The subtle sign King Charles is unhappy or stressed: ‘You would probably never notice’

The monarch’s ‘mannerisms’ change when he is stressed

A former royal butler who previously worked for King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla has revealed how to tell when the monarch is displeased.

Grant Harrold, who worked for the then-Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall from 2004 to 2011, said he never saw the royal get “angry” but has seen him when he was stressed.

He said that now, even after more than a decade since he last worked for the couple, he can tell when the King is “unhappy” by simply watching him on television.

“There was a documentary I watched a couple of years ago and the interviewer kept asking the same question,” Harrold recalled during an etiquette event this week. “You would probably never notice, but I could tell that he had had enough.”

Asked what the monarch’s signs were, Harrold told The Independent: “It’s in his mannerisms. He’ll just suddenly [look left and right], he’ll be fidgeting a little bit and kind of look all around, it’s quite interesting.”

Harrold mimed shifting in his seat and continued: “It looks like this, like he’s just getting comfortable [in his chair], but actually he’s not happy.”

The former butler said that the most stressed he has ever seen the King was the period immediately after the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“When the Queen died and we saw the pen incident, I really felt for him then,” Harrold said, referring to a moment Charles appeared to get irritated and lose his temper due to a leaky pen.

There have been two incidents where His Majesty has appeared to get stressed over his pen. The first took place during his first Privy Council meeting to sign documents and saw Charles gesturing for an ornate pen holder to be taken away by an aide. Later, upon seeing the pen holder a second time, Charles pulled a face before it was removed again.

The second incident occurred at at the royal residence of Hillsborough Castle in Co Down in Northern Ireland. After the ink from his pen dripped, Charles told his aides: “I can’t bear this bloody thing... every stinking time.”

At the time, the new monarch was branded “petulant” by some critics for his attitude.

However, Harrold sympathised with the King and said: “Losing both parents so quickly, and then having to carry on doing stuff in front of people – that was probably the most stressed I’ve ever seen him.”

Charles is preparing for his and Camilla’s coronation on Saturday 6 May, which will be attended by 2,000 guests, including other members of the royal family, politicians, foreign royals and dignitaries, and celebrities.

The UK will celebrate the historic occasion with a bank holiday weekend, as Monday 8 May has been appointed a bank holiday.