King Charles enjoys a breakfast of fruit and seeds and regularly skips lunch, according to his former press secretary. Despite rumours that the new monarch is presented with a line of eggs to pick from for his first meal of the day, ex-employee Julian Payne says: "I never saw a single boiled egg at breakfast in all the years I worked there.”
He adds that the King will often work through lunch and quickly learned that, while out on the road, that it is best to have a big breakfast and bring a few energy bars to snack on throughout the day. Julian explains: "The working day is pretty relentless. Beginning with the radio news headlines and a breakfast of seasonal fruit salad and seeds with tea.”
A small but committed team of staff, many of whom have worked for Charles' for decades, run the royal household with military precision. A day in the office is equally jam-packed, the Mirror reports.
Back-to-back 45-minute sessions on his charity’s next project, a forthcoming tour or a discussion with Sir Clive Alderton, his principal private secretary, about matters of state. Twice a year all his work is put into a new six-month diary.
This planning was organised from a mixture of invitations from his 400-plus patronages and military links alongside his nation and state work, such as the state opening of parliament, Remembrance Sunday and so on. There is a break from his ‘relentless schedule’ about 1pm, but “not to eat but to get outside to walk.
The King dislikes being inside for too long and always has the windows wide open.” Mr Payne said.
The first real pause in the day will be at 5pm, when the King will stop for tea, a chance for him to recharge, often with the Queen Consort, over sandwiches and a piece of fruit cake. If there is anything left after the cake has been passed around, it will be placed in a Tupperware box to reappear the next day and the day after that.
Then it’s back to his desk to tackle the mountain of paperwork that, despite the best efforts of his PAs, never seemed to get any smaller. Dinner is at 8.30pm sharp and then at 10pm he heads back to his desk, usually until well past midnight.
Mr Payne said the King's habit for late nights is also true of public engagements, where his gregarious approach and willingness to chat to lots of people means these often go on for hours on end. One famous example of this is reported to have come at a James Bond premiere several years ago, where it took longer than expected for him to eventually speak to Daniel Craig as he was busy in conversation with set designers and security guards.
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