King Charles II owed an enormous debt to his friends who helped restore the monarchy, so he rewarded eight of them with a grant of land that included what is now North and South Carolina. These eight men, and their heirs and assigns, were identified by the charter as “the true and absolute Lords Proprietors” of Carolina.
If you want the source go to the site https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/carolina-charter-of-1663/
