King Charles’ Energy-Cutting Efforts at Buckingham Palace Has Staffers “Shivering” When They Swim in the Palace Pool

(Image credit: Getty)

published 28 May 2023

It has long been understood that King Charles is an environmentalist—but, according to The Mirror, the King’s energy-cutting matters have resulted in him turning down the thermostat at Buckingham Palace (I mean, highly likely he himself did so, but) leaving the Palace staff shivering in the swimming pool there. (Things we never thought we’d write as a royal reporter.)

Additionally, the King is also apparently looking to hire a live-in chef to make vegan meals. “Charles follows a vegan diet one day a week where he avoids eating meat, fish, and dairy products for environmental reasons,” the outlet reports. “And he has also been keen to reduce the royal household’s energy use, which has been a priority of his in recent years.”

He has also installed solar panels at Clarence House—where he and Queen Camilla live—and his country home, Highgrove. Now a goal of his is to cut energy consumption at Buckingham Palace—where he often works—and, according to a source speaking to The Times, “a few people using the pool have noticed that the temperature of the water has dropped, and it is quite a bit cooler than it used to be. They have been told the King has had the heating turned down.”

Many aren’t aware the Palace even has a pool, but it does, and it is where Prince William and Prince Harry learned to swim; the three Wales children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—have also learned the skill there, as well. It was commissioned by King George VI in 1938 for his daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret; he wanted to allow them to have private swimming lessons rather than the public ones they had been taking at the Bath Club.

The King, in addition to apparently turning the heat down, is fastidious for turning off the lights, too, The Mirror reports—and it’s a habit both William and Harry have picked up, too.

“He’s a stickler for turning lights off,” Harry said in the documentary Prince, Son, and Heir: Charles at 70. “And that’s now something that I’m obsessed with as well, which is insane because actually, my wife goes ‘Well, why turn the lights off? You know it’s dark.’ I go ‘We only need one light, we don’t need, like, six,’ and all of a sudden, it becomes a habit and those small habit changes he’s making, every single person can do. And I think that’s one of the key lessons, certainly, that I felt that he taught us.”

William agreed, adding “I know I’ve got serious OCD on light switches now, which is terrible.”

Well, maybe not so much…

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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