At the age of 73, Prince Charles had been preparing for the crown his entire life. With a lengthy career of duty and service behind him, he has now taken on the role of King, following the death of his mother.
But during his years before taking on the greatest challenge yet, he was still extremely busy, working on many issues close to his heart - and many kind gestures behind the scenes went unreported. Now actor Richard E Grant has praised King Charles III, who arranged to visit his wife before she died from lung cancer last year.
His wife Joan Washington, who was a voice coach to celebrities including Penelope Cruz and Jessica Chastain, died in September last year at the age of 74. Now actor Grant has told how the King was a big fan due to his love of accents, and ensured to keep in touch during her treatment.
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Grant, who is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, said Charles and Camilla sent lengthy letters and arranged a visit to Highgrove House around Washington’s medical appointments.
He told the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine: "He’s a well-documented fan of accents and The Goon Show, and as my wife was an accent coach he loved her ability to do different voices.
"They were both extraordinarily kind, visiting and so on, given how busy he is.”
The former Prince of Wales ascended to the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday.
Grant, 65, has also praised a number of famous faces who were at his side when he was grieving.
He said TV chef Nigella Lawson "cabbed food over every single Sunday”, while Gabriel Byrne, who played Grant’s alcoholic father in film Wah-Wah, sat for hours chatting with Washington in their Cotswold cottage.
Speaking about his grief, Grant said: "Like the weather, it changes a lot every hour. Something can trigger you completely unexpectedly.
"You’ll be standing in the supermarket and just have to crumple because something has reminded you."“Or you see somebody that you haven’t seen for a while who you then have to console as they’re upset because they have just heard what’s happened to my wife.
"So I think you don’t get over grief – and I know this from the death of our first child – but you go around it. It’s a daily navigation.”
* This weekend, the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror celebrate the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Be sure to pick up your copy of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror to get poth pullouts.
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.
