The Prince of Wales is very particular about having his familiar luxuries travel with him, even when making visits to the country homes of his friends, a new book about the royal family has claimed.
The newly-published book by Tina Brown, author of 2007 biography on the life and death of the Princess of Wales, The Diana Chronicles, claims that Prince Charles’ insistence on bringing his own furniture and decoration to overnight stays vexed the Queen.
Brown writes of the future king’s “material character” in her tell-all, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor.
The author spoke to more than 120 sources over the course of two years to write The Palace Papers, which promises to “irrevocably change how the world sees the British royal family”.
She described how Charles would send a truck to his friends’ country houses the day before he was due to arrive to unload his necessities.
These included his “orthopaedic bed, lavatory seat and Kleenex Velvet lavatory paper”, as well as landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, Brown said.
The prince’s former aide Michael Fawcett – who was recently embroiled in a cash-for-honours scandal involving The Prince’s Foundation – was described as “pampering” and would ensure the pictures would be hung in the royal’s designated bedroom.
Fawcett was also in charge of ensuring that Charles’ teddy bear from his childhood would travel everywhere the prince went in a plastic bag. When in need of a fix, Charles’ former nanny Mabel Anderson would patch up the old toy, the author claimed.
Charles’ particularness extended to his food and drink preferences as well, according to the book.
While the Queen would eat what she was served no matter where she went, the prince would ensure his hosts knew his menu preferences before he arrived.
Sometimes, he would attend dinners with a “pre-mixed martini” carried by his protection officer, which would be given to the butler and served in his own glass, Brown said.
Brown’s explosive new book comes ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, to mark her 70th year on the throne.
Her Majesty recently gave her blessing to Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall as future King and Queen, marking a significant milestone in his royal position and relationship with his mother.
In February, the 96-year-old monarch called on the British public to support the prince and the duchess when the end of her reign eventually marks the start of Charles’.
But Brown’s book also claims that the Queen hasn’t always approved of her son’s choices.
Charles “insisted on living in Edwardian grandeur” and maintained a large number of staff at all his royal residences, which include Clarence House, Highgrove House, Birkhall and Llwynywermod.
During a visit to his mother’s Sandringham estate with the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the Queen reportedly exclaimed in “dismay” that Charles had to have eight rooms for the amount of staff he had follow him around.
But it was the prince’s relationship with Camilla while he was married to Diana that caused the most problems for the Queen. the author said.
According to Brown, three private secretaries implored Her Majesty to demand that Charles stop seeing the duchess before and during his marriage to Diana – but she did not intervene.
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - The Truth and the Turmoil by Tina Brown is available from 26 April 2022.
