Charles never stops for lunch and has a breakfast of fruit and seeds, his former press secretary has revealed.
Despite rumours that the King is served a line of eggs to choose from every morning, Julian Payne said "I never saw a single boiled egg at breakfast in all the years I worked there.”
He added: “The King doesn’t eat lunch; so, an early lesson I learnt when out on the road with him was to have a big breakfast or bring a few snack bars with you to keep you going.
“The working day is pretty relentless. Beginning with the radio news headlines and a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and seeds with tea.”
His household is run with precision by a small but dedicated team of staff, most of whom have been with him for decades.
A day in the office is equally busy. Back-to-back 45-minute sessions on his charity’s next project, a forthcoming tour or a discussion with Sir Clive Alderton, his principal private secretary, about matters of state.
Twice a year all his work is put into a new six-month diary.
This planning was organised from a mixture of invitations from his 400-plus patronages and military links alongside his nation and state work, such as the state opening of parliament, Remembrance Sunday and so on.
There is a break from his ‘relentless schedule’ about 1pm, but “not to eat but to get outside to walk.
The King dislikes being inside for too long and always has the windows wide open.” Mr Payne said.
The first real pause in the day will be at 5pm, when the King will stop for tea, a chance for him to recharge, often with the Queen Consort, over sandwiches and a piece of fruit cake.
If there is anything left after the cake has been passed around, it will be placed in a Tupperware box to reappear the next day and the day after that.
Then it’s back to his desk to tackle the mountain of paperwork that, despite the best efforts of his PAs, never seemed to get any smaller.
Dinner is at 8.30pm sharp and then at 10pm he heads back to his desk, usually until well past midnight.
Mr Payne said the King's habit for late nights is also true of public engagements, where his gregarious approach and willingness to chat to lots of people means these often go on for hours on end.
One famous example of this is reported to have come at a James Bond premiere several years ago, where it took longer than expected for him to eventually speak to Daniel Craig as he was busy in conversation with set designers and security guards.
