King Charles’ Public Outbursts: How His Temper Has Occasionally Broken Through the Royal Composure

King Charles has spent a lifetime preparing to wear the Crown, but maintaining the famously unflappable composure associated with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has not always come naturally. From an exasperated reaction to a faulty fountain pen to an angry remark about a BBC correspondent caught on microphone, the monarch has had several unusually candid moments in public.

His latest incident came during the royal tour of Antigua, when a sudden tropical downpour left him standing in the rain while Queen Camilla was quickly escorted to shelter beneath an umbrella. As aides scrambled to find protection for the King, he threw up his arms and repeatedly demanded: “Where’s the umbrella?”

The moment quickly attracted attention, particularly because it offered another glimpse of Charles reacting openly when events fail to go according to plan. Yet the King also appeared to see the funny side afterwards, joking that he had started “growing watercress” on his trousers.

It was far from the first time his frustrations had been caught on camera. Over the years, several incidents have offered a rare look at the more impatient side of a monarch whose public image is usually carefully controlled.

The faulty fountain pen that sparked ‘pen-gate’

One of Charles’s most memorable public displays of frustration occurred in September 2022, shortly after he became King following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

During a visit to Hillsborough Castle near Belfast in Northern Ireland, Charles was signing a visitors’ book when his fountain pen began leaking ink. What should have been a routine formality quickly turned into an awkward scene in front of the cameras.

“Oh God, I hate this pen!” he exclaimed, standing up and passing it to Camilla.

His wife responded calmly: “Oh, look, it’s going everywhere.”

But the King’s irritation continued. “Oh, I can’t bear this bloody thing… every stinking time,” he muttered before walking out of the room.

The footage, quickly dubbed ‘pen-gate’, spread widely online. It was not even the first time that week that Charles had appeared frustrated by writing equipment. During the Accession Council at St James’s Palace, he had gestured repeatedly towards an inkstand that was obstructing his space on the table, prompting an aide to remove it.

The incidents offered a glimpse of the pressures surrounding his sudden transition from heir apparent to sovereign. After decades spent preparing for the role, Charles had taken on the Crown at a moment of immense personal and national change, while continuing to carry out an exceptionally demanding schedule.

The hot-microphone moment that embarrassed the future King

Another incident that attracted widespread attention took place in 2005, during a family skiing holiday in Klosters, Switzerland.

Charles, then Prince of Wales, was posing for photographs with his sons, Princes William and Harry, just eight days before his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles. BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell asked how he was feeling ahead of the upcoming wedding.

Charles responded sarcastically: “I am glad you’ve heard of it.”

However, the exchange did not end there. A small microphone attached to his clothing picked up what he said after the cameras had moved on from the direct conversation.

“Bloody people. I can’t bear that man anyway. He’s so awful, he really is,” he muttered.

The remarks quickly became a major news story. The controversy was heightened by the fact that Charles had reportedly been informed of the questions journalists would ask before the photocall, meaning Witchell’s question was not entirely unexpected.

His press secretary subsequently expressed regret, explaining that the comments reflected the Prince’s frustration with the constant presence of photographers and the intense media attention surrounding his forthcoming marriage.

A perfectionist under the pressure of royal life

Charles has long been described as a perfectionist, with a demanding working routine that reportedly involves reading briefings and preparing speeches late into the night. His tendency to become irritated when arrangements go wrong may be viewed in the context of the extraordinary expectations placed on him throughout his life.

As the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, he grew up under constant public scrutiny. From an early age, he was expected to uphold the standards of the monarchy, maintain a polished public image and keep personal frustrations out of view.

His late mother became widely associated with a calm, composed manner, even when faced with the everyday inconveniences of royal life. Charles, by contrast, has occasionally allowed his irritation to show, making those moments a talking point far beyond the immediate circumstances.

Some may see these flashes of temper as making him more recognisably human: even a monarch can become frustrated by faulty equipment, unexpected weather or relentless media attention. Others may feel that public displays of anger sit uneasily with the restraint traditionally expected of the sovereign.

There may also have been an additional consideration during the recent incident in Antigua. Charles has been receiving treatment for cancer since Buckingham Palace announced his diagnosis in February 2024. In August 2026, Reuters reported that he remained in treatment, although the palace had previously said that his treatment could be scaled back following an early diagnosis and effective intervention. Standing exposed in a tropical downpour during an official engagement was therefore an unwelcome complication.

The article also recalls Charles’s late father, Prince Philip, becoming unwell after standing in the rain during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, although the circumstances were different.

Charles shows he can put old disagreements behind him

Despite the memorable remarks about Nicholas Witchell, the relationship between the King and the former BBC royal correspondent appears to have softened over time.

When Witchell retired from the BBC in 2024, Charles sent him a message for his retirement celebration, a gesture that reportedly surprised those attending given their history.

Witchell confirmed that he had received messages from the King but declined to reveal their full contents. Reports from the event described Charles’s contribution as warm and generous, suggesting that the long-standing tension had become a thing of the past.

Charles may never have inherited his mother’s seemingly effortless public composure, and his occasional outbursts continue to attract attention precisely because they are so rarely seen from a monarch. Yet those moments also reveal a more candid side of a man whose life has largely been shaped by duty, protocol and public expectation.

For most people, losing patience over a troublesome pen or getting caught in the rain is an ordinary bad day. For a King, even the smallest flash of frustration can become a headline.