King CharlesEverything you need to know about King Charles III.
Portrait photograph of the Prince of Wales by Allan Warren, taken at Buckingham Palace
The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace — photograph by Allan Warren (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Sayings

In his own words — every quotation below is traceable to a primary source. Doubtful attributions are flagged, not repeated.

“I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.”

“And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.”

Source: Address to the Nation and the Commonwealth, 9 September 2022 (royal.uk).

“Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept”

“Queen Elizabeth’s was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.”

Source: Address to the Nation and the Commonwealth, 9 September 2022 (royal.uk).

“May ‘flights of angels sing thee to thy rest’”

“To my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May ‘flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’”

Source: Address to the Nation and the Commonwealth, 9 September 2022 (royal.uk). The closing line quotes Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

“I too now solemnly pledge myself… to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation”

“As The Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.”

Source: Address to the Nation and the Commonwealth, 9 September 2022 (royal.uk).

“A monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”

“Instead of designing an extension to the elegant facade of the National Gallery which complements it and continues the concept of columns and domes, it looks like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.”

Source: Speech to the Royal Institute of British Architects on its 150th anniversary, Hampton Court Palace, 30 May 1984.

“You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe…”

“You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe: when it knocked down our buildings, it didn’t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble.”

Source: A Vision of Britain (1989) — the book accompanying his BBC television film on architecture.

“Whatever ‘in love’ means”

Asked in the engagement interview whether he and Lady Diana Spencer were in love, Charles replied: “whatever ‘in love’ means.”

Source: Engagement interview, ITN, 24 February 1981. The full exchange is a matter of broadcast record; the line is quoted here without the commentary that later attached to it.

“Defender of Faith, not the Faith”

“I personally would rather see it as Defender of Faith, not the Faith.”

Source: Interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, ITV, June 1994 — on how he saw the monarch’s religious role in a multi-faith Britain.

The Accession Declaration

“I, Charles, do solemnly and sincerely in the presence of God profess, testify, and declare that I am a faithful Protestant, and that I will, according to the true intent of the enactments which secure the Protestant succession to the Throne, uphold and maintain the said enactments…”

Source: The King’s Declaration at the Accession Council, St James’s Palace, 10 September 2022. The declaration’s wording is prescribed by statute (the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Accession Declaration Act 1910); Charles spoke the traditional form.

“With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will… help bring the marginal to the centre ground”

“With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given.”

Source: Address to the Nation and the Commonwealth, 9 September 2022 (royal.uk) — announcing William’s creation as Prince of Wales.

Widely reported (secondary sources)

These lines are widely repeated in reputable outlets but this site has not traced them to a primary transcript or recording. Treat them as reported, not verified.

“I just come and talk to the plants, really” — a remark about talking to his plants and trees, reported as coming from a television interview in the 1980s and repeated across decades of profiles. Reported; original broadcast not directly consulted — do not present as a verified quotation.

“I learned the way a monkey learns — by watching its parents” — reported as a remark about his own education in a 1970s interview. Reported; primary source not located — do not present as a verified quotation.

Commonly misattributed or misrepresented

The leaked private phone call. A private 1989 telephone conversation with Camilla Parker Bowles — recorded, leaked, and published in 1993 — includes an intimate remark about wishing to be reincarnated. It was a genuinely leaked private recording, not a public statement, and repeating it as a “quote” misrepresents what it is. This site does not reproduce private remarks.

“The Crown” and “Spencer” dialogue. Lines spoken by the fictional Charles in The Crown (Netflix) and Spencer (2021) are sometimes repeated online as things he said. They are screenwriters’ inventions — unverified; do not attribute.

“He wants to replace modern medicine with homeopathy.” Charles is patron of the Faculty of Homeopathy and has spoken for integrated medicine, but claims that he wants homeopathy to replace conventional medicine misrepresent his stated position. Misrepresentation; do not attribute.

“The black spider memos prove he ruled in secret.” His handwritten letters to ministers (2004–2005), published in 2015 after a long Freedom of Information battle, show an heir lobbying on issues from the environment to architecture. They do not show secret rule — ministers replied, and policy did not generally follow the letters. Misrepresentation of genuine documents — see Reception.

Source notes