Charles Duncan was a British ship captain engaged in the maritime fur trade and related exploration in the late 1780s. From 1786 to 1788 he was captain of Princess Royal, the tender for , under James Colnett, both vessels owned by the King George's Sound Company. Colnett and Duncan acquired sea otter furs by trade with the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, then sold them in Guangzhou (Canton), sailing there via the Hawaiian Islands. In 1788 Duncan named Princess Royal Island after his ship Princess Royal.