How Prince Charles Was Branded As ‘Petulant’ And ‘Selfish’ After Embarrassing Queen Elizabeth

Prince Charles was previously branded as petulant and selfish after he embarrassed Queen Elizabeth II. The heir to the throne’s so-called act of rebellion took place in 1999.

At that time, Prince Charles was expected to attend the state dinner organized by the Chinese president. But without any prior notice, the dad of two didn’t show up to the gathering. According to Prince Charles’ former aide, Mark Bolland, the snub seemed deliberate, especially since Prince Charles was a supporter of Tibet.

In the documentary “The Royal House Of Windsor,” royal reporter Richard Kay also talked about the incident. He said that the members of the royal family were supposed to attend the gathering to foster good trading relations with the Southeast Asian country.

“There was absolutely an expectation that Charles would be there and the way that the royals arrive at these banquets, the Queen is last to arrive, so Charles would have been sort of the second last to get out,” Kay said. “And when the car came and it was the Queen getting out, then obviously we realized we had a big story here because the Prince of Wales wasn’t there. There was no explanation for it. The palace didn’t brief on it. I think they were caught unaware,” he added.

The royal reporter went on to say that Prince Charles’ boycotting act didn’t necessarily result in him letting the British monarchy down. Rather, the move embarrassed his mother, the Queen. And to make things worse, no one from Prince Charles’ team could give an explanation on why he didn’t attend the event.

“Buckingham Palace’s response was one of anger, so angry in fact that some of their senior officials briefed journalists about what they described as a ‘petulant and selfish prince,’” Kay explained. “The Labor government was spitting tacks, fuming about it. They saw this as a huge breach of the prince's duty to the state.”

But several years later, Prince Charles proved that he was unfazed by the criticisms he received in 1999. In 2015, he and Camilla Parker Bowles didn’t again meet up with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he traveled to the United Kingdom.