When you're The King, the list of things people won't let you do is probably pretty short. But according to a former royal butler, King Charles has his own set of personal rules that would make even the most type-A person look chaotic. Normally, the 76-year-old—who is a famous workaholic—is busy shaking hands with the public, meeting with dignitaries or taking part in a good-old group hug. But even when he's at home, it turns out that Charles is a true creature of habit.
Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie, Grant Harrold—who served as a butler to King Charles and his family from 2004 to 2011—revealed what a typical day looks like for The King. And even when he's not busy taking on royal duties, Charles isn't one to forgo formality.
"The day would always begin with breakfast, the only difference with the royals is that it would always be taken in the dining room," Harrold shares. "You would certainly never catch The King having breakfast in bed."
While a leisurely bedroom breakfast might not be in the cards for The King, he's not a big lunch person. For years he was known not to eat lunch at all, although it was recently revealed that Queen Camilla talked him into eating "half an avocado to sustain him" while undergoing cancer treatment.
Harrold echoes The King's no-lunch preference, stating, “Royal engagements would start at 10 o'clock. The King would hardly ever stop for lunch and engagements would continue throughout the day.” However, he adds that "Often one of their engagements later in the day would usually involve an afternoon tea to make up for the lack of lunch."
“All engagements are usually finished by the early evening, but sadly this is when the office work begins," the former butler continues. "Charles doesn't really stop.” The King is so busy, in fact, that Harrold shares dinner would "usually be served between 8 and 11p.m."
Prince Harry and Prince William shared similar statements about their dad's workaholic tendencies in a documentary to celebrate the now-King's 70th birthday. "He does need to slow down, this is a man who has dinner ridiculously late at night," the Duke of Sussex said (via the Daily Mail), adding his father "goes to his desk later that night and will fall asleep on his notes to the point of where he'll wake up with a piece of paper stuck to his face."
Perhaps breakfast in bed isn't such a bad idea, after all.
