Alan Titchmarsh feels ‘guilty’ calling King Charles his friend as it seems opportunistic

Alan Titchmarsh is reluctant to call King Charles his pal

Alan Titchmarsh said he feels "guilty" when he refers to King Charles as a friend because he thinks he’ll be seen as opportunistic.

When the TV presenter and gardener, 73, was asked in a new interview about his 40-year-friendship with the monarch, he said: "The King sweetly calls me a friend, which is very nice of him.

"I always feel a little bit guilty when I say he’s a friend of mine – it sounds as though I’m trying to latch on to his coattails.

"I’m very fond of him and respect him a lot."

Titchmarsh was also asked by Metro online how impacted he was by the Queen’s death.

King Charles and the Queen consort, Camilla, invited Titchmarsh to ‘come and see us soon for tea’ on his final day before becoming King (Andrew Milligan/PA) (Getty Images)

He replied: "I was really sad. I’d met her a lot over the years and enjoyed her company on numerous occasions.

"She led a long and full life and 96 is a good age. I was particularly pleased that the transition [to King Charles taking over the crown] was so smooth.

"Everybody said, ‘Oh, when the Queen goes, the tectonic plates will shift’. Well, they didn’t and I think the King showed his mettle by just picking up and carrying on."

The famed gardener ‘was really sad’ when the Queen passed in September (Getty Images)

In October Titchmarsh revealed he had dinner with the King at Dumfries House in Scotland the evening before the Queen died and sang his praises.

He told The Times: “We understand each other. He’s a good man who works unbelievably hard for the good of our country."

He also voiced concerns about how the King may be received by the public and in the days following Queen Elizabeth’s death, when two videos of the King having issues with pens went viral online.

In one clip, he used a leaky pen while trying to sign a document in Northern Ireland.

Titchmarsh, pictured with the late Duke of Edinburgh, rubbed shoulders with most of the royals (PA Archive)

“Oh god I hate this [pen]!” he said. “I can’t bear this bloody thing, what they do, every stinking time.”

Titchmarsh said: “I just worry people won’t give him a chance. This thing with the pen – I mean, for God’s sake.

“He lost his father last year and he’d just lost his mother. And suddenly he has to sign a proclamation and then visit the countries of the kingdom – I mean, you’d get in a bit of a strop if your pen leaked, wouldn’t you?”