Charles has been a controversial royal over the years, from his affair during his marriage to Princess Diana and alleged ongoing political meddling, to the occasional slip-up and scandal with aides-de-camp.
Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son has never enjoyed the same public affection as his mother, which could add to the challenges he now faces as king.
He’s grappled with a string of PR headaches for decades, including allegations of being cold towards his enduringly popular first wife, Diana.
Despite some better press lately, the tabloids were good at shooting at him because he seemed distant and unapproachable.
Meanwhile, Charles’ portrayal of his marital woes in the hit Netflix series The Crown may not have garnered much sympathy several decades after that troubled time.
He has also been accused of meddling in politics on various issues such as architecture, homeopathy and climate change.
And in 2021, his most trusted aide resigned as a royal courtier for the second time in his career amid controversy.
“I think all of these things are damaging, from ‘The Crown’ to reality to everything that’s going on,” royal author Penny Junor said in late 2021 as a cash-for-honors scandal erupted which Charles’ charity empire was involved.
“None of this is good news. The Queen is loved very much, Charles is loved less. I think it will be difficult for him whatever happens, but all these revelations are not helpful.”
– ‘Three people’ –
Charles’ image was devastated during his acrimonious split from Diana.
In her extraordinary 1995 interview, in which she revealed her feelings about his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, Diana famously said “there were three people” in their marriage.
The royal couple made the bombastic announcement of their split in 1992, but after the fallout from the controversial sit-down with BBC show Panorama, they finally agreed to divorce.
In her version of events – and her own infidelity – Diana revealed her struggles within Britain’s most famous family, criticized the royals and questioned Charles’s fitness to be king.
It sparked horror from sections of the British establishment but won her public sympathy, which only increased after her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Charles has long been vilified for both the extramarital affair blamed for the split and in part for the royals’ poor initial handling of Diana’s death, when they were widely criticized for being heartless and not in tune with the public.
However, he has gradually regained some public support and grudgingly accepted that he has found happiness with Camilla, whom he married in 2005.
– ‘Black Spider’ –
Charles has stirred controversy because he appears to have spoken out publicly and put pressure on politicians on various contentious public issues, from health to the environment.
In a now infamous series of letters between himself and government ministers, known as the “black spider” memos because of his scribbled handwriting, Charles quizzed them on a range of subjects.
Published by The Guardian newspaper in 2015 after a decade-long legal battle, they included the plight of the Patagonian Toothfish and its famous mumbo-jumbo, modernist blueprints.
Charles’ opposition to a bold new design first caught public attention in 1984 when he likened plans for the remodeling of London’s National Gallery to adding a “monstrous carbuncle to the face of a beloved and elegant friend”.
The disclosure of the “Black Spider’s” letters sparked a backlash against the then-King, fearing he was overstepping his role.
However, in a 2018 interview to mark his 70th birthday, Charles insisted he had never directly involved himself in party politics and understood the difference between the Prince of Wales and the monarch.
– Money for honors? –
More recently, Charles has been embroiled in an alleged cash-for-honors scandal.
A series of newspaper revelations claimed his close associates coordinated work to bestow a royal honor and even British citizenship on a Saudi businessman who had donated large sums to restoration projects of particular interest to Charles.
Michael Fawcett, his former servant who rose through the ranks to become chief executive of his charitable foundation, resigned in 2021 after an internal investigation into the allegations was launched.
It was the latest claim to tarnish Fawcett — and by extension, Charles.
In 2003, Fawcett resigned after being accused of breaking palace rules and accepting valuable royal favors.
He was later cleared of charges of financial misconduct in selling unwanted royal gifts, but an internal report found various members of Charles’ household guilty of “grave negligence”.
