The comment came as Charles, 75, visited a giant peat bog recently granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status. On Wednesday, the monarch toured Forsinard Flows in Sutherland, an area estimated to store about 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, more than all UK woodlands combined.
While signing a book inside the visitor center, he joked, “I’m hoping that my pen is going to work. It doesn’t usually.”
This lighthearted moment harkens back to September 2022, just days after his accession to the throne, when Charles famously expressed frustration over a leaky fountain pen, a viral moment captured on camera. At Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, he was heard exclaiming, “I can’t bear this b***** thing,” and later, “Oh God I hate this, oh look it’s going everywhere, I can’t bear this b***** thing, what they do every stinking time,” after realizing he had signed with the wrong date.
Charles later poked fun at himself in October 2022 while signing a visitor’s book at a council meeting in Dunfermline, Scotland. Handing his pen to his wife, he laughed and said, “These things are so temperamental.”
During his latest visit to Scotland ahead of his traditional stay at Balmoral, Charles wore Highland dress, including a Sgian Dubh (a dagger hidden in his sock), and had a cornflower in the lapel of his tweed jacket. He unveiled a plaque commemorating the area as Scotland’s seventh World Heritage Site and the 35th in Britain.
A renowned nature lover and patron of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Charles met representatives from the charity, NatureScot, which led the bid for UNESCO recognition, and Highland Council. He also visited a nearby community festival, where caterers gave him a saddle of venison to take home. Admiring the firepit where venison burgers were being cooked with homemade condiments, including blackcurrant ketchup, Charles joked, “I hope the venison burgers are up to standard.”
A children’s orchestra, Feis air an Oir (Gaelic for Festival on the Edge), performed for the King, with many children playing the fiddle. The King and Queen are expected to host their families at their Scottish residence, Balmoral, with the Castle closing to the public on August 11.
