The supposedly media-trained king has twice been photographed losing his cool over writing instruments while performing official duties following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles initially complained to his wife, Camilla, the queen consort, about signing the wrong date. He then declared, “Oh God, I hate this,” when he realized ink had dripped onto his fingers. He angrily stood up, using a handkerchief to wipe his fingers, as Camilla said, “It’s going everywhere.”
As aides rushed to replace the faulty pen with another for Camilla to use, Charles declared, “I can’t bear this bloody thing. What they do, every stinking time.” He then stalked out as Camilla finished signing the book. While CBS News generously said that the new king was expressing a common frustration among people when they realize their pen doesn’t work, others took Charles’ outburst as yet another example of why they think he’s pampered, entitled and no replacement for his globally popular mother.
It’s also the second time since the queen’s death that Charles has been caught on camera having difficulty with writing instruments and behaving imperiously with staff,On Saturday, shortly after Charles’ accession to the throne, viewers of the historic event found themselves distracted when the new monarch twice gestured furiously to aides to remove a pot of ink from a small desk on which he had to sign documents, the Daily Mail said.
As Charles notably went to sign the historic Proclamation, he made a face and motioned to an aide to move a pen box from his desk, which viewers agreed was “far too small” for the huge document and stationery.