Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein).

Charlotte is from Monroeville, Alabama. She has two brothers, Duke and Landry, and was raised by her father "Big Daddy" and mother Augusta King. Charlotte has a strained relationship with her mother, whom she refers to as "a son of a bitch" and "a drug addict". She has trouble connecting with others and forming close relationships because signs of affection were discouraged in her family. Charlotte attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and went on to become the youngest physician to hold the position of Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose Hospital in Santa Monica. Charlotte unintentionally meets Cooper Freedman, the Oceanside Wellness Group's pediatrician, using internet dating websites. When she realizes who she's been communicating with, she is initially horrified, but ultimately the two end up establishing a sexual relationship.

When Cooper realizes that Charlotte is running the opening of Pacific Wellcare Center, upstairs and a direct competitor of Oceanside Wellness Group, he breaks up with her. They come close to reconciling when Charlotte believes she may be pregnant. When her pregnancy test comes back negative, Charlotte is disappointed. Cooper provides emotional support for Charlotte when her father is dying from lung cancer. He travels to Alabama to be with her and helps her turn off her father's life support machine. The couple reunites, but Charlotte quickly becomes jealous of Cooper's relationship with his best friend Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman), particularly when he moves in with her to provide support during her pregnancy. In retaliation, Charlotte has sex with Archer Montgomery (Grant Show); however, Cooper forgives her, as he realizes Charlotte is self-sabotaging since she is afraid of commitment. Charlotte is fired from her position as director of Pacific Wellcare Center because the practice owner William White (James Morrison) believes her to be heartless. However, Charlotte is hired by Oceanside Wellness Group to practice sexology.

Following Violet's attack, Cooper blames himself, and he and Charlotte's relationship struggles because of it. However, the couple's relationship strengthens again and Cooper asks Charlotte to move in with him. When Charlotte attempts to renovate Cooper's bathroom, Cooper reveals that he is broke. Charlotte's integration into Oceanside Wellness Group as a sexologist initially threatens Cooper, but ultimately he is able to accept it. The couple's happiness is interrupted when Cooper find's out that Charlotte has been hiding that she was previously married, and the couple breaks up. Charlotte enters into a sexual relationship with Pacific Wellcare Center psychiatrist Sheldon Wallace (Brian Benben), and Sheldon falls in love with Charlotte. Cooper reveals that his parents had a son who died before he was born, and he always felt like he was a replacement; the revelation of Charlotte's previous marriage triggered the same concerns. Determined to get Charlotte back, Cooper tells her how important she is to him, and they go out to dinner and have sex. Sheldon attempts to establish a relationship with Charlotte, and asks her out on a date. However, Cooper proclaims his love to Charlotte and proposes, which she accepts.

Charlotte returns as Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose Hospital. One night at the hospital, Charlotte encounters a mentally unstable patient who appears to be extremely aggressive. This patient ends up breaking into her office and brutally raping and beating her. Left with a broken wrist and hand, a deep laceration on her left arm, a broken eye socket, and a broken nose, Pete finds Charlotte. Charlotte lies to Pete about what happened to her, telling him that she was mugged and not disclosing the rape. While Charlotte is being treated, Cooper is at a bar with Sam Bennett and Amelia Shepherd. Cooper drunkenly hits on Amelia, and Sam steps in to defuse the situation. Addison comes to Charlotte's aid, and realizes Charlotte was raped. During her pelvic examination, Charlotte refuses a rape kit and tells Addison not to tell anyone else about the rape. Cooper eventually makes it to the hospital and is shocked by the extent of Charlotte's injuries.

Charlotte and Cooper continue on their path to marriage, promising to be honest with each other. In the vein of this promise, Cooper confesses his flirtation with Amelia at the bar, and Charlotte confronts her. Ultimately, the two are able to maintain their friendship, and Charlotte asks Amelia to be her maid of honor. Cooper confronts Charlotte's ex-husband Billy, and it is revealed that Billy cheated on Charlotte to confirm he was gay. This admission shocks Charlotte. Charlotte and Cooper eventually elope in Las Vegas to avoid their family's feuding. Cooper finds out he has a son Mason, who Charlotte initially has a hard time accepting. When Mason's mother dies from cancer, Charlotte fully accepts Mason. Charlotte and Cooper find out they're pregnant with triplets. Charlotte is extremely hesitant of becoming a mother, especially when she realizes the triplets are all girls. Charlotte has a complicated pregnancy and delivery, but ultimately has three healthy daughters - Georgia, Caroline, and Rachel.

Charlotte is one of the few series regulars not to have appeared in the backdoor pilot episode "The Other Side of This Life". Strickland was added to the cast in July 2007, prior to the commencement of the first series. She did not have to audition for the role, but was cast after a meeting with series creator Shonda Rhimes. Strickland was drawn to Charlotte's hardworking nature and "strong moral code". She has stated that the role is challenging as she does not "necessarily agree with her way of handling people or what she stands for" and is "shocked at how her point of view just really takes over for her and that's kind of it." Strickland grew up in a medical environment as her mother is a registered nurse, something she has deemed useful for the role as it presents her with a "phenomenal resource for [...] research material".

Prior to the broadcast of the first season of Private Practice, Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly described Charlotte as the show's "Tough-as-nails hospital administrator who disapproves of Oceanside Wellness' New Age attitude toward medicine." Matt Mitovich of TV Guide stated that a season later, Charlotte seemed "less shrill", observing that: "She originally came across as a character simply designed to be the thorn in everyone else's side. But I think they've worked her in better this season." Strickland agreed with this assessment, commenting: "I think that's what Shonda and the writers always sought for her, without even telling me where it was going. I clearly never saw the Cooper thing coming. I knew from what I had learned of Shonda's writing for Grey's that I would eventually get some justification for why I'm a kick in the pants. It's wonderful to have layers get peeled off. She's a Southern girl, and us Southern folks tend to have a lot of Southern gothic strangeness behind us."