15 of Newly Named King Charles’ Most Controversial Moments

Charles' marriage to Diana didn't exactly get off to the best start, especially when we think back to their 1981 engagement interview. When he was asked if he loved Diana, he said, "Whatever love means," which caused a lot of people to scratch their heads. And later, the princess admitted that the moment had "traumatized" her.

Of course, Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' affair was widely speculated about — but when Tampongate happened, there was no denying it any further. In a transcript of a phone call between the two that leaked, Charles told Camilla, "I'll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!"

To that, Camilla responded, "What are you going to turn into, a pair of knickers? Oh, you're going to come back as a pair of knickers."

Charles then joked about being her tampon … and you can imagine how that went over with the public in 1989.

Getting divorced as a royal is never ideal, but as we still know today, Diana and Charles' divorce was a particularly messy one that didn't necessarily do him any favors with the public. After a separation lasting four years, their marriage was legally terminated in August 1996.

During Charles and Diana's separation, he ended up sitting down with TV interviewer Jonathan Dimbleby to talk pretty candidly about his marriage and his affair with Camilla. In the interview, he said that he had been faithful to Diana — "until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried."

Charles faced controversy again in 2005 when he married Camilla, so it's no surprise they decided to keep it low-key. They got married in a private civil ceremony that not even Queen Elizabeth attended, though she did reportedly show up to the reception.

This 1992 photo of Diana at India's Taj Mahal is iconic but in a way that doesn't exactly paint Charles in a positive light. Because he didn't show up to meet her for a photo op in front of a monument that symbolized love, his actions spoke louder than words.

"That picture of her as a lonely, neglected, beautiful girl who didn't have anyone to love her back just broke everybody's hearts," biographer Tina Brown said, according to Express. "She knew what she was doing. And it made Charles absolutely crazy."

Back in 1991, William was hospitalized while away at boarding school after he'd gotten into an accident that included a golf club to the head. The injuries were significant enough to require surgery, and though Diana stayed by his bedside, Charles returned to his royal duties to attend the opera, which didn't exactly earn him any applause.

Charles landed himself in hot water in 2017 when it was revealed that he had invested in a company that had lobbied to change climate change agreements, even though he had been outspoken in advocating for the environment. As the BBC reported, Buckingham Palace said that Charles didn't have any "direct involvement" in what the Duchy of Cornwall invests in.

After an heir to the throne had been secured, Diana said that Charles had been hoping their second child would be a girl … and obviously, it wasn't. In her biography written by Andrew Morton, Diana said she knew Harry was a boy but kept it a secret until after he was born, at which point Charles reacted by saying, "Oh God. It's a boy," and remarking on his red hair.

Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.

In 2015, the Black Spider Memos caused quite a stir for Charles. The collection consisted of 27 memos that Charles sent in 2004 and 2005, lobbying British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other government officials for the policy changes he hoped for, including promoting alternative medicine and even asking to replace military helicopters.

"They show he is putting forward a whole variety of views — including many bad science views and others that should have no more weight than the man down the pub," Paul Flynn, a member of Parliament, told The Guardian at the time. "We can see his views were given a seriousness and priority they did not deserve."

In September 2021, Charles had a brand-new scandal to contend with. The chairman of The Prince Foundation, Michael Fawcett, was accused of bribing a Saudi billionaire with knighthood and UK citizenship if he was willing to donate to the foundation. The investigation into the situation is ongoing.

Diana's 1995 Panorama interview has earned its place in history for a lot of reasons, but it was also a time where she shared what things were really like in her marriage to Charles — and it wasn't good. Diana's comments about how miserable she was and about Charles' infidelity did not reflect positively on him at all.

In Christopher Andersen's book Brothers & Wives, he wrote that Charles commented about grandson Archie's race before he was born. Allegedly, he and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were talking over breakfast one morning when he said, "What do you suppose their children's complexion might be?"

In their now-infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and wife Meghan Markle claimed that Charles had cut them off in the "first quarter" of 2020, leaving them to live on Harry's inheritance from Diana. And even though later, financial reports showed that Charles actually had been sending him money, the damage was already done.

Members of the royal family are supposed to stay politically neutral — especially the ones who are destined to be king. But Charles is often not shy about sharing his opinions on political matters, and this has led to him being criticized for it — possibly to the detriment of his reign.