King Charles’ Famous Temper Appears to Have Resurfaced as Video Catches Him Snapping at An Aide Regarding a Struggling Queen Camilla

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 17 July 2024

King Charles has a pretty famous temper—two words: fountain pen—and it was on display at a royal engagement Monday in Jersey, when he and Queen Camilla were caught in a torrential rainstorm. In a video seen on The Independent, the weather was truly gnarly as Charles and Camilla stepped outside, umbrellas in hand. Camilla was attempting to simultaneously hold her umbrella and put on her coat, and the King “appeared to snap at an aide to help a struggling Queen Camilla as she attempted to put on her coat in heavy rain,” The Independent reports. The King initially tried to help his wife “before looking visibly annoyed and gesturing for assistance from staff,” the outlet continues.

What would a moment like this be without asking the lip readers and body language experts for input? According to lip reader Jacqui Press—who was speaking to The Daily Mail—Charles told Camilla “Move your arm through the back,” and, when that didn’t work, the aide was summoned, with the King fiercely demanding “Come and help her!”

Body language expert Judi James told The Mirror that Camilla just might have a “similar relationship with raincoats as Charles does with leaky pens.” (IYKYK.)

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James added “Stuck with only one arm in a sleeve, Charles turned to help, but only after performing a jaw jut that signaled some frustration and growing irritation. His impatient-looking tugging of her sleeve only made things worse and, like his episodes with the pens, he seems to look behind in a state of tetchiness to get someone from their staff to do the job instead. Poor Camilla is finally heaved into the coat, but it’s a while before she can regain her pose and composure again and get back to her regal role.”

King Charles — Charles was frustrated that an aide wasn't coming to his wife's assistance.

Queen Camilla — Camilla, coat firmly on after a bit of a struggle.

This isn’t likely related at all, but Camilla “actually injured herself during the visit to Jersey,” The Mirror reports, adding that the Queen “sported a bandage on her right ankle. The strapping on her ankle for a sprain was visible” during a royal engagement, part of the couple’s two-day visit to the Channel Islands. The visit was an eventful one—in addition to Camilla’s apparent sprained ankle and coat issues in torrential rain, she had to make a quick exit from an engagement “when a member of her security team rushed over and told her the visit was being cut short,” The Daily Mail reports.

The security issue “turned out to be a false alarm,” and Charles and Camilla “were soon able to continue with their planned program of engagement,” the outlet added. Buckingham Palace didn’t officially comment on what happened, but it is understood, according to The Daily Mail, that there was a “small issue of concern.”

The couple are back in London now for the State Opening of Parliament today—which happens to fall on Camilla’s 77th birthday.

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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.