King Charles is a notoriously hard worker, regularly working late into the night and skipping meals to get through his hefty Red Box. Despite this, he enjoys several hobbies that keep him busy, from beekeeping to organic gardening to tending to his flock of chickens. It seems impossible that he would have time for much else, but he is also a voracious reader and passionate watercolor painter.
With all of these hobbies and diverse skills, and every tutor and mentor imaginable at his disposal, there is one hobby that King Charles admits he once tried—but “failed miserably.” Speaking to former Olympic diver Tom Daley at a garden party in Washington, D.C., Daley asked King Charles if he tried knitting. “Oh no, no, you’re much better at it,” The King joked, before admitting “I tried at the age of eight, and I failed miserably.”
The former Olympian and The King shared a good laugh at the royal failure. King Charles remarked that the hobby is “so good for your mental wellbeing,” to which Daley passionately agreed. Tom Daley is an advocate for the wellbeing benefits of knitting, and has even suggested that the skill be taught in schools again to promote mindfulness and mental wellbeing, a cause that The King—and perhaps even Princess Kate—could get behind.
While Princess Kate is a supporter of anything to promote mindfulness and wellbeing, and has many “grandma hobbies” to support her mental wellness, she also failed at attempts to learn to knit. On a royal engagement in 2020, Princess Kate revealed she tried learning how to knit when Prince George was a baby. “I tried knitting when I first had George,” she told a group of volunteers at the event who were showing off their knitting skills. “I tried to knit him a very special jumper, but I got half way down and it just splattered.” The princess told the group “it's such an amazing skill.”
While The King and the Princess of Wales don’t share a passion for knitting, they are both avid beekeepers and passionate gardeners. Dinner table conversations must be interesting, as the two surely bond over honey extraction and tomato harvests.
