EXCLUSIVE: King Charles 'Will Die Pig-Headed and Stubborn' — As There's 'Only One Royal Who Can Now Stand Up to Him'
There is only one royal who is said to be able to stand up to 'pig-headed' King Charles.
Nov. 22 2025, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
King Charles is doomed to remain pig-headed and stubborn to the end, as only one member of the family is capable of challenging him on any of his decisions, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The claim forms the backdrop to renewed scrutiny of palace dynamics after former royal butler Paul Burrell, 67, said in his new memoir that Queen Camilla, 78, is the sole figure able to tell the cancer-stricken monarch, 77, the word "No."
The Lone Challenger: Queen Camilla
Former royal butler Paul Burrell described Charles as pig headed and impossible to challenge.
Burrell, who began working as a Buckingham Palace footman at 18 before serving Princess Diana for a decade, sets out his view of the King's temperament and routines in The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana.
His assessment arrives as other ex-staff describe a court still defined by hierarchy, tradition, and the King's exacting personal habits.
Burrell writes: "Charles has always lived in a world where all his household and staff bow and call him 'Your Royal Highness.' Now, of course, it is 'Your Majesty.' "Nobody says no. If you do, you're out."
He adds: "He lives in a gilded bubble and is served whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and by whom he wants." According to Burrell, Camilla remains the lone exception.
"The only person that can say 'No' is Camilla. She is and always will be a non-negotiable. Perhaps her no-nonsense approach is what Charles needs," he writes.
"She's the steady hand on the tiller of the royal ship now, like it or not. She is at the helm. She rarely asks for anything but is given everything and now has the ultimate position as Queen."
Inside Palace Dynamics
Burrell revealed Charles has kept strict routines that never changed.
A senior household source told RadarOnline.com the dynamic is well understood inside palace walls.
They claimed: "His Majesty is set in his ways, often to the point of stubbornness. If anyone is going to push back, it's the Queen. She's the only one he listens to when he digs his heels in. It goes for everything from his cancer treatments to his treatment of his sons and wider family."
Another longtime aide echoed the view, saying: "Charles has a deep sense of certainty about how things should be done. It can come across as pig-headed. Camilla is the only voice that can consistently pierce that armor."
Charles's Personal Routines Revealed
Insiders claimed Queen Camilla backed Charles during his decision on his brother. Andrew.
Burrell also described longstanding routines he says have barely shifted over decades for Charles.
"His routines have never changed," he writes. "His toothpaste is squeezed onto his toothbrush every morning, and he uses a silver key which winds down the tube to avoid any waste.
"His pyjamas are laundered or pressed every day, the drawstring tapes pressed flat like his shoelaces. He, again like his father, likes his dress shoes to be 'spit-and-polished' to a mirror finish."
One palace insider offered a broader interpretation of these habits.
They said: "These rituals give Charles a sense of order. But they also reinforce the perception that he's immovable. Staff joke that His Majesty will leave this world exactly as he lived in it – determined, particular, and absolutely convinced he's right."
Backing on Andrew's Titles
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A longtime aide said Camilla pierced the armor of Charles’s stubborn certainty.
Insiders added Camilla was central in "backing Charles to the hilt" when it came to his recent decision to strip his shamed younger brother of his royal titles.
Now known as Andrew Windsor after having his Prince and Duke honors removed, the 65-year-old has also been ordered by Charles to vacate his $40million Royal Lodge mansion by Christmas in a humiliating punishment for his friendship with sex trafficking pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, 66, has also had her Duchess title stripped, and she has also been told to find a new home after bizarrely shacking up with Andrew for years at the Lodge despite the pair divorcing decades ago.
