A King who can't stop pointing, a photo crop heard around the world
and a war against ink pens. With as much scrutiny as they're under,
it's no surprise that royals can cause quite a stir when they do something rude.
A lot of people have probably wanted to tell presidents to shut up,
but few actually take the plunge — unless you're King Juan Carlos of Spain.
In 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez referred to then-President George W. Bush as the devil, and
he took aim at one of the American politician's allies, former Spanish Prime Minister José María
Aznar, a year later at a political summit in Chile. According to The New York Times, during
a speech, Chávez called Aznar, quote, "a fascist." Chávez proceeded to stir up more trouble when he
kept talking while another leader was speaking. King Juan Carlos then reportedly said to him,
"Why don't you shut up?"
Some Spaniards thought this was a bit much. Willy Meyer,
a member of a Spanish leftist group, told the Times,
"Telling an elected head of state to shut up is something you can't do in Spain or abroad."
It seems the people at that summit weren't the only ones who weren't the biggest fans of
King Juan Carlos' behavior. As reported by Politico, in 2020, a fraud scandal
partly connected to an extramarital affair led him to leaving his country,
though the charges were eventually dropped. He's since lived in the United Arab Emirates
in self-exile. It's unclear where he'll go next, but he'd better not try Venezuela.
The youngest entry on our list, Savannah Phillips may also be one of the lesser
known members of the royal family, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been
causing plenty of mischief in the background. Savannah is Princess Anne's granddaughter,
and the child of Peter and Autumn Phillips. As such, she's cousins with Kate Middleton
and Prince William's children, and it seems that they are a close-knit family.
However, in June 2018, Savannah was caught on camera acting a little rude, even from
a child's standard, and cousin Prince George was the victim. According to the Daily Mail,
the royal cousins were attending an event at the Beaufort Polo Club, where they were sitting on a
bank with their families. At one point, Savannah was seen pushing George down the bank. The future
heir to the British throne apparently lost his balance and was seen falling. Kids will be
kids and perhaps it was all in good fun, but this definitely wouldn't be considered royal behavior.
According to the outlet, Savannah was reprimanded by mom Autumn for the polo club incident. It's
also worth noting that Savannah's cheekiness has been caught on camera more than once. The
same month, Savannah appeared on the Palace balcony with the royal family to celebrate
Trooping the Colour. As the royals sang "God Save the Queen," Savannah decided to shut her
cousin up by placing her hand over George's mouth. The hilarious moment was photographed,
and Savannah was seen giving a sassy smirk to the camera, while George giggled.
Following Queen Elizabeth II's death in September 2022, King Charles III assumed the throne. Despite
waiting his entire life to take on the coveted role, Charles' ascension was far from smooth. On
September 13, 2022, Charles and Queen Consort Camilla visited Hillsborough Castle, Northern
Ireland, and the new king was caught appearing to be somewhat flustered. While signing the
guest book, the pen King Charles was using started leaking. Rather than handling the situation like
a professional, Charles was filmed venting his frustrations at the inanimate object. Luckily,
Charles' wife was on hand to help, and she even took the faulty pen from her husband. However,
the king wasn't finished with his battle against the writing utensil.
"I can't bear this bloody thing… what they do, every stinking time."
King Charles' pen debacle wasn't the first time the new monarch had expressed his frustration in
public. Just a few days prior, Charles officially became the king of England at an event called the
Accession Council, which was held at St. James' Palace. But while signing the Royal Proclamation,
the king was seen getting annoyed with the objects on the table around him. Charles was
witnessed gesturing to a pen box on the desk, which was apparently in his way,
more than once. Aides rushed to help the monarch, but the comical moment
suggested that Charles is used to having everything done in a particular way.
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and Prince Andrew's ex-wife,
has often found herself in the press for all the wrong reasons. In 2011,
she made headlines once again for walking out of an interview with "60 Minutes Australia." The
duchess was apparently outraged when she was shown footage of the infamous News of the World sting,
in which she was allegedly caught on camera offering access to Prince Andrew for a sum
of £500,000, which was approximately $715,000, at the time. When "60 Minutes Australia" showed
her the footage, Ferguson walked off set, and told the interviewer to delete her reaction.
"But don't try and trick me now because I'm not going to play this game. Delete
that bit - John can you delete it please that bit, because I don't want to GO down this…"
John Scott, the duchess' manager, was extremely unhappy with the way
the "60 Minutes Australia" interview was conducted, telling The Telegraph,
"We had gone through all the questions and subject matter beforehand. […] She did walk
out when she was ambushed […] but after cooling down she said to me, 'F--- them,
let's do this', and she did, but it was a banal interview and her demeanor reflected that."
Ferguson's reaction during the interview certainly seemed rude in the moment. However,
the fact that she apparently hadn't been prepared to discuss the subject
matter somewhat explains her emotional response.
While King Charles' altercation with a leaky pen was heavily publicized, he's also faced criticism
for making certain hand gestures at public events. Back in 2007, North Wales Live reported
that Charles had been called out for pointing his finger while making public appearances.
The leader of the Campaign for Courtesy pressure group, Reverend Ian Gregory, told the publication,
"Constant pointing is never a good thing. […] Pointing to get your opinion across
can be excused, but to point at someone directly to identify them is very rude."
It would seem that the main reason the group was especially upset over Charles' apparent
bad habit had to do with his position of influence, with Gregory explaining,
"Prince Charles is an ambassador for Britain
and by being so inconsiderate he is setting a bad example."
It's unclear if Charles ever learned about the campaign criticizing his finger pointing. However,
Gregory was extremely serious about the royal's need to change his seemingly rude behavior, even
suggesting that Charles should attend etiquette classes. As Gregory told North Wales Live,
"If a man in his position is showing such a public disregard for politeness,
then it will surely influence other people to follow suit."
Prince Harry's 2023 memoir "Spare" made plentiful
allegations about the royal family. In one especially revealing segment,
Harry elaborated on the alleged dispute between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle ahead of the
latter's royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. Bringing receipts to the table,
Harry decided to share the supposed text messages between his wife and his sister-in-law. According
to Harper's Bazaar, the Princess of Wales allegedly texted Meghan to complain about
her daughter Charlotte's dress being too baggy. Meghan reportedly replied to Kate with,
"Right, and I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At [Kensington
Palace]. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?"
According to Prince Harry, Kate subsequently told Meghan via text that all of the flower girl
dresses needed to be remade, despite the wedding being mere days away. Meghan allegedly responded
by sharing her own stress regarding the drama surrounding her father, who ended up missing the
royal wedding. According to the Duke of Sussex, the entire text exchange and Kate's alleged
rudeness reduced his wife to tears — and added even more stress during an already fraught time.
Social media can cause us all problems from time to time, and the royal family is not
exempt. Princess Eugenie made a potentially rude social media faux pas when she seemingly
cropped Kate Middleton out of a photo. In an Instagram post shared in June 2022,
Eugenie posted several photos from Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee
celebrations. One of the pictures showed the queen on the balcony with King Charles,
Prince William, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte. On the far right of the picture,
a slither of Kate's dress was visible, but the Princess of Wales had been almost entirely cut
from the snap. Royal fans flooded the post with comments. One Instagram user wrote,
"Who crops a picture purposefully to exclude Kate (and Camilla). This is
low and more than petty. It's mean girl behavior."
Whether or not Eugenie was being intentionally rude remains unclear.
While Queen Elizabeth II seemed to warm to King Charles' second wife,
Queen Consort Camilla, their relationship reportedly took quite some time to thaw.
For her 2022 book "The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the
Crown," Katie Nicholl interviewed historian Robert Lacey. He detailed
Queen Elizabeth's allegedly real thoughts on Camilla Parker Bowles, telling Nicholl,
"In 1998, when Charles was trying to persuade his mother to be more accommodating of Camilla,
the Queen described her as 'that wicked woman.'
Those damning words were reported in distress by Prince Charles himself."
If Lacey's words are to be believed, the queen was most definitely not a fan of Camilla,
especially in the wake of Princess Diana's tragic death in August 1997.
In the years after the queen's alleged verbal jab, Charles' new partner began to ingratiate herself
with the royal family and the general public. In fact, when Charles and Camilla finally tied
the knot on April 9, 2005, the queen had some important words for the couple. According to The
Irish Times, the monarch toasted her son and his new bride after the wedding by reportedly saying,
"They have come through and I'm very proud and wish them well.
My son is home and dry with the woman he loves."
Elizabeth even surprised many when she made a
surprise announcement regarding Camilla's future royal title.
"She said that when her son Charles becomes King, his wife Camilla will
be known as Queen. After all the drama of the Diana years, this is quite a moment."