There are some strange things you might not know about Prince Charles, from his need for
a personal toilet seat while he travels, to his weird egg choices, to his connection to
Barbra Streisand.
A lot of us have specific travel rituals.
Some of us prefer to bring along our own pillow and others like to pack their go-to shampoo.
But Prince Charles really takes the cake as the royal travels with his entire bedroom
set.
And as strange as it sounds, it's apparently true.
Journalist and author Tom Bower reported in his book, "Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion
and Defiance of Prince Charles," that when Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were invited
to a friend's home in northeast England, he allegedly demanded that his entire bedroom
set be brought with them.
A truck full of his belongings arrived at the home a day before the heir's arrival,
and included the prince's orthopedic bed, along with his own bed sheets.
In addition to the complete bedroom sets, Charles was apparently accompanied by his
own toilet seat, speciality toilet paper, his choice of whiskey, bottled water, and
two landscape paintings of the Scottish Highlands.
Unsurprisingly, he was not invited back.
Prince Charles has a green thumb, but his passion reportedly extends into the strange
territories of talking to plants.
According to the Express, Charles was working with the Woodland Trust and BBC Countryfile
in order to supply trees to different gardens and sites throughout the United Kingdom, as
part of a scheme to promote planting and sustainability.
In a tweet regarding the matter, the Clarence House Twitter account revealed that,
"[Charles] often gives a branch a friendly shake to wish it well."
Yes, the heir to the British throne likes to give trees little handshakes.
Of the initiative, Charles shared his interest in providing solace and comfort for people
outdoors, especially in light of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Announcing the campaign, Charles said,
"I know that so many people during this terribly difficult year have had their appreciation
of the trees and other green spaces around them deepened.
Therefore it is our duty given how long that it takes for a tree to mature to plant trees
now for future generations to enjoy."
Another strange aspect about the royal family, and specifically Prince Charles, is that the
royal will have the ability to change his name once he becomes king.
Charles has been waiting to be king for quite literally decades, and of course, we all know
him by his given name as a prince.
But taking the throne after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, could change that.
According to the Constitution Unit at University College London's School of Public Policy,
as king, Charles will be able to choose his own name, just as his predecessors did before
him.
"King Edward VII chose Edward as his regnal title [...] Prince Charles' Christian names
are Charles Philip Arthur George.
Instead of becoming King Charles, he might choose to become King George VII, or King
Philip, or King Arthur."
They say that you can tell a lot about a person based on their ability to give good gifts,
and when it comes to Prince Charles, let's just say that he doesn't have the best track
record.
As noted by the Evening Standard, one such instance came when famed musician Ozzy Osbourne
was in a biking accident that left him with fractured ribs, a fractured collarbone, and
a badly damaged neck.
The prince wanted to extend his sympathies to the music legend for enduring such an incident,
and sent over a bottle of Scotch as a gesture.
Now you might be thinking that this kind of gift would be appreciated, and while it's
technically the thought that counts, Sharon Osbourne made it quickly known that her husband
has been famously sober since the mid-2010s.
Sharon shared during her once-hosted talk show,
"We heard from Prince Charles and – never let anyone say he's a bad guy 'cause he's
all right by the Osbournes.
He sent my husband a bottle of Scotch, which of course he's not going to drink."
Hopefully Charles does his homework before giving gifts in the future.
We've all heard about fixtures such as libraries, town halls, and museums being named after
an important figure or politician, but what about a species of animal?
When it comes to oddities about Prince Charles, one stood out in particular, and that's that
the prince had a previously unknown frog species named after him.
Researchers published in the Zootaxa journal estimated that they had found two new species
of frogs in the Ecuadorian forests.
The discovery was rather fantastic, as the area in which the frogs were found has suffered
greatly from a chytrid epidemic which has killed a huge number of amphibians globally.
As many royal fans know, Charles has been at the forefront of environmentalism and has
spent a good deal of his public life advocating for more eco-friendly alternatives in order
to curb damage to the planet.
In honor of the prince and his contribution to the field of eco-advocacy, one of the new
frog species was named after him, which is most certainly an honor.
Many childhood experiences are defined by a hobby.
For Prince Charles, his interests as a young man materialized in a rather niche way, and
in 1975, he officially joined the Magic Circle, a secretive group of magic enthusiasts, some
of whom have passed down membership within their families.
Charles couldn't wave his royal wand and join the exclusive club simply because he was a
royal.
Instead, he was reportedly invited to the secretive association by his great-uncle,
Earl Mountbatten, who himself had been a member for more than two decades.
Charles' interest in magic carried on throughout his life, and when it came time to celebrate
his 70th birthday, he made sure that it was a magical affair topped to the brim with Britain's
finest magicians.
Prince Charles is known for his eco-friendly approach to life as well as his advocacy work
when it comes to the environment.
But being mindful of the planet has materialized itself in a rather interesting way for the
prince.
As noted by The Guardian, Charles revealed that his prized Aston Martin car now runs
on leftover wine and cheese instead of the traditional petrol gasoline.
“My old Aston Martin, which I've had for 51 years, can you believe this, runs on surpless
English white wine."
However, according to Greg Archer, Britain's director of clean transport campaign group
T&E, the prince's alternative fuel might be doing more harm than good.
"Prince Charles's quaint solution [...] should not be mistaken for a serious solution to
decarbonize vehicles [...] On a large scale biofuels do more harm than good, driving deforestation
and land use change that worsens the climate crisis."
"The security of nature's entire life support system is banking on it."
Before Prince Charles became romantically involved with Princess Diana, he was dating
her sister, Sarah Spencer.
As noted by Marie Claire, Charles was courting Sarah, who was six years older than Diana,
in 1977.
At the time, Charles was 28 and Sarah was 22.
The pair went on a skiing trip to Switzerland together, and while there aren't a ton of
details about their relationship, it seemed to fizzle out over time.
Sarah was very frank in an interview regarding the relationship once it had come to a close.
According to The Mirror, Sarah allegedly shared,
"[I would] not marry Charles if he were the dustman or the King of England."
She also reportedly said,
"Charles makes me laugh a lot.
I really enjoy being with him.
[...] But there is no chance of my marrying him.
I'm not in love with him.
And I wouldn't marry anyone I didn't love."
We all know that Prince Charles had an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and dated Diana
Spencer's older sister before turning his attention to his teenage bride.
But you might not know that the prince once reportedly got close with none other than
Barbra Streisand.
Charles reportedly always had a keen admiration for the Tony winner, and he even went to the
set of "Funny Lady," the sequel to "Funny Girl," to meet her.
In an interview on Lorraine, Streisand shared,
"He asked to meet me.
So he came to the recording studio [...] We became friends, and I loved spending some
time at Highgrove for a weekend fundraiser and going through his gardens."
Vanity Fair later detailed that while Streisand was staying in London, she walked into her
hotel room and noticed a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers sitting on the table.
The singer revealed,
"I said, 'Who sent me that?'
And [my assistant] said, 'A fan called Charles.'
And I said, 'Really?
Let me see the note' — and there was his seal."
"She just mistook it for a fan.
It was so funny, I thought, 'That's Prince Charles!"
A strange fact about Prince Charles is that he was significantly bullied while in school.
The heir to the throne apparently "thrived" during his at-home education in his early
years, but once he was 8 years old, he attended Hill House School and later Cheam School,
the latter of which is the oldest private school in Britain.
Boarding school was a reality of Charles' life, as it was for many royal children, but
Charles was reportedly extremely homesick and suffered as a result.
By the time he attended Gordonstoun, the alma mater of his father, Prince Philip, the bullying
he experienced went from bad to worse.
According to the Radio Times, Charles referred to his time in school as, quote, "a prison
sentence," because he was bullied and experienced significant isolation as a result.
As reported by the publication, one of Charles' classmates shared,
"He was crushingly lonely for most of his time there.
The wonder is that he survived with his sanity intact."
Surprisingly, the heir to the British throne was reportedly the subject of match-making
efforts by former president Richard Nixon.
Charles went to the United States in 1970.
He was 21 at the time, and arguably the world's most eligible bachelor.
Nixon introduced the prince to his daughter, Tricia Nixon, and the two apparently went
on to spend a good deal of time together during the prince's trip.
Per the Express, ​​royal biographer Anthony Holden revealed,
"Seating plans constantly had Charles and Tricia side by side while the program had
them spending all of each day together."
Sadly, the president's efforts were largely unsuccessful, and according to the Express,
"Charles was 'distinctly annoyed' and found Tricia 'plastic and artificial.'"
With the amount of world traveling that Prince Charles has gotten to experience, you'd think
that he'd be a fan of international cuisines.
But apparently, that couldn't be further from the truth.
According to royal author Sally Bedell Smith, Charles is such a picky eater that he pretty
much sticks to the same breakfast meal every morning of eggs or cereal grains with honey,
served with fruit and tea.
He also reportedly has a tendency to skip lunch.
What's more is that Charles' breakfast specifications are so detailed that multiple eggs are boiled
for him just so that the right kind of hard boiled egg reaches his table.
Jeremy Paxman, a journalist and broadcaster, shared in his book "On Royalty,"
"Because his staff were never quite sure whether the egg would be precisely to the satisfactory
hardness, a series of eggs was cooked, and laid out in an ascending row of numbers."
A lot of us would take advantage of the royal perks if we had access to them, as it all
sounds rather wonderful.
For some members of the royal family, it's just the way of life that they have always
known.
Prince Charles, however, is strangely a workaholic.
As noted by the BBC, Charles works seven days a week, despite the assurance associated with
his position as heir to the throne.
He reportedly starts his work day shortly after breakfast, and is known to work well
past midnight.
As detailed in the BBC documentary "Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70," even the royal's
sons admitted that their father should cool his workaholic jets.
Prince Harry said during the documentary,
"He does need to slow down.
This is a man who has dinner ridiculously late at night, and then goes to his desk later
that night and will fall asleep on his notes to the point where he'll wake up with a piece
of paper stuck to his face."
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