At his declaration last Saturday he frantically motioned to an aide to remove a box of pens that was obstructing him as he signed his official declaration and oath. On Tuesday, signing a visitor’s book at Hillsborough Castle, his outrage at a leaking pen was also caught on camera. “God, I hate this,” she whispered, handing the tool to the Queen Consort, making sure it leaked into her hands. “I can’t stand this bloody… whenever it stinks,” he added, walking away. It was a glimpse of the Charles his private staff has seen over the years, a man used to expressing his rage hedonistically. Of course, it’s something his mother wouldn’t have seen him do in public, although Windsor’s temperament is, apparently, an inherited trait. His grandfather, King George VI, was famous for his “grits”, as the family referred to his outbursts, which inevitably saw the Queen Mother holding his wrist and taking his pulse as he calmed down. But then Queen Elizabeth II did not have to immediately complete the punishing round of official visits to Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff that Charles had so quickly undertaken to cement his accession. “The Queen didn’t have to do anything like what she’s doing now. Of course, as time went on he went to all the big cities. That’s how they did it back then,” said royal historian Hugo Vickers. “But not in those early days, before the funeral. He went to the accession council and had these duties of heads of state. She returned from Kenya and after the accession council and proclamation went up to Sandringham to be with her mother and sister. Well, that’s new. And, obviously, important, because the world has moved on. And he got to show his faith in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast in that way and it was clearly very successful.” As Charles takes up his new roles as head of state, his six new red boxes bearing his royal hide, in which he will receive his important documents, have been produced by British luxury leather goods company Barrow Hepburn & Gale. He is also a family man. From the moment of the Queen’s death, his brothers would know that their place now was to bow and bow before him. When the Queen ascended the throne, Queen Mary, the widow of George V, was the first person to pay her respects as her “loyal subject”, Vickers said. Observers have been struck by Charles’ sense of composure at the Princes’ Vigil he and his brothers held at their mother’s coffin, the procession and the service for the requiem at Westminster Hall. “He looked completely exhausted. When we lose a loved one, we don’t have to have it in our faces like he did,” said royal author Penny Junor. “He had to be out there, staring at the coffin in front of him, with raw grief, in public. There is not a single minute that he has privacy to fall apart. Everyone wanted a piece of him, that’s the sad reality of his position.” His relative composure contrasts with the abject sadness so publicly visible at the Queen Mother’s funeral. It is an indication, Vickers said, of his awareness of his position as King as well as that of his bereaved son. “When the Queen Mother died, it was all ‘I was scared right now, what’s going to happen to me now, I’ve lost my best ally.’ At her funeral he looked so devastated. There were pictures of him walking alone in the hills of Scotland, a miserable character. “This time, she did the complete opposite,” Vickers said, referring to the King’s Speech when Charles acknowledged “her death brings great sorrow to so many of you.” “Of course, he was afraid at the moment. But with these words he comforted us. What I would say is that he is looking out instead of looking in. This is a big change. And that’s what he’s really got right.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. In all his speeches this week, in the references to Burns and Shakespeare, each carefully chosen, Charles was particularly emotional. “He is a very emotional person. I think we have to learn to like that about him,” Vickers said. This weekend, he will be seen welcoming heads of state and international leaders in his new role for the first time, at an official reception at Buckingham Palace for VIPs invited to attend the funeral. Away from the limelight, he continues a relentless schedule. He had telephone conversations with, among others, the presidents of the United States, Ireland and France and the governors-general of Australia, Canada, New Zealand. At Highgrove, his home in Gloucestershire, where he spent Thursday, the presidents of Rwanda, Italy, Germany, Greece, the prime minister of Barbados, the king of Saudi Arabia were just some of the calls he received. In all of this, he has had to forge a relationship with a new prime minister, engage leaders of Commonwealth nations, meet leaders across the political divide in Northern Ireland and navigate other important diplomatic moments. For many, however, the highlight was his address to the nation, with its references to loyalty, duty, gratitude and love, which has been widely regarded as perfect. “And it was so clever and right to include Harry and Meghan in that speech,” Junor said. It was an indication of the diplomacy required as a head of family, not just a head of state. He knows that his every word and deed on the international stage will be subject to scrutiny like never before. “But he’s very well trained,” Vickers said. “He comes to the throne with experience. He is not a young man. He was around.”
