Prince Charles may be the heir to the throne, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had an awkward moment or two like the rest of us.
As the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Charles has had a lifetime of being in the public eye and when you’re constantly followed by the media, your dirty laundry is bound to come out in the open.
When he officially became the Prince of Wales in 1969, Charles wrote in a letter which read: “As long as I do not take myself too seriously I should not be too badly off.”
And while he’s had some fun in his 70 years, there have been a few moments when he’s been caught in hot water. Take a look back at his royal scandals through the years that have most likely left the Queen clutching at her pearls.
When he was caught drinking underage
Prince Charles’ first scandal erupted when he was just a teenager. (Image: Getty Images)
When Charlie was just 14, he and his classmates were taken to a village pub where the prince ordered a cherry brandy.
“I said the first drink that came into my head because I’d drunk it before, when it was cold, out shooting,” Prince Charles said, according to Vanity Fair.
But unluckily for the heir to the throne, there was a tabloid reporter at the pub who caught the whole thing. Even though Buckingham Palace denied the reports at first, it was soon splashed across the papers and the truth came out.
Charles’ royal bodyguard and father-figure Don Green was swiftly fired with the prince saying later that “I have never been able to forgive them for doing that… I thought it was the end of the world.”
When he dated his future wife’s sister
Prince Charles and Lady Sarah were an item for nine months. (Image: Getty Images)
Before Diana came on the scene, the Prince dated her oldest sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, for nine months in 1977 but their short-lived PG fling came came to a halt after Sarah gave an embarrassing interview about the Prince.
“Our relationship is totally platonic. I think of him as the big brother I never had. I wouldn’t marry a man I didn’t love, whether it was a dustman or the King of England,” she told two journalists.
“If he asked me I would turn him down,” she added.
To make matters even juicier, Charles reportedly said: “You have just done something incredibly stupid,” after reading her comments.
When he made his first engagement interview VERY awkward
They married in the glitziest, fairytale wedding of all time, but Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage was a disaster from that very first engagement interview.
Prince Charles was the 32 year-old heir to the throne and Diana was the young, virginal bride 12 years his junior that he’d only met 13 times before proposing.
When the interviewer asked the couple if they are in love, Diana replied “of course” whereas Charles gave his infamous and cringe response, “Whatever in love means.” It was a foreboding sign of things to come.
In the documentary, Diana: In Her Own Words, his bride-to-be said, “That threw me completely, I thought what a strange (answer) – absolutely traumatised me.”
On top of that, the only time the couple laughed was when they joked about keeping secrets from one another. Awkward.
READ MORE: Royal splits and scandals.
When he said he wanted to be Camilla’s tampon
Prince Charles and Camilla met in 1978 and hit it off almost immediately. (Image: Getty Images)
Yes, you read that right.
Charles and Camilla’s road to love was undoubtedly rocky, with the two first meeting in 1978 and hitting it off almost immediately. However, Camilla was not a suitable match for the future king and this led to her marriage to Andrew Parker-Bowles in 1973 and Charles’ subsequent marriage to Lady Diana Spencer.
READ MORE: That time Camilla Parker Bowles “broke” Prince Charles’ heart.
But years later in 1992, their secret dalliances were exposed. Despite being married to other people, Prince Charles and Camilla were caught on tape having a flirty conversation and let’s just say the royal version of dirty talk is interesting.
When Charles remarked how he wanted to “live inside her trousers” Camilla laughed and said, “What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers?”
“Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!” the Prince replied.
Naturally, the press had a field day and Charles and Diana’s marriage came to a grinding halt. It was years later after Diana’s death that Charles and Camilla finally became husband and wife in 2005.
When he was caught on camera bad-mouthing a reporter
Prince Charles with his sons at Klosters ski resort in 2005 (Image: Getty Images)
The year was 2005: Prince Charles was set to marry hit longtime love Camilla Parker-Bowles and was enjoying a family ski trip with Prince William and Prince Harry at Swiss ski resort, Klosters.
But alas, Charles was caught out by the press yet again when microphones picked up the Prince complaining about journalist Nicholas Witchell saying, “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man. He’s so awful, he really is.”
READ MORE: Prince Charles’ best moments with Prince William and Prince Harry.
When his alleged love children were exposed
US tabloid The Globe published rogue claims that Charles had fathered a secret love child.
Not just one, but two!
As previously reported by Woman’s Day, former Canadian navy lieutenant Janet Jenkins wildly claims she had unprotected sex with Prince Charles at Highgrove, during his marriage to Princess Diana.
“I was Charles’ lover for 16 years,” Janet told US newspaper, The Globe.
“Ours was a long-distance romance… clothes used to be just ripped off and left where they dropped! At the time, neither of us used birth control or other protection. It was before AIDS and we just didn’t think about it,” she added.
Jason Jenkins was born nine months afterwards.
The other rumoured love child is Simon Dorante-Day, an Aussie who claims he’s Charles and Camilla’s son and says he was conceived before the Prince married Diana. Charles and Camilla had been spotted together in 1965, and Camilla did ‘disappear’ for around nine months afterwards.
“I know that my story sounds unbelievable, but everything I say is checkable – if you don’t believe it, check it,” he told New Idea.
“I’m simply a man looking for my biological parents, and every road has lead me back to Camilla and Charles. I’m not in this for money or for a title – I simply want to know who my parents are.”
Charles and Camilla have never commented on the matter but it still raised some eyebrows.
What’s life without a little scandal anyway? Happy birthday Your Highness!
Cheers to you Charlie! (Image: Getty Images)
Want more on Prince Charles’ 70th birthday? Check out our full coverage here!
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