The life of the British royals is nothing less than extravagant. With all that money and assets they own, this doesn’t come as a surprise. But have you ever wondered what sort of demands they have while traveling and visiting places? If yes, we will reveal some of King Charles’ ‘shocking’ demands which lead to his wife, Queen Camilla, get furious at times.
At the time being, the royal family receives around £86 million annually from taxpayers, a sum which is to increase to £125 million in 2015 because of the new government plan.
The sovereign grant, or the monarchy’s annual budget, is always matched against the profits from the crown estate. However, it appears that some things were not getting the much-deserved attention.
“The review of the royal funding settlement was heavily spun by the Treasury to give the impression that the king would be taking a pay cut so that crown estate funds could instead be spent on public services,” the Guardian wrote.
“In fact, the report reveals the monarchy is due to receive a huge pay increase, although the rise will not kick in for another two years.”
According to the government, this change would mean that plenty of the money will go to public services.
However, not everyone is happy this change. Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy group Republic, now accuses the UK government of “appalling dishonesty.”
“The palace and government are guilty of appalling dishonesty, trying to spin an expected huge funding increase as a cut,” Smith told Yahoo. “How can we add tens of millions of pounds to Charles’ budget when we’re told there must be a cap on child support when schools are struggling to make ends meet?
“When nurses are fighting for a decent pay rise, Charles digs his hands deeper into our pockets,” he added. “He should hang his head in shame at this grab for money and the dishonesty of suggesting it’s a cut.”
The King and the Queen are busy planning the number of trips around the world, thus prioritizing Australia, New Zealand, and several Commonwealth realms in the Caribbean.
In October, a royal source shared with the Mirror: “The King and his family are keen to hit the ground running in these crucial first few months and years of his reign.”
“He certainly wants to carry on the long-held mantra from his late mother of being seen to be believed and is very keen to get out and meet as many people as possible.”
Having an estimated net worth of around £478 million, it’s not surprising that King Charles enjoys a life of luxury, and this isn’t only true when it comes to his plenty of homes, but when he’s travelling, too.
Some of the staff that used to work for Charles now reveal some of his demands and what every member of his household staff, his four chefs, five house managers, three valets and dressers, and two butlers, is expected to follow specific rules.
As revealed by Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell, Charles had “everything done for him…”
“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,” Burrell said, adding that the now-king even “has his valets squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush every morning.”
In the documentary Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm, Burrell added that the King wants his bathtub “only half full” and is precise about his bathing temperatures.
The most outrageous claim about King Charles’ travelling routine was made by author and royal expert Tina Brown, who spoke to 120 insiders and sources, and revealed in her book The Palace Papers that Charles allegedly sends a large van of his possessions to friends’ country houses the day before his arrival, where they unload his “bed, furniture and even pictures.”
It included his orthopedic bed, Kleenex Velvet lavatory paper – and even a toilet seat.
This isn’t the first time that someone spoke about this claim. In the past, Tom Bower wrote in his book Prince Charles, Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion, and Defiance of Prince Charles that Charles indeed does this.
The King and the Queen didn’t comment anything regarding bringing their bed when visiting other places, but the claim about the toilet seat made them angry and they decided to address it.
In an interview with an Australian radio station in 2018, Charles said, “My own what? Oh, don’t believe all that c***.”
Camilla responded in a similar manner.
“So he doesn’t carry his own toilet seat when he travels?”
“Don’t you believe that!” Charles replied.
According to royal experts, the King needs to be worried about other, more significant issues the monarchy is facing.
“The Royal family as we know it is on the brink of collapse and risks abolishing itself by stealth if the King doesn’t take steps to boost visits that have fallen radically over the last decade,” the Civitas report’s author, Frank Young, said, as quoted in the Express.
“Through death, scandal, and resignation, the Royal family is increasingly reliant on a few hard-working members, with Charles, Anne, and Edward doing almost half the work…. We now need new working royals or will have to accept a Royal Family that is more distant from the people than at any time in the past 100 years.”
As Charles is interested in the ides of ‘slimmed down’ monarchy, he needs to be aware that the number of working royals is too low and he has been urged to appoint more “working royals” who can meet people across the country.
“The King’s ambition might be misplaced and potentially misjudges the true public mood,” he said, Young said, as quoted by Express, suggesting that Princess Beatrice, as well as Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, should become full-time working royals.
“More people want the monarchy to remain unchanged than reflect changes in British life,” he concluded.
