Charles' 'peculiar reaction' to cling film after not knowing what it was

06 December 2023 , 07:00

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It was once claimed the King had no idea what cling film was (Image: PA)

King Charles has been criticised by many for his 'disconnect' with the regular world - and it was once claimed he 'shrieked' the first time he came into contact with cling film.

Royal author Omid Scobie says the King's "habits and way of life suggest a disconnect" in his new book, Endgame, and even his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, "repeatedly complained about Charles' extravagantly luxurious lifestyle". He paints a fussy and childlike image of the monarch's demands and claims he even has 'tantrums' at nighttime.

In his book, Scobie writes: "There have been reports of temper tantrums at night as well: if the prince's pyjamas aren't pressed, sources have claimed, there is hell to pay." Though, it's not the first time somebody has shared an odd anecdote about the King's reportedly uncommon ways.

According to author Tom Bower, who wrote a book about Prince Philip called Rebel Prince, one of the late royal's gripes about his son Charles was his detachment from the real world - which was never clearer than the moment he struggled to recognise kitchen food wrap.

In Bower's book, he writes: "[Charles] walked into the dining room and shrieked. Fearing the worst, Camilla dashed in after him. 'What's this?' asked her husband, pointing at the food. 'It's cling film, darling,' she replied." The segment was first published in The Guardian, but Clarence House declined to comment on the book's release.

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Bower also claimed Charles' had a penchant for changing clothes - allegedly up to four times a day - and the former Prince also had a strict ritual as to how he liked to spend his day, with his former press secretary revealing all about how he skipped lunch but would take breaks at 5pm for sandwiches, before working up until midnight.

Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell once claimed Charles had "everything done for him", including requesting the bathtub to be "only half full". He said on Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm: "His pyjamas are pressed every morning, his shoelaces are pressed flat with an iron, the bath plug has to be in a certain position, and the water temperature has to be just tepid."

The former butler also revealed that the then-Prince Charles even "has his valets squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush every morning". This is a claim Scobie also alleges in his book, as he writes that the King likes to have someone "squeeze exactly one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush" and it must come from a "crested silver dispenser" - a rumour that sources he claims have confirmed.

Nia Dalton