King Charles’ Tantrum Caught on Camera in Royal Tour Mishap
The monarch blew up when caught without an umbrella in a downpour.
King Charles has been filmed gesticulating wildly and furiously demanding an umbrella from aides after being caught in a torrential downpour during a royal visit to Antigua.
Cameras caught the moment the heavens opened as Charles, 77, attended an event marking the 45th anniversary of the nation’s independence on Sunday.
King Charles was left in desperate need of cover as the heavens opened in Antigua.
Isabel Infantes/ Reuters
The king threw his arms up and mimed holding an umbrella, while repeatedly asking aides, “Where’s my umbrella?”
Eventually, Queen Camilla was handed a see-through umbrella and escorted out of the elements, while Charles stood in the downpour until an aide brought him one.
The King later reportedly quipped about the strength of the sudden rainfall: “I’ve started growing watercress on my trousers.”
Charles was inspecting troops during the country’s annual Independence Parade at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium when he was caught in the downpour.
Aaron Chown/Aaron Chown/ Reuters
The downpour eased off after around five minutes, allowing the parade to continue and Charles to inspect the troops.
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It’s not the first time a royal meltdown has been caught on camera, with Charles having a long history of public displays of pique.
At a signing ceremony in Northern Ireland in 2022, Charles famously vented his frustration at a leaky pen.
“Oh God, I hate this,” Charles said. “I can’t bear this bloody thing … every stinking time,” he said as he walked away.
Britain’s King Charles in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach in Westminster on the day of his coronation in London, England, May 6, 2023.
Marko Djurica/Reuters
And during his coronation procession parade in 2023, a lipreader caught Charles expressing frustration at delays.
“We can never be on time” and “there’s always something. This is boring,” Charles apparently said while waiting in his state carriage.
And Charles was pictured angrily gesticulating to aides to help Camilla in 2024 as she tried to put her coat on during another downpour, this time on a visit to Jersey, a UK territory off the coast of northwestern France.
Sources told the Daily Beast in 2024 that Charles has a short fuse, describing him as having a “terrible temper” and an “irascible streak.”
“Anything he perceives as incompetence particularly brings it out. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly,” one aide said.
Antigua and Bermuda gained full independence from the UK in 1981. Charles attended the ceremony Sunday as part of a nine-day Caribbean tour.
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