Freshly-ironed pajamas. Private jets.
And.. a servant who literally dresses him? Yes, Prince Charles clearly lives
a lavish life — but you'll be shocked to learn just how extravagant it really is.
They say that the best days start with a good night of sleep, and it seems as though no one
knows this better than Prince Charles. While you might be happy to throw on an oversized T-shirt
and jump into bed, the heir to the British throne has a few more specifications. And,
as you may have guessed, his wishes are carried out entirely by his staff.
In the documentary Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm, Princess Diana's former butler,
Paul Burrell, claimed that has a number of bedtime-specific demands, including the
ironing of his pajamas. In another documentary, Queen of the World, Canadian household master
Christine MacIntyre admitted that Charles requires his bedsheets to be ironed, too.
Each sheet can take up to an hour to press, adding to the frivolity of the heir's bedtime routine.
"And that's what you're trying to do, make it feel like they're in their own bedroom. And they are!"
Serving the Royals also reveals that Prince Charles' luxurious way of life has resulted
in a staff-given nickname. Apparently, the staff of Clarence House — where
Prince Charles resides — call the heir the "pampered prince." And it's easy to see why.
In the book Rebel Prince, author Tom Bower revealed that Charles was unable
to identify a very common household item. As it turns out, he didn' know what plastic wrap
was. After asking staff to "leave food out for him to eat later" in the day,
Charles reportedly let out a "shriek" upon discovering the leftovers.
The heir had allegedly been "frightened upon encountering the cold meats covered by the
unknown product," prompting him to ask his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles what the product was. Using
the British name for it, Camilla had to inform him that it was, in fact, called cling film.
Among other things, former butler Paul Burrell has also shed some light on Prince Charles' clothing
habits, revealing that his specifications are narrowed down even to the status of his shoelaces.
Like his pajamas, Charles reportedly insists on having his laces "pressed flat with an iron."
With an admission like that, then, you'd think that the heir to the throne would be incredibly
careful with how he treats his clothes. But while Charles might pay attention to his appearance,
he reportedly doesn't look after his attire. In 2002, Burrell had been charged with stealing royal
items, and his trial brought Charles' lavish lifestyle to the attention of the public.
For example, it was revealed that Charles "changes his clothes five times a day"
and leaves his expensive clothes thrown all over the floor wherever they land — the expectation,
of course, is that one of his valets will clean up after him. As The Guardian reported at the time:
"It is then their job to make sure the clothes are
washed and returned to the correct place in his mahogany wardrobes."
Still, this is nothing compared to Prince Charles' dressing routine. During an appearance in the
documentary The Madness of Prince Charles, royal expert and biographer Anthony Holden
revealed that the prince has not one, but two people dress him every morning. Holden said:
"Charles, for all his attempts to find out how the other half lives
and interest in the less fortunate in society, for all that, he has two men,
paid for by the state, to help him get dressed in the morning."
Prince Charles has about a million official titles, and one of them is the Duke of Cornwall.
As such, he has a dukedom — or a "duchy" — that he oversees and can profit from.
A dukedom can consist of a number of assets, such as investments, land, and more.
Now, a duchy is technically considered as a "crown body" by the British government,
essentially designating it from your typical organization. As such,
Charles' duchy qualifies for a tax exemption, allowing the heir to the throne to significantly
profit off of these assets. One of the most significant assets unique to Charles' duchy
is his supermarket investments, which grant him a yearly income of almost $24 million. From there,
the money he received was funneled to his family members and his so-called "official duties."
Anything that was leftover was then taxed. What does all this mean?
Basically, Charles makes a killing off his inherited land, and he only pays taxes on it
after he has siphoned off a good chunk for himself. Interesting system, don't you think?
While Prince Charles is known for being the heir apparent,
for his relationship with Princess Diana, and for his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles,
he is also known for being a vocal supporter of environmental causes.
In fact, the issue is so close to his heart that the royal has an entire section of his
official U.K. government-sanctioned website dedicated to it, claiming:
"For over fifty years, The Prince of Wales has
used his unique position to champion action for a sustainable future."
"My old Aston Martin, which I've had for 51 years,
that runs on — can you believe this — surplus English white wine."
That's all well and fine, but it turns out that Charles' actual lifestyle may be a far cry from
environmental consciousness. The Daily Beast once put together a list of the expensive habits and
hobbies the prince indulges in, and as it happens, Charles' personal travel is very harmful to the
environment. For example, during a European tour in which he made climate change a defining aspect,
Charles flew on a private plane, resulting in a carbon footprint of 52.95 tonnes.
The Daily Beast was quick to point out that if the heir had simply traveled on a commercial plane,
he would have decreased his carbon footprint by 95%.
And that's not all. According to The Daily Beast, from 2018 to 2019,
Charles and Camilla spent about $1.7 million on travel, making a significant contribution to
the 3,344 tonne carbon footprint of the entire royal family. If that wasn't shocking enough,
author Tina Brown has asserted that the heir apparent is very specific about his travel habits,
even demanding that his entire bedroom set be transported to any guest residence. In her
book The Palace Papers, Brown revealed that when traveling, Charles expects his full bedroom set
to be transported and set up — even if he's just visiting friends in the countryside. Brown wrote:
"When he traveled to stay at friends' country houses, a truck arrived the day before,
bringing his bed, furniture, and even pictures, which his pampering aide Michael Fawcett ensured
would be hung in his allotted bedroom in place of the possessions of his host."
Perhaps no other physical object is more reflective of wealth and lavishness than a car,
and if you're Prince Charles, well the motoring world is your oyster.
Apparently, the heir to the British throne has not one,
not two, but three Aston Martin vehicles in his collection. The first model was a DB6 MKII
Volante given to the prince by his mother, Queen Elizabeth, for his 21st birthday. The second,
a V8 Vantage Volante, was also a gifted car, presented to Charles by the Emir of Bahrain.
But it's his third Aston Martin, the 1994 Virage Volante, that deserves special attention.
This car was Charles' choice mode of transportation in the 1990s, and unlike his
other two Astons, he actually paid for it. Charles reportedly signed a 15-year lease on the car,
made some modifications, and used it as his everyday way to get around.
Those modifications included a police radio, an additional rear-view mirror,
and a custom-created leather jar that stored his ponies' sugar cubes.
Prince Charles is very particular about the food he ingests on a daily basis,
and when the news about his peculiarities broke, it actually caused a little bit of a stir. British
journalist and television presenter Jeremy Paxman once revealed that Charles is partial to a boiled
egg for breakfast — but not just any boiled egg. Apparently, the firmness of said egg has to be
just right, so much so that seven are prepared at varying levels of cooked. Paxman revealed:
"Because his staff were never quite sure whether the egg would be precisely to the satisfactory
hardness, a series of eggs was cooked. If the prince felt that number five was too runny,
he could knock the top off number six or seven."
Apparently, Charles did not like that his egg-related habits were spilled to the press.
In a very rare move, his spokesperson put out a statement rebuking the story.
However, the prince's egg specifications were then
bolstered by a former housekeeper who had served Charles for almost a decade.
With all of Prince Charles' quirks and specifications, you're probably wondering
how much money the prince has — and how many staff members it takes to upkeep his lifestyle.
Well, one article published by Forbes lays out Charles' income from his duchy as well
as his earnings from the Sovereign Grant. Collectively, Charles sits on millions of
dollars' worth of income per year, and a good chunk of it goes towards
maintaining his staff. In 2020, for example, the duchy had a $50 million revenue turnover,
with more than half of that money going directly to Charles' family — and to himself, obviously.
"Boom."
Of that about $30 million, $7.3 million went straight to the heir's personal staff.
That might sound like a lot, but when you consider that his staff
at Clarence House numbers 132 people, it all starts to make sense. Still, though,
that's a heck of a lot of money for a man to have his pajamas ironed.
There's no doubt about it — a morning routine can be a game-changer. If you adjust your day and
really start off the morning right, everything that comes after can go just swimmingly. Who
doesn't want that? Well, Prince Charles certainly appears as though he sticks to a morning schedule,
although it's just a little bit over the top compared to most people.
Royal Servants, a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary that aired on British television,
details Charles' daily wakeup habits. Thanks to the film, royal reporter Clive Goodman,
and the British media, we know exactly what the heir to the
throne does when he first wakes up in the morning. As Goodman explains:
"The Prince of Wales, he doesn't lift a thing. He gets up in the morning,
his bathrobe is there waiting for him; he walks into the bathroom,
the bath is drawn for him already. Even when he gets out of the bath,
the towel is folded in a special way so he just has to sit in it and wrap it around him."
It probably won't come as much surprise to hear that Prince Charles also has
some very specific and very picky bathroom habits.
Paul Burrell has revealed that, when it comes to Charles' daily soak in the tub:
"The bath plug has to be in a certain position and the water temperature has to be just tepid."
If that wasn't enough, a member of the prince's staff then "squeeze[s] one inch of toothpaste onto
his toothbrush every morning." Furthermore, Tina Brown revealed in The Palace Papers that Charles
has very specific toilet needs, even taking his toilet seat taken on vacation with him. Brown
disclosed that valet Michael Fawcett would account for the so-called "paraphernalia" that Charles
would travel with, "including the Prince's […] lavatory seat, and Kleenex Velvet lavatory paper."
If you're feeling a little grossed out at the sheer opulence of Prince Charles' lifestyle,
you're not alone.
"It could be very easy just to drift into, kind of, taking everything for granted."
In fact, Queen Elizabeth herself reportedly has
choice thoughts about her son's lavish way of life.
As reported by The Guardian, the queen allegedly believes that the "amount of
kit and servants [Charles] takes around is grotesque," and while her own staff
is much bigger than her son's, she probably doesn't have her shoelaces ironed every day.
It is believed that when Charles takes the throne, he will significantly downsize the royal family,
and will likely be far pickier about who gets access to royal perks. Nevertheless,
it's hard to imagine that he'll start slumming it once he gets the top job.
If anything, Prince Charles' life looks set to become all the more lavish.
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