It felt like the entire universe was conspiring against King Charles when
he was just trying to sign some documents. And that's not the only time a member of
the British royal family has made headlines for the wrong reasons.
In the early 90s, Princess Diana had more than one thing to be upset about. She was on the
verge of separating from then-Prince Charles, whose affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles had
left her feeling silenced. Furthermore, she was struggling with the relentlessness of the press.
While discussing why her marriage disintegrated in a 1995 interview with the BBC, she recalled,
"There were three of us in this marriage, and the pressure of the media was another factor,
so the two together were very difficult."
So it was hardly a surprise in 1992 when Diana publicly lost her temper with Charles on a trip
to Jaipur, India. She was expected to present her husband with a little blue box. He tried to plant
a performative kiss on her lips, but she quickly turned her head. Cameras then shuttered like
wild. In the documentary Diana: A Dangerous Game, royal expert Ingrid Seward explained,
"She moved her head away, which was the classic picture because this is a woman
who is just longing to humiliate her husband. And she humiliated him
in front of the world because the picture went all over the world."
On June 15, 1987, Prince Edward organized an ill-fated televised
fundraiser called The Grand Knockout Tournament.
From a fundraising perspective, the event was actually successful. With 18 million viewers
tuning in, the program ultimately raised 1.5 million pounds for charity. However, from a public
relations perspective, it was a disaster, in no small part due to Edward's on-camera behavior.
The trouble started after filming wrapped up and Edward went to the
press room to address the media. As journalist Richard Kay recalled
in the documentary Edward and Sophie: The Reluctant Royals?,
"The media were all invited, but we were not invited to actually
watch the event because it was being filmed behind closed doors. And there
was a press conference at the end of filming, and Edward dashed in."
Edward then proceeded to ask the press if they enjoyed the event, and the room of journalists
stared at him in bewildered silence. The prince was so bothered by this that he
proceeded to unforgettably lose his temper. As he sarcastically declared to reporters,
"One of these days, you lot are going to have to learn some manners."
"Well, thanks for sounding so bloody enthusiastic. What have you been doing in here all day?"
Unfortunately for the prince, the embarrassment of the moment stuck with him for quite a while.
"It all backfired spectacularly."
Princess Diana famously struggled with persistent media attention until the very end of her life.
She was followed on the ski slopes, to the south of France, and even once to the gym, where she was
photographed with a hidden camera. As she famously stated in a groundbreaking 1995 BBC interview,
"I can't tolerate it because it's become abusive and it's harassment."
So it's not exactly surprising that Diana eventually lost her temper with
the paparazzi. One video from around the time of her divorce from Charles features
her being stalked on a Caribbean vacation. She stepped out of her car, faced the paparazzi,
and promptly lost her cool, as she told the photographers to get lost. She then
approached them and waved her arms, as if she were shooing pigeons away.
While public frustration can be considered unbecoming, it's not hard to believe that
Diana was justified in this case. After all, as her son Prince Harry recalled in the BBC
documentary Diana, the press played a major role in his mother's death,
as the paparazzi continued to take photos of her even while she was dying in a car.
Princess Diana was far from the only royal who resented the press. Her former brother-in-law,
Prince Edward, was also frustrated by how the British media zeroed in on royal life. In 1993,
he garnered significant tabloid attention when he
began dating his future wife Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
At the time, the public was desperate for a sliver of positive news following the separation of
Charles and Diana. As Julie Montagu divulged in Edward and Sophie: The Reluctant Royals?,
"The press loves a good royal wedding, so, of course, the press does what it does best,
and that's starting to speculate: when is Prince Edward going to propose to Sophie?"
"The tabloid press are insisting the couple are preparing to
announce their engagement in the next few months."
Thus, Edward faced mounting pressure to propose to his girlfriend. Ultimately,
the scrutiny became too much for him to bear. In a 1996 interview with Radio Times,
he severely lost his temper, as he declared,
"If you shut up, mind your own business, and let me do it when I want, it's much
more likely to happen. The more people second-guess, the less likely it is. I
just won't do it. [...] There is little escape for anyone in the public eye."
The late Prince Philip took things even further than his son did when he cursed at photographers
during a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 2015. He was expected to
pose for pictures along with several veterans. But as the photographers were taking their
time setting up the perfect shot, the prince began to lose his patience, as he grumbled:
"Just take the [bleep]."
The clip also captured Prince William's reaction, as he tried to stifle a giggle at
his grandfather's indiscretion. Interestingly enough, this wasn't the only time that Philip
lost his temper in public. In 1997, he reportedly cursed at a Cambridge University
car attendant for failing to recognize him, as he called him a "bloody silly fool."
And on numerous other occasions, Philip has made
comments that reflected his lack of a filter. As reported by The Guardian,
he once attended a wildlife protection event where he asked a fashion worker,
"You're not wearing mink knickers, are you?"
And when talking about death, he once reportedly stated,
"In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus,
to contribute something to solving overpopulation."
Unlike his grandfather, Prince William seems to be highly aware of his duty to
represent the crown appropriately. As royal expert Clive Irving noted
on the Channel 4 documentary Queen Elizabeth: Love, Honour and Crown,
"The Queen has this very clear, dedicated sense of duty. All those around her never
measure up to that at any point. [...] I think you have to go to
William to find somebody who seems to have the same sense of what it means."
And for the most part, William has largely avoided scandal. But despite that sterling
reputation, there was one time when he truly lost his temper.
He was out with his children enjoying a bike ride on the Sandringham estate when he spotted
a photographer in their vicinity. He reportedly rushed to his children's defense and told off
the paparazzi. As royal expert Robert Jobson explained on an episode of The Royal Beat,
"William went steaming over and really ripped him off and told him what he thought. [...] He
is fiercely protective of his children and that's right. Everyone has their moments."
From a certain perspective, Princes William and Harry might seem like
dueling brothers who have little in common. But they're both clearly protective fathers.
"We're brothers. We'll always be brothers. We're certainly on different paths at the moment,
but I will always be there for him, and as I know, he'll always be there for me."
That protectiveness was abundantly clear in 2019 when Harry was on tour in Morocco.
During the trip, he and his wife Meghan Markle enjoyed some local food in front
of the cameras. But things quickly turned sour when one aggressive cameraman bumped
a child with his equipment. Harry promptly lost his temper and even got a bit physical.
The prince marched over to where the cameraman was standing,
placed his hands on the camera lens, and pushed it back. Harry then motioned for
the cameraman to back off and stared at him angrily. Once the cameraman stepped away,
the prince proceeded to check on the boy and give him a pat on the arm.
This incident foreshadowed the protective attitude that Harry would eventually adopt
with his own children. As the prince vowed in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,
"I will always protect my family. [...] I will not be bullied into a
game that was responsible for killing my mother."
Princess Catherine is known as a fashion icon with a pristine reputation, but that doesn't mean she
isn't human. Like plenty of other mothers, the Princess of Wales has occasionally lost
her temper while dealing with rebellious toddlers. When Catherine's sister Pippa got married in 2017,
Prince George was the designated page boy. He was thus responsible for leading the other
children in throwing confetti in front of the newlywed couple following the ceremony.
Alas, it didn't exactly go as planned. Photos published in the Daily Mirror show that George
was sulking during the confetti phase of the wedding, and he may have even stepped on his
aunt's bridal dress. Naturally enough, his mom sprang into action and scolded her young son.
Besides this incident, Catherine hasn't been spotted disciplining her children in public very
often. She's generally known for taking a less severe approach to her kids' social education,
as she avoids traditional punishments. Instead, William and Catherine reportedly prefer to correct
their kids' behavior through conversation. As one royal source told The Sun in 2020,
"Things are explained and consequences outlined and they never shout at them."
Many senior members of the royal family live a rather luxurious life, thanks to a team of
employees that caters to their every need. And King Charles III's staff is reportedly
known to be kept particularly busy. In the Amazon Prime documentary Serving the Royals:
Inside the Firm, Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell listed
several of the tasks assigned to the monarch's staff. As he revealed,
"His pajamas 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."
Perhaps as a result of all this pampering, Charles has been known to lose his temper when things
don't go exactly according to plan. One public example of this occurred when he grabbed a pen
that started to leak. He was so upset that he couldn't help but vent some frustration.
"I can't bear this bloody thing!"
Unfortunately, Charles' public outburst wasn't exactly well received by everyone.
In an interview with GB News, royal expert Paul Duddridge analyzed the public's reaction,
and apparently not even huge monarchists could defend Charles' behavior. According to Duddridge,
"Supporters of the UK and the Royal Family are kind of shocked at the seeming petulance."
The pen incident wasn't the only time that Charles made headlines for the
wrong reasons. During a 2022 visit to Wales, he and his wife Camilla, Queen
Consort toured the soccer club Wrexham A.F.C. Afterwards, they performed a royal walkabout,
during which they greeted crowds of adoring fans. Alas, Camilla seemed to linger at the event a
little too long for the king's liking. In a moment captured on camera, Charles could be seen losing
his temper and complaining to his staffers about Camilla. As he asked in exasperation,
"Can we try to get her back again? We need to go. I was trying to wait for her, but she goes on."
Ironically enough, Camilla isn't the only one who can get too chatty on official visits,
as Charles reportedly also has a reputation for running late.
According to the book Elizabeth by Camilla and Charles' friend Gyles Brandreth,
the queen consort even has a strategy to get her husband to hurry up. As Brandreth revealed,
"When he is running late or talking too much,
she tugs discreetly at the back of his jacket — sometimes quite vigorously."
But Brandreth also noted that Camilla helps Charles on his bad days, as he wrote,
"When he gets tetchy [...] she soothes him,
putting out a hand and kneading him gently in the small of his back."