Loo at who lifted lid on Prince Charles’s toilet habits when on tour

ONCE upon a time, proclamations from the Royal Household would be displayed with due solemnity on an easel at the gates of Buckingham Palace.

These days, senior courtiers share their thoughts on the heir to the throne’s lavatorial habits via social media.

This week, Prince Charles’s director of communications, Julian Payne, posted an extraordinary comment on Twitter from Australia, where he is on tour with Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The comment referred to a claim by the author Tom Bower in his new biography of Charles, Rebel Prince, that the future king once took a lavatory seat with him when visit- ing a friend in the North-East.

Payne wrote: “The Prince and The Duchess’s tour of Australia and Vanuatu begins: 30 engagements, 7 days, 1 Commonwealth Games, 0 personal loo seats.”

Payne, who was appointed Charles and Camilla’s senior spokesperson in 2016, is the first serving official to share such intimate details of royal luggage.

The former fashion industry PR executive does not disclose further specifics, such as whether this is the first tour on which the Prince has declined to take a loo seat with him

Bower says: “I am delighted to hear that Prince Charles has nothing to fear from Australian lavatory seats.”

In his book, Bower reported that Charles took his own mattress, lavatory seat, Kleenex Velvet loo roll and two “landscapes of the Scottish Highlands” when visiting a friend. It was one of numerous examples given of Charles’s ostentatious and demanding behaviour. – Daily Mail