King Charles’s ‘Impatience’ With Staff Is Linked to a ‘Deeper Cause,’ According to Book
While Queen Camilla is said to be able to expertly handle flares of King Charles III‘s temper, an updated royal biography claims the monarch’s “impatience” stems from a “deeper cause.” Specifically, King Charles’s desire to live with a “sense of urgency.”
King Charles ‘can vent his fury’ and ‘calm down moments later’
In a re-release of his 2022 book, Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, which dropped July 6, author Valentine Low discussed King Charles’ temper. Namely, how he can “vent his fury” one moment and “calm down” seconds later.
“After the accession,” Low wrote (via Newsweek), “the public saw a glimpse of Charles’s temper when he had a minor explosion over a leaky pen. Meanwhile, “behind the scenes, his staff are used to such eruptions.”
“He can vent his fury when things go wrong with his schedule,” Low said of King Charles. “Or when he feels that his instructions have not been obeyed, only to calm down moments later when he is assured that his instructions have been followed to the letter after all.”
“‘Oh, thank you so much,’ he will say, the very image of gratitude and contrition,” the author added, describing it as a “roller coaster ride” that “those close to the king are used to.”
Charles has a ‘sense of urgency’ and, in turn, ‘puts pressure on others’
Low continued, suggesting it all goes back to a “deeper cause,” a “sense of urgency” connected to a feeling that “time is short.”
“However, his impatience, according to some close to him has a deeper cause,” Low said. “He acts as if his time is short, which leads to a sense of urgency, as if he has only got a few years to get through everything he wants to achieve.”
“It goes back to the old observation about Charles,” the author added. “He puts pressure on others because he puts pressure on himself. But the king knows all too well, from his years of frustration as Prince of Wales, that change can be slow to come about.”
‘Courtiers’ debut release described King Charles as a ‘demanding boss’ with a ‘proper temper’
Previously, in the 2022 release of Courtiers, Low described the king as a “demanding boss” who may call on staffers at all hours of the day. “Working for him is not a nine-to-five job,” the author wrote before quoting former palace staff on their own experiences.
“He is never satisfied with himself, or what he has achieved. People around him had to work hard to keep up. He had enormous stamina,” a former palace staffer told Low.
Another shared being employed by King Charles “was demanding in that he is always working. Seven days a week. Never stops.”
“At any moment he may want to call you about something,” they added. “Working on his boxes, on his ideas, on his papers. The pace is pretty intense.”
On one occasion, even Prince William admitted to feeling “frustrated” by his father’s busy schedule.
Another one of the king’s former employees touched on the now-74-year-old’s “proper temper,” having witnessed it firsthand. “He would rarely direct it at the individual,” they said of King Charles. “It would be about something, and he would lose his temper.
“He would throw something,” they added, going “from zero to 60 in a flash, and then back down again. Things would frustrate him, especially the media.”
