‘He loses his temper in a split second’: Royal servants detail King Charles’ toothpaste tantrums

There are generally two types of kings in fiction. One is the dependable, paternal, and wise ruler, using his knowledge and foresight to ensure the happiness of his subjects. The other is a petty and small-minded tyrant, ready and willing to sever a few heads if he can seize more power. We suspect King Charles would like to be seen as the former, but behind closed doors, he’s sometimes very much the latter.

A new book, Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, by royal expert Tom Quinn, features interviews with former members of royal staff to get the inside scoop on what really goes on in Buckingham Palace when there are no cameras around. Fortunately, the general consensus is that Charles and Camilla treat their servants fairly decently: “Charles and Camilla do treat their staff well, but you always feel that they would no more fly without an aeroplane than invite you to have tea with them. “

That said, Charles in particular is prone to “bursts of irritation.” For example, the King has thrown hissy fits if he’s not handed “the right teacup,” if his shoes are sufficiently shiny, or if he’s given a leaky pen. That last one actually took place in public, giving us a taste of what a disgruntled king looks like:

Oh God I hate this!": King Charles gets annoyed by a leaky pen. pic.twitter.com/fJH71wABVE

— Pamuk Prenses (@pamukyavrum) November 10, 2023

Teacups and pens are one thing, but woe betide the poor servant who squeezes Charles’ toothpaste onto his toothbrush the wrong way, as this specific error infuriates Charles the most. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how you put toothpaste on a toothbrush “the wrong way,” but I guess when you’ve been coddled your entire life, you notice things like that.

That take is echoed by a former member of staff, who believes Charles’ temper is a natural consequence of being raised as a spoiled little princeling:

‘Throughout their lives they have had these things done for them, so they are very picky. It comes naturally to them. People who have everything done for them from childhood tend to be rather spoiled and prone to bouts of irritation because they have no idea how much work is involved in washing and ironing, polishing and sewing when they have never done any of it themselves.”

The silver lining is that while Charles might lose his cool over inconsequential things, he apparently doesn’t dwell on it for long, with a former aide saying “he usually regrets” losing his temper. That said, he almost certainly never apologizes for doing it, as that’s simply not very kingly behavior.

Toothpaste tantrums aside, by the standards of the British monarchy, Charles doesn’t sound like the worst boss in the world. After all, anyone working for him must be constantly breathing a sigh of relief they’re not assigned to Prince Andrew, who’s widely regarded as a bully willing to fire someone for having a mole on their face or wearing a nylon tie in their presence. After all, we’d rather get yelled at by a king for giving him the “wrong teacup” than be in charge of arranging Andrew’s skin-crawlingly weird plushie collection before bed each night.