Freak out and bad behavior?: King Charles III. is under a lot of pressure

He has been out of office for a week for the inappropriate behavior of King Charles III. discussed. Apparently, the 73-year-old’s nerves are always blank. But there are really plenty of understandable reasons for that.

After 70 years as heir to the throne, the former Prince Charles has moved from the second royal rank to the first and is suddenly at the center of the news following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last Thursday. It is in the nature of things that this enormous amount of attention seizes him in the phase of the deepest grief for his mother. Still, the 73-year-old’s nerves are likely to run low at times.

For the past few weeks, Charles has been visiting the Queen daily, being by her side in her last days and hours, and surely receiving many more wishes and instructions from her for the tasks ahead. What exactly Elizabeth gave her son for the job as head of the British monarchy, which she held for 70 years, remains his secret. But the pressure that has been placed on him since then is immense.

Overtaken by the past

Until now, the press had only casually covered Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor aka Charles. For example, when he traveled abroad with his wife Camilla, had himself photographed baking or planting trees, or attended public appointments as a representative of his newly weakened mother. In the course of the coverage, however, older scandals of the ex-prince also come to light, such as the failed marriage to Princess Diana and the extremely slippery phone call for the divorce from his then lover Camilla.

Now it is the likeness of Charles that adorns the covers. The public is watching the royal senior every step of the way, and due to the current situation, he’s doing quite a bit now. We must not forget that the new king will celebrate his 74th birthday in November. While he is starting his career from scratch, most of the others his age are long retired.

The physical limitations the king may already be struggling with can only be guessed at. The sight of his hands has long fueled speculation about his health, as they are unusually swollen and reddish. During a visit to Australia in 2019, Charles himself joked about his “sausage fingers”.

Stressed over a pen

Family physician and medical journalist Dr. In an interview with RTL, however, Christoph Specht gave all the clarity. “Basically, it could be arthritis, an inflammation of the joints accompanied by swelling. But the fact that the back of the hand is also swollen is an indication of edema.” Such water retention is not uncommon in older people and is not a cause for real concern. The whole thing should still annoy him, which could explain his behavior in signing papers, which was heavily criticized recently.

Twice in a few days he lost his nerves at such an appointment. When signing his proclamation on Saturday, he was annoyed by the position of an inkwell and made an imperious gesture to his servants to move the cutlery. A new video is now circulating, taken during his visit to Northern Ireland. In it, he grumbles about a fountain pen that apparently leaks when he wants to sign the guestbook of the royal residence. “I can’t stand this damn thing.” Is he really mad at the inkwell and fountain pen, or is he just distracting from the fact that his “sausage fingers” make it hard for him to reach out and sign?

But Charles is quite used to critical reporting. As heir to the throne, he devoted himself to ecological agriculture and conservation, and was therefore repeatedly ridiculed, as well as for his critical statements about modern architecture. And as a former prince, he is also familiar with stress and anger. He once led a legal dispute with the newspaper “The Guardian” over the so-called “Black Spider Memos”. In it, the then heir apparent in 2004 and 2005 tried to exert political influence on politicians. It was also recently revealed that as a prince, he was likely to accept several million pounds from the family of slain terrorist Osama bin Laden, as well as money from Qatar.

Unloved king?

According to the British media, this is probably one of the reasons why many Britons want Prince William to be the head of the royal family. Knowing that is certainly not a nice feeling for the new king. Overall, his reign began at a politically and economically difficult time: Liz Truss had just replaced Boris Johnson, overthrown over his scandals, as Prime Minister, and the British people were suffering from high inflation and rising poverty. In addition, there is still thick air within the own family. Charles’s relationship with his youngest son Harry and wife Meghan has been disrupted since they left the royal family. All this can make even a man of his stature nervous and cranky.

In the past 20 years, it must have scratched its self-confidence more often, always in the shadow of its mother. Throughout her life, the queen never thought of leaving the throne and leaving it to her descendants. Maybe she didn’t trust him to rule to the end and now he’s doubting himself too? It was often speculated – albeit jokingly – that Elizabeth would outlive her eldest son and that he would never hold the position of king. It is not known whether Charles shared this fear.

With all the stress, the heir to his mother’s millions doesn’t help the mood either. After all, Charles was already rich, born with the proverbial “golden spoon” in his mouth. Unlike his disgraced brother Andrew, he has never had to worry about his financial situation. He probably never had to help with the household either, he is used to having everything carried afterwards. The fact that, in the ears of outsiders, he now speaks the wrong way to his employees is probably not even unusual for those affected.