King Charles Made an "Awful" Press Comment During Prince William's Awkward 2005 Interview About Marriage
"Look, I'm only 22 for God's sake."
Prince William and Kate Middleton will celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary on Tuesday, April 29, but once upon a time, the future King and Queen were just two college students trying to enjoy a vacation together. The couple, who met as students at the University of St. Andrews, were visiting Klosters, Switzerland in March 2005, with King Charles (then Prince Charles) and Prince Harry when the royals took part in a photo call with journalists. But the interview didn't turn out quite as expected for William—and Kate's future father-in-law stirred some feathers with his comments about the press, too.
The Royal Family—who are longtime skiing aficionados—used to arrange photos and a brief interview on their annual ski trip in exchange for the press leaving them alone during the holiday. During one such trip, the future Prince of Wales was asked about his plans to marry his then-girlfriend.
"Look, I'm only 22 for God's sake," Prince William, who graduated from St. Andrews that June, said. "I'm too young to marry at my age."
He added, "I don't want to get married until I'm at least 28 or maybe 30"—and he meant it, as William and Kate didn't walk down the aisle until a few months before his 29th birthday in 2011.
Prince Harry and Prince William joined their father for a brief interview during their March 2005 ski trip.
Prince William received some uncomfortable questions about marriage during the trip.
As if being grilled about marriage wasn't awkward enough, Prince Charles threw a bit of a tantrum during the same photo call. Buckingham Palace's relationship with the press was tense at the time after paparazzi pictures of Kate and William skiing had appeared on the front page of two U.K. newspapers—a clear breach in the arrangement the Royal Family had with the press.
Charles, who was due to marry Camilla Parker Bowles the following month, said, "I'm very glad you have heard of it" when asked about the wedding "before muttering under his breath, 'bloody people,'" per the Guardian.
The royal also went on to give some scathing remarks about BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, who was conducting the interview. "I can't bear that man, anyway. He's so awful, he really is," Prince Charles said. Allegedly, he didn't realize his microphone had been turned on and caught the comment, but the incident didn't go down well for the future King Charles in the press.
Ironically, history would repeat itself 20 years later when paparazzi photos of Prince William and Princess Kate skiing with their kids appeared in the media. This time, however, there was no uncomfortable interview—or King Charles—involved.
