The king grumbled “we can never be on time” and “there’s always something” after a hiccup early in his coronation, one lipreader has claimed.
Charles and Camilla arrived at Westminster Abbey early, while the Prince and Princess of Wales – accompanied by Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – were late and missed their scheduled arrival time.
It meant the King and Queen were forced to wait outside in their Diamond Jubilee State Coach for some time for William and Kate to get there before Charles and Camilla could make their grand entrance.
A lipreader for Sky News said the royal complained that it was a “negative” and reportedly remarked: “This is boring.”
“We can never be on time. Yes I am… This is negative. There’s always something… It’s boring,” reported Sky News that the frustrated-looking monarch said.
William and Kate had been unable to overtake the king.
In the end, the prince and princess, eight-year-old Charlotte and five-year-old Louis, were forced to join the king’s procession through the abbey, rather than entering before him and waiting in their seats for Charles and Camilla to arrive.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr. Guli Francis-Dehqani, outside St Margaret’s Church next to the Abbey on Saturday, said there had been “a hiccup or two”.
“There were one or two things that didn’t go exactly according to plan,” he said, before adding, “I’m not going to embarrass anyone in particular.”
In the early days of his reign, the king blew up a pen after it appeared to have leaked while signing a book at Hillsborough Castle and telling the aides ‘I can’t take this damn thing’.
The king could be heard in a video clip asking for the date before standing up in frustration.
The queen, who got the pen, said: “It goes everywhere,” before the couple wiped their hands.
Then the king was heard saying, “I can’t take this damn thing…every smelly time.”
It came after another pen-related incident in his accession council.
While signing historical documents, he gestured for a staff member to take away an ornate pen holder.
It was later returned to its place after privy councilors used his pens to sign documents, but Charles again took offense at the item when asked to sign, grimacing before being removed again.
William and Kate were due to arrive at 10.45am, while Charles and Camilla’s arrival was scheduled for 10.53am on the carefully organized schedule and planned months in advance.
