After a day of high ceremony and high emotions on Wednesday, as the Queen’s coffin was carried in a mournful procession from Buckingham Palace, the monarch was also said to be working on “private reflection” at his Highgrove residence in western England. In addition to being in the public eye and dealing with his own personal grief over the past seven days, he’s also faced somewhat more intense scrutiny with his new role. That includes some candid moments caught on camera this week that people didn’t see from its predecessor. Two videos showing him visibly annoyed by a pen and a pen case went viral on social media in the past few days. In one, Charles was seen losing his temper in a running pen while signing a guest book in front of cameras in Northern Ireland, where he was visiting on Tuesday on the final leg of his four-nation UK royal tour. She was heard exclaiming “Oh my god, I hate this!” and muttering “I can’t stand this bloody. Every stinker”. WATCHES | Charles was captured in a candid moment:
King Charles is upset about the dripping pen
King Charles was captured on video getting visibly frustrated on Tuesday as he signed a document after getting the date wrong and then leaking his pen, exclaiming: “I can’t stand the bloody thing! What are they doing, every stinker.’ This follows another pen-related incident on Saturday, when the new monarch was seen gesturing angrily at his staff when a penman got in his way as he signed a document during his accession ceremony. WATCHES | Another “real” reaction from Charles:
King Charles disappointed when signing the document
During a ceremony on Saturday to be named King, Charles appeared frustrated, begging his aide to remove a tray of pens from his desk before continuing to put pen to paper. “He’s suddenly getting used to something his mother was very used to for 70 years,” said Robert Hardman, author of Queen of our Times: The Life of Elizabeth the Second. Hardman says the audience will see more of Charles than they might have seen of his mother. “This is a King who has clearly grown up in the age of television and he just knows that people expect to see more,” he said, noting that many of his meetings with ministers and other public figures take place in front of the cameras. “They show us video of it and pictures, which we certainly didn’t do at the start of the Queen’s reign.” But with more cameras have already come some moments of honesty that probably never would have been seen by Elizabeth. “Charles is a more passionate, less cryptic monarch,” Hardman said. “So when you have these little moments, like his pen isn’t working and we capture him mumbling under his breath because he’s forgotten there’s a long-range microphone.” Charles looks at flowers outside Buckingham Palace on September 9 as cameras follow his every move. (Dominic Lipinski/PA/The Associated Press) Hardman says Charles will have to learn to look out for those kinds of moments, though he added that it’s also “lovable.” Queuing to see the Queen’s coffin today in London, the mood was indulgent. “To continue to perform, to continue to do all your duty, but to mourn your mother and deal with your family at the same time, I mean, think,” Atul Pathak said. “What a wonderful, brilliant job. And I can only imagine that he will continue to do so as time goes on.” Alison Shepherd expressed sympathy for how Charles was forced to jump into a new role while still grieving his mother’s death. “I really feel for him. It’s tough, isn’t it?” he said. “For any of us who lose a family member, they don’t want to escape the comforter, do they? So for what he has to do, I think he’s been amazing.”
Criticism of taxes, staff
Charles has also criticized the handling of his long-serving staff at Clarence House.
The Guardian reported that as Charles and Camilla moved into Buckingham Palace, up to 100 of his staff had been told they could lose their jobs, including some who had worked at Clarence House for decades. They include personal servants such as footmen, valets, dressers, cooks and clerical staff.
A spokesman for Clarence House said operations there had ceased and a consultation process with staff about the redundancies had begun.
“Our staff have given long and loyal service and while some redundancies will be inevitable, we are urgently working to identify alternative roles for as many staff as possible,” the spokesman said.
Robert Hardman, author of Queen of our Times: The Life of Elizabeth the Second, says Charles will likely be a more passionate and transparent monarch. (Jean-François Bisson/CBC News)
Hardman says the situation could have been handled better.
“There is very poor management somewhere in the system. I don’t think about it for a minute [Charles] had nothing to do with it.”
And while Charles has said he will pay income tax, something his mother began to do in the early 1990s following a row over repairs to Windsor Castle following a fire, there have been fresh questions about whether the new King would have to pay inheritance tax.
WATCHES | King Charles “will do it his way,” says the biographer:
King Charles’ early days as monarch signal a more transparent King
Mourners waited hours to pay their respects to the Queen as King Charles took a break from public appearances after his first week as monarch. Royal watchers say his actions over the past week suggest he will be a more visible, transparent king, but he has not been without controversy. While ordinary Britons must pay a 40 percent tax if they inherit assets worth more than £325,000 (about Cdn$490,000), under a 1993 agreement, monarchs do not. “He owns nothing,” said Jan Ginowski from his place in line. “We own the royal family. They’re ours. You know, and what they have, the castles and the wealth and so on. It’s not theirs, not really.” “And look at the amount of money they bring into our country as well,” Kathy Bodell added. “I mean, I’m sure they’re not British here today.”
