King Charles' demands and prohibitions: no foie gras at the palace this Christmas!
The BBC and other media have reported that King Charles III does not want to eat or even have foie gras present at royal residences.
The press claims King Charles has long been against the food that upsets animal activists. After all, foie gras is made from the liver of duck or goose, which suffer in the cruel, liver-fattening, force-feeding process.
Reportedly the King's household staff sent a letter to Peta, the animal rights activist group, to assure the group that foie gras was forbidden from being served in royal residences.
Banning foie gras at royal residences seems like a reasonable decision. However, King Charles III is known to have some pretty outlandish demands, which is hardly surprising considering the ruling monarch of Britain has been waited on hand and foot his whole life.
In fact, the New York Post reported that it was rumored that the staff at Clarence House, where King Charles lived from 2003 until recently with the Queen Consort, Camilla, nicknamed him the "pampered prince."
Much was revealed about the former Prince of Wales' demands in the 2015 Amazon Prime documentary 'Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm.'
In the documentary, former royal butler Paul Burrell, who also served the late Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana, spoke about the precise instructions the King gives his staff. Charles is known, according to Burrell, for insisting that "everything be done for him."
Pictured: A valet helping Charles with his polo shirt.
In the documentary, 'Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm,' Burrell tells the public that King Charles' day starts off with help from his servants. It seems the King is very concerned about having everything ironed: "His pajamas are pressed every morning, his shoelaces are pressed flat with an iron," said Burrell.
The King also insists that his bath be prepared just to his liking. Burrell states, "...the bath plug has to be in a certain position, and the water temperature has to be just tepid." The King seems concerned about not wasting water as the bathtub must only be filled "only half full."
King Charles III is a busy man, so naturally, he doesn't have time to put toothpaste on his own toothbrush. Instead, Paul Burrell said that Charles has "his valets squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush every morning."
According to News.com.au, Burrell also alleged that King Charles' former valet Michael Fawcett (pictured on the right) was in charge of the daily toothpaste application and that it had to be done with a silver toothpaste dispenser embossed with the Wales crest.
King Charles will only eat a healthy breakfast. The New York Post reported that chef Graham Newbould, a former royal staffer, said he insists on the following breakfast every day: "He'd have homemade bread, a bowl of fresh fruit, fresh fruit juices."
Chef Newbould said that the King also demands that his staff bring his "breakfast box" along when he travels. Newbould said, "He has six different types of honey, some special mueslis, his dried fruit, and anything that's a bit special that he is a bit fussy about." It seems King Charles isn't terribly interested in trying out new foods when he travels.
King Charles III loves a good, boiled egg and reportedly eats boiled eggs every day. But it's not that simple! In the book 'On Royalty,' the famous British broadcaster Jeremy Paxman said that the then-Prince was presented with seven different boiled eggs daily by staff. Each egg was to be cooked to a different degree of doneness so that he could select the perfect boiled egg.
Paxman wrote: "Because his staff were never quite sure whether the egg would be precisely to the satisfactory hardness, a series of eggs was cooked, and laid out in an ascending row of numbers. If the prince felt that number five was too runny, he could knock the top off number six or seven."
Even a simple snack of cheese and biscuits has to be prepared just how the King likes it. MyLondon reported that a royal insider said that "since he's particular about everything," King Charles demands that his cheese and biscuits be warmed to a specific temperature.
However, probably the wildest of King Charles' demands is the fact that he insists on traveling with his own furniture when he visits his friends' country homes.
In 'The Palace Papers,' Tina Brown reported that King Charles always sends a van with his possessions ahead of time with his "bed, furniture, and even pictures."
King Charles III also takes his cocktails and wine very seriously. When Camilla and Charles want a drink it has to be just so!
In 2016, reporter Gordon Rayner, who has gone along on 20 royal tours, revealed that when Charles and Camilla are abroad, one of their bodyguards has to tote a "discreet" bag containing their go-to drinks (gin and red wine, respectively).
Finally, perhaps the strangest demand of King Charles II: the bathroom situation when he travels. The New York Post reported that King Charles III allegedly insists on traveling with "his own toilet seat and Kleenex Velvet toilet paper wherever he goes."
Pictured: King Charles III visits an outback in Australia... perhaps he used his own seat??