Charles and that “bloody” pen

[nonono1]

The clip of Charles with the leaking pen is an interesting insight into how the royals behave and how they are treated by their seemingly very obsequious staff. Is Charles’ behaviour reasonable or do you think he’s kicking up an unnecessary fuss? Interested to hear other people’s perspectives really because I’ve never seen a clip like this before.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11206531/King-Charles-III-awkward-moment-pen.html

@antelopevalley

How utterly devastating for you.
I know about having been through the same with a sibling

"Following last week's accession, the operations of the household of the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and, as required by law, a consultation process has begun."

Horrible big bad mean Charles. Following the law.

Splat.

I'm no fan of Charles and the sooner my country becomes a republic the better (although I had a soft spot for the Queen and love Anne) however let's not forget:

His mum has just died.

She was barely cold when he was made king.

He's already being compared to his mum with people saying he won't be as popular as she was, well of course not because she had 70 years on the throne and all that time to cultivate the image she wanted to show to the world. Charles is going to have to do the same but in a much much smaller time frame. They're also two different people. Hardly fair to compare.

He has a brother who is a sex offender (not his responsibility obviously but there would be people who judge the entire family).

His two sons barely speak to one another.

His mum's coffin with her dead body inside is being driven around for the entire world to see, yes I know it's tradition but there's something a little off about it. And if the coffin is empty then that's also disturbing.

At the end of the day no matter how royal and privileged he is he's still a human and humans have emotions and how we deal with those emotions depends on a few factors mainly; the environment you've grown up in, your personality, how much resilience you have (which can only be gained by life experiences) and many other factors. I think he should be cut some slack and I say that as someone who is no fan of his! Whether he continues to behave like this only time will tell.

But the operations have only ceased on paper. Staff are still running around doing work. So the law is not relevant.

The consultation process is required by law as the first stage of redundancy. They are not required by law to begin the redundancy process before the funeral.

It's HR law, you have to start the consultation period once you are aware of possible redundancies (see also: staff being told just before xmas). Given that the royal staff is run like a business, it's probably a HR / lawyer person somewhere that's done the whole thing & Charles might not have been even aware (he's not been home much). Of course he might just be a bustard, but I don't read him like that, I think he's basically a good person, as most people are.

@Whokno They could have delayed it a few days until next week. The law does not require you to do it the day you become aware.

He couldn’t win on that one.

Tells staff who are well aware that they are facing a shake up and some redundancies right away officially - cold and callous.

Doesnt tell them officially - “Bad Charles keeps staff in dark and changes procedure”

Or (being horribly cynical) "let's release the news now while the bulletins are full of other stories" (although that hasn't really worked) and "let's release the news now while the King is still popular".

And while I agree that Charles is under immense stress currently and grieving, and his work load is huge, and the strain of being under public scrutiny is immense, I think we should also remember that it is not quite as stressful when you have servants cooking, cleaning, laundering, driving, and organising you. And you have few financial constraints. Yes you need to be prepared and present, but it is not quite the same as if one of us were doing this alone without help. Sorry if that sounds disrespectful but it just isn't!

How would that have helped? All the official advice is to start consultation as soon as possible as that holds the best chance of being able to avoid compulsory redundancy.

You do realise that the vast majority of his staff, and the Queen’s, will be well aware of what their roles will be now?

This is a complete non-story.

And people have learned nothing from the castigation the royal family got for “kicking Backstairs Billy out of his home right after QEQM died” which turned out to be that he had turned down various housing offers and job offers because he wanted to stay in a job that no longer existed.

I agree with you. After my parents died suddenly in a car accident I had to inform everyone, organise their funerals, organise utilities etc around the house and clear the house in two weeks and hand it back to the council. That meant I had to sort through all their possessions to choose only things that would fit in my car and give the rest away to charity shops.
I also had to cook and clean, shop for food, drive, wash and dry my clothes. It was the worst two weeks of my whole life. I barely slept.
So do not ask me to feel sorry for a 73 year old man choosing to go to various public ceremonies and being looked after by many staff.

Are they not all busy with the official mourning period? Or are they really running around with organisational charts, having staff meetings and asking Charles to make decisions?
The Royal Family have still not learned about good PR around times of crisis.

They all already know what they’ll be doing next. It’s been planned for years.

So those whose roles are likely to be made redundant will know that, they’ll also likely know already if there’s another role suitable for them or that they want, or if they want the redundancy.

For the first time every @antelopevalley , I agree with you.

@ajandjjmum Thanks!
Nobody expects them to keep staff on they do not need. But changing the timing until after the funeral would have looked much better.

@antelopevalley agree with you. And sorry to hear about your parents.

@Lostinabba Thanks, it has been pretty devastating.

He's signing State documents, and needs to do it in his best writing. His signature must have changed - has it added an R now? Like The Queen signed Elizabeth R. So he must have had to practice a new Kingly signature. Of course he needs a decent fountain pen. And who knows where his favourite fountain pen is? It could be in the study at Highgrove, or at Clarence House, or at Birkhall 🤔🤷‍♀️

I treasure the Waterman DH gave me before we married and would definitely need that to sign documents of state. And I work with a couple of Consultants who are extremely possessive of their expensive pens. The day one lost his Montblanc the hospital practically declared a Critical Internal Incident.

So I sympathise, and understand his frustration.
I do believe there is a new role for The Queen Consort and I hereby nominate her Keeper of the Pens. She must, at all times, have a favoured fountain pen and a spare in her handbag. Probably a small pot of ink and a tissue to wipe the nib with too. And maybe a couple of handwipes in case of leakage. I would certainly be doing this if I was in her shoes.

He needs a new signature.

@ShamedBySiri

I am not sure quite honestly if your post is tongue in cheek or if you actually mean it. Your first paragraph talks about a 73 year old man like he's about 7 years old.

Stop infantilisimg him! A man who can't carry a pen from one place to another without having a meltdown really does not deserve to be in this position. He's got hundreds of servants running round after him, dressing him, driving him, feeding him, catering for every whim imginable. he doesn't have to think of anything, have any detail, he doesn't have to worry about being late, what he will eat,, even his harp and harpist follows him abroad to play him soothing music!

Yet you think he needs a person to look after his pens! And we should have sympathy for him having to practice a new signature adding an R after his name

I think the world's gone bonkers

Totally agree.

Oh hello @Roussette
Isn't there enough Meghan bashing going on to keep you busy protecting her honour that you have time to come over and hurl spite at our new King and posters sticking up for him? Heaven forbid anyone should be sympathetic or have a sense of humour.

Do you really think The King has nothing better to do than check his pen is full of ink and in his pocket? How many times has there been a news item showing a Royal personage signing some visitor book or something during a Royal visit and THERES ALWAYS A PEN! Yet the most important occasion of his life so far, the most important documents relating to his accession as King and they produce a tiny TV dinner table not big enough for all the documents and the decorative ink well set which everyone knows should be at the back of the desk/table placed in the way of the writing arm and no proper pens. With the world looking on who wouldn't be flustered? Except you of course.

And whilst trying to inject a bit of humour I certainly wasn't joking. Try coming over and working in a theatre department. I do work with someone who has a fit if anyone puts some patient notes down temporarily obscuring the Montblanc so he can't see it.
His instrument trolleys have to be laid out in a very particular way, of course all trolleys are laid out in an ordered way but he has his particular way that his need to be. Guess what? I'm quite happy obliging. I understand why he likes it like that. He jokes he has OCD but it helps him with his way of work and that's important for a calm ordered atmosphere. And that's nothing to the hoo ha when his wife bought a hamster palace. I joke not. It was a palace, cost a fortune and had to be sourced from across the country with much rearranging of furniture to accommodate it.

So I do sympathise with the King. I would be annoyed too. With all those hundreds of servants running round after him as you say, no wonder he isn't used to thinking about whether there will be a pen when he gets to his next gig.

I think it's his own pen that he's moaning at. Possibly a sentimental pen that needs replacing?
He wasn't rude to the staff, and was happily lead away from the camera.

Regarding the redundancies, some will have twigged their job might be at risk, some might think it will never happen to them.
The sooner people know the better, if they waited to after the funeral someone would curse :-
If I'd known last week I would have accepted that job offer / sorted my CV / applied for that job
If I'd known last week I wouldn't have bought a house / car / holiday etc

Never a good time to get paid off but the sooner people know the sooner they can start looking elsewhere.