King Charles will ‘lose his temper in a split second’ if his very particular demands aren’t fulfilled, insiders have claimed in an upcoming book.
The monarch, 76, is said to lash out over small details before instantly regretting it, as revealed in the bombshell document by royal expert and journalist Tom Quinn, due to be published on February 18.
The book, which details accounts from royal servants over the years, revealed an insider’s perspective on what life was really like inside the royal household.
Insiders explained that Charles and Queen Camilla always treat their staff ‘well’, but that the King is prone to ‘little bursts of irritation’.
Charles, who is widely known to have a temper and has previously fumed in public over his pens not working, has very particular demands for how tasks are carried out.
The monarch was said to have kicked up a fuss if he wasn’t given the ‘right teacup’ and also had opinions on how his toothpaste was placed on his brush.
In an extract from Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants seen by FEMAIL, one servant recalled: ‘Charles and Camilla do treat their staff well, but you always feel that they would no more fly without an aeroplane than invite you to have tea with them.
‘And Charles does have little bursts of irritation with his staff – perhaps he hasn’t been given exactly the right teacup, perfectly polished shoes and toothpaste neatly squeezed on to his toothbrush in exactly the way he likes it.
‘He loses his temper in a split second but usually quickly regrets it.’
King Charles has been noted for his occasional tempers over the years, most famously ranting about a leaky pen.
In 2022, Charles vented his frustration at a leaky pen while signing the visitors book at Hillsborough Castle – telling courtiers he ‘can’t bear this bloody thing’.
Just a few days earlier, the King furiously motioned for an aide to move an ink pot as he signed documents when he was proclaimed the new King.
Meanwhile, last year a frustrated King Charles moaned ‘we can never be on time’ as he waited in coach outside Westminster Abbey ahead of his Coronation, lip readers claimed.
The occasional tantrums of King Charles and the bullying tactics of Prince Andrew seem to have been ‘inherited in different measures by Prince William and Prince Harry’, Tom Quinn writes.
‘They both get irritated very quickly,’ said one former member of staff. ‘Throughout their lives they have had these things done for them, so they are very picky. It comes naturally to them.
‘People who have everything done for them from childhood tend to be rather spoiled and prone to bouts of irritation because they have no idea how much work is involved in washing and ironing, polishing and sewing when they have never done any of it themselves.’
Remembering Harry’s temperament, one of the Duke of Sussex’s former servants said: ‘I remember once in his private apartments I’d muddled something – some of his papers on his desk or something.
‘He was immediately angry and it was out of proportion to the problem, or at least I thought it was.
‘I was surprised at how cross he was about something so trivial, but his other staff had experienced similar incidents.
‘We thought it was a bit rich complaining about me being muddled given that Harry was probably the most muddled of all the royals of his generation.’
Prince Andrew, however, was said to have far more serious temper tantrums.
The Duke once banished a staffer because he ‘couldn’t bear’ to look at a mole on his face and is said to have been very particular about how his staff look and dress.
The book tells how Andrew was ‘bossy’ and tended to ‘act like a classic school bully’ with staff – widely assumed to be down to frustrations he would never become king.
According to the book, several former servants recalled Andrew – said to be the late Queen’s favourite son – insisting on removing a staffer due to disliking a mole on the man’s face.
Another occasion saw him arrange for the removal of a member of staff as he was wearing a nylon tie.
In an extract from Yes Ma’am, one servant recalled how Andrew would act ‘frustrated’ about not being the first born.
They recalled: ‘A bit like his aunt Margaret, Andrew always behaved as if he was frustrated about not being the first-born and therefore destined to become king. This frustration made him a bit of a bully in private, I think.
‘If he liked a member of his staff, he could be very loyal and supportive, but he couldn’t resist being imperious and bossy and bad-tempered if anything went wrong or wasn’t done exactly to his liking.’
They added: ‘Some members of his staff, I won’t say a majority, privately thought he was the classic school bully – just the sort of person who used to bully his brother Charles at Gordonstoun [Charles’s school].’
Although a former maid at Kensington Palace refused to name the prince in question, she said he would shout the naval order, ‘Clear the decks’, indicating that she had to ‘scurry out of the room and make sure no staff were loitering between the prince and the lavatory he was planning to visit’.
He also liked to bounce a tennis ball off the walls, breaking expensive clocks and ornaments in the process. The maid also emphasised that the same prince would not allow staff with moles on their faces to work for him.
The disgraced Duke has largely been forced to withdraw from public life in recent years over a series of scandals – with his weekly rides remaining a rare time he ventures into the public eye.
Andrew has been embroiled in a series of scandals over the years, such as his associations with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and, more recently, controversy over his links to an alleged Chinese spy.
In recent weeks, Andrew has faced fresh pressure after it emerged he promised Jeffrey Epstein they would ‘play some more soon!’ weeks after supposedly cutting ties with the paedophile.
In 2022, Andrew was accused of ‘overbearing’ and ‘verbally abusive behaviour’ towards Palace staff.
Paul Page has claimed he personally made three separate complaints to the Palace during the time worked in the Royal Protection Command from 1998 until 2004.
And speaking to The Sunday Mirror, be said that he is aware of ‘at least a dozen’ other reports made by colleagues about the Duke of York.
‘The Palace have a problem because there are instances and evidence of Prince Andrew being overbearing and verbally abusive,’ he told the newspaper.
Mr Page alleged his complaints during his time working for the Palace were ignored because senior courtiers wanted to avoid agitation, and called on officials to launch an investigation into the complaints in the same way they did with Meghan Markle.
‘Buckingham Palace launched a bullying investigation against Meghan last year after she was accused of wrongdoing,’ Mr Page, whose revelations in an ITV documentary sparked a string of complaints about the duke, said.
‘If it’s a fair organisation that looks after its staff, an investigation should be started to confirm whether or not Andrew is guilty of being a bully and of intimidating staff.’
He said that Andrew had a bed with ’50 or 60′ stuffed toys and maids were given a laminated picture so each bear could carefully be put back in its original position.
Other members of the household have said he made very little effort to be pleasant.
One member of staff said: ‘He was just dreadful — very happy to pick up the phone and shout at whoever answered it.’
Andrew was also said to have launched into a torrent of foul language at the Queen’s press secretary over an umbrella for Her Majesty.
In his book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, Valentine Low told how he pointed in the face of James Roscoe, and said: ‘Who the f*** are you to ask these men to find you a f***ing umbrella? You go and find your own f***ing umbrella.’
And in the Amazon Prime series A Very Royal Scandal, Michael Sheen plays a pompous Andrew whose first scene sees him storming through the corridors of the palace, barking at a footman to ‘f*** off’.
Yes, Ma’am – The Secret Life of Royal Servants by Tom Quinn, published by Biteback, £20.