Charles buries hatchet with ‘awful’ Witchell

THE King has offered a retirement tribute to the BBC’S Nicholas Witchell despite once saying “I can’t bear that man” in a hot-mic moment.

Witchell, the broadcaster’s royal correspondent since 1998, was famously branded “awful” by the then Prince of Wales on the ski slopes of Klosters, Switzerland, almost 19 years ago.

However, the monarch surprised the 70-year-old BBC journalist with a “warm-hearted” personal message to mark his retirement from the corporation after almost half a century.

The recording was played at Witchell’s

leaving party at Broadcasting House, where guests were stunned.

One attendee told The Mail on Sunday: “It did come as a surprise to everyone including Nicholas. The message was generous and warm-hearted.”

While Witchell refused to be drawn on the contents of the messages, he told the newspaper: “One was a surprise.”

His most memorable encounter with Charles was on the slopes at Klosters in 2005. During an official photocall, Witchell was given permission by his aides to ask a question about his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles.

Charles, unaware that his comments would be picked up by nearby microphones, said sotto voice to Princes William

and Harry: “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man. He’s so awful, he really is.” Witchell admitted in an interview last year that he was “a bit taken aback” by the remarks and the worldwide publicity that they gained.

He said: “So many people think royal correspondents are in the pocket of Buckingham Palace.

“It did me no harm among those people to then discover that he really didn’t like me at all. It’s a fact he didn’t really talk to me for a few years.”

However, the pair seem to have buried the hatchet recently and in 2019, Charles became patron of a charity co-founded by Witchell called the National Memorial Trust.