A royal expert has recounted the story of King Charles once wrote to a former royal household employee after they were dismissed over a scandal.
The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden told the story of how Charles reached out to a royal protection officer who was sacked when the future monarch was just 14.
The dismissal came after a journalist reported that Charles had consumed alcohol before reaching the legal drinking age during a sailing trip in Scotland.
Richard shared the anecdote on the Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast, noting the story resurfaced after it emerged that cherry brandy, the drink Charles enjoyed as a teen, was used in a cocktail served during the official German state visit to the UK.
Richard recounted: “There’s a cocktail mixed especially for these state visits and the cocktail they chose this time was based on cherry brandy. Now, for people who know their royal history, cherry brandy has quite unfortunate associations for King Charles.
“So, when he was a lad at Gordonstoun boarding school he went on a sailing trip with some of the older boys and they sailed off, and when they got to Stornoway they went to a hotel and I think he wanted to sort of show he was one of the lads.
“And at the bar of this hotel he ordered a drink. He’d never really had alcohol other than a cherry brandy, I think on a hunting trip with his grandma, the Queen Mother.
“So he ordered a cherry brandy, but unfortunately at that very moment a journalist walked into the bar, overheard him, and it became a bit of a scandal.
“The hotel was almost closed down, the royal protection officer who was with Charles lost his job because he was only 14, and so Charles later wrote him a letter of apology. He was so embarrassed that this guy had lost his job. I don’t know whether the King would have drunk this cherry brandy cocktail.”
Richard’s discussion of the incident comes as Charles addressed the bond between Germany and the UK, highlighting their mutual determination to “bolster Europe” as Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine continues.
At a state banquet in honour of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, King Charles said in his speech that “the United Kingdom and Germany together stand with Ukraine, and bolster Europe against the threat of further Russian aggression.”
Alongside the formalities and pleasantries, the two nations also exchanged gifts.
The King presented the German president with a traditional handmade horn-handled walking stick, a first edition of Virginia Woolf’s Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Dog Biography, and a Fitch & McAndrew heritage craft decorative slipware plate.
In return, President Steinmeier gifted the monarch, among other items, an umbrella made by Schirm Oertel, six handcrafted Christmas tree ornaments, and a 1976 reissue featuring 22 Christmas classics sung by the Thomanerchor Leipzig.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
