King Charles: 8 Weird Oddities Harry Spokes About Him

It would be presumptuous to say that the world is not sufficiently informed about the life of King Charles, 74: The British monarch remained in waiting position for the throne for more than seven decades. Time enough to make headlines with a failed marriage, a partly public affair and various faux pas. But a look behind the palace walls reveals much more. And of all things, his youngest son Prince Harry, 38, reveals how his father really ticks.

8 King Charles Revelations No One Expected

The relationship with his parents is one of the main themes in the exile royal’s book. Harry describes the trauma that he is apparently still trying to cope with due to the premature death of his mother Princess Diana, † 36. But he also writes about his father, whom he would like to have “back” – although the two had a rather bittersweet relationship throughout their lives. The fact that the 38-year-old feels a deep love for his “Pa” can be clearly read between the lines, despite all the strange distance and hard arguments. This is supported by almost affectionate descriptions of the British sovereign’s quirks.

1. King Charles has a – slightly limited – nose

In a past life, Charles must have been ‘a tracker’, Harry claims in ‘Spare’ [zu Deutsch: “Reserve], and explains with a wink: “He was always sniffing something. Food, roses, our hair.” Perhaps, the prince muses, “he smelled things so profusely because he found it difficult to perceive anything besides his own scent. “‘Eau Sauvage’. He spilled the stuff in copious amounts on his cheeks, neck, smeared his shirt. Floral, with a hint of something pungent, like pepper or gunpowder, it was made in Paris.”

2. He loved – for a long time – his teddy bear

Before Queen Camilla, 75, became part of the Royal Family, someone else shared Charles’s bed. According to Harry, the king owned a teddy bear, which allegedly accompanied him for a long time despite the happy relationship. “A pitiful thing, with broken arms and dangling threads, here and there patches on the holey fur,” his son recalls. “Teddy expressed eloquently – and better than Pa ever could – how deeply lonely he was as a child felt like.”

He and Prince William, 40, always thought their father was entitled to something better. “Apologies to Teddy, Pa deserves a decent companion. So, if asked, Willy and I promised Pa that we would welcome Camilla to the family.”

3. He expects from his wives exactly what he expects from his coronation

Restraint and minimalism are Charles’ motto in love and job. Before Duchess Meghan, 41, met her future father-in-law, Harry briefed her thoroughly: “Her hair was down because I suggested she wear it that way. Da likes it when women wear their hair down. Grandma too. You often commented on ‘Kate’s beautiful mane’.” And not only that: “Meg wore little make-up, which I also suggested,” says her personal stylist de Luxe. “Pa didn’t approve of women who carried a lot.”

4. The king starts the day with a headstand

King Charles has had a recurring and ambitious routine for decades: Even when his sons were still in diapers, he started his day with a headstand. Behind closed doors and wearing only boxer shorts. If he only sensed a quiet approach to his room, he is said to have cried out imploringly: “No! Don’t open! Please God, don’t open it!” his home workout.

5. He kept appearing unexpectedly at Harry’s bedside

It remains unclear whether Prince Harry sleeps too well or whether his father, the nose, has special sneaking skills. It seems, however, a slightly disturbing childhood memory of the Duke of Sussex that Charles kept surprising himself at the foot of his bed – and probably scaring little Harold, as William calls his brother, from time to time almost to death. He towered over his “beloved boy” and “tickled my face until I fell asleep,” the now-dad-of-two recalls the occasions when his dad tried to calm him down.

6. Refreshing bath with ghetto blaster

Not infrequently, Harry and William would hear their father shuffling past their room as they were eating their dinner. Over fish fingers and cottage pie, “we heard Pa padding by in his slippers, coming out of his own bathroom.” Charles “had his ‘radio’, as he called his portable CD player, on which he liked to listen to his ‘story books’ while bathing.”

7. Charles literally avoids the press

“He never read. He read everything from Shakespeare to the White Papers on climate change, but never the news of the day,” Harry recounts, adding – almost secretly in parentheses – “He watched the BBC, but that often ended with him throwing the remote control at the TV.”

8. The monarch sleeps at work

Harry writes almost admiringly about how hard his father works. He and his brother often “found him at his desk amid mountains of bulging mailbags.” “More than once we found him fast asleep with his face on the desk. We shook his shoulders and he hopped up with a piece of paper stuck to his forehead.”

Conclusion: love at a distance

It is only eight points from a series of tales about King Charles that confirm Prince Harry’s memoirs in their contradiction. The distance to the father, which is repeatedly described, is borne by a longing love. Lines that give hope that one day the “prodigal son” will be able to make peace with his family again.

Use source: “Spare” by Prince Harry; published on January 10, 2023

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