Before becoming monarch in 2022, King Charles was prone to so-called \u201cEeyore moments\u201d\u2014but his demeanor has shifted since becoming king nearly four years ago.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
One royal biographer, Robert Hardman, said that the king is \u201cas happy as I\u2019ve ever seen him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Another, Gyles Brandreth, said that while in the past Charles sometimes \u201cseemed to walk about with an invisible rain cloud hovering over his head,\u201d that\u2019s no longer the case.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Before taking the throne in 2022 at age 73, King Charles<\/a> was the most well-prepared monarch in history. Now, at 77, a royal biographer said that the monarch has a new energy about him.<\/p>\n King Charles on April 8, 2025. In his book about Charles\u2019s mother, Queen Elizabeth<\/a>, called Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, Gyles Brandreth called the king \u201ca good man with a good heart\u201d who has proven himself to be a \u201cfine king\u201d (per Marie Claire<\/a>). While Charles certainly seems to be in good spirits now, \u201cSometimes in the past,\u201d Brandreth wrote, \u201che seemed to walk about with an invisible rain cloud hovering over his head.\u201d<\/p>\n Since taking the throne, Charles has changed, according to Brandreth, who has been close to the royal family for decades. \u201cNot so now,\u201d he continued of Charles\u2019s disposition.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is equal to this moment, and you can see it straight away\u2014in his bearing, in his tone of voice, his turn of phrase,\u201d Brandreth wrote.<\/p>\n King Charles and Queen Camilla in Virginia on April 30, 2026. Fellow royal biographer Robert Hardman agreed, adding that while it can feel \u201cquite lonely at the top,\u201d Charles seems to feel \u201ca genuine sort of purpose and an energy\u201d now that he has taken the throne.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he really enjoys being the king,\u201d Hardman told Marie Claire. \u201cHe is, I would say, as happy as I\u2019ve ever seen him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDespite everything that\u2019s going on, despite the cancer diagnosis, despite the estrangement from his son [Prince Harry<\/a>], despite the fact that the country is in a dreadful state and the whole world\u2019s falling apart,\u201d Hardman added, \u201che\u2019s a happy monarch.\u201d<\/p>\n Queen Camilla and King Charles on March 24, 2026 As Prince of Wales, \u201cThere isn\u2019t a previous Prince of Wales who has done what this one has done,\u201d a palace insider told People<\/a> in 2022, as he took the throne. \u201cNot to the scale and consistency over time and with the courage with which he has done them, while trying to stay within the guardrails of the institution.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, much has happened\u2014and not all of it great\u2014since Charles became king nearly four years ago. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, the treatment for which continues still today. Almost in tandem, his daughter Kate Middleton<\/a> was also diagnosed with cancer, but she shared in January 2025 that she is in remission. Strain continues with Harry, and Charles\u2019s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>, constantly embroiled in scandal in recent years, was arrested at his new home on the Sandringham estate on his 66th birthday in February.<\/p>\n \u201cCharles was the best-prepared monarch in history,\u201d royal historian Catherine Mayer told People<\/a>. \u201cBut he will be seen as one of the unluckiest.\u201d<\/p>\n King Charles on February 19, 2026 Charles and wife Queen Camilla<\/a> just wrapped a successful state visit to the U.S. in late April; Charles then continued on for a solo visit to Bermuda. \u201cThis is a man who is absolutely driven by duty,\u201d a senior palace aide involved in the trip told Hello!<\/a>. \u201cDriven by service.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not a man to dwell long on what some may consider yesterday\u2019s successes\u2014he is always looking towards tomorrow\u2019s opportunities, so generally we\u2019ve tried to encourage him to feel positive, and he has, about the way that the American leg has gone in particular,\u201d the aide continued. \u201cBut his mind is already on what he can achieve next rather than what he achieved this week.\u201d<\/p>\n Hardman told Marie Claire<\/a> that the king has \u201cnever been shy of work,\u201d adding that the monarch is \u201cquite happy staying up all night\u201d at his desk and \u201cbeing handed extra bundles of work.\u201d<\/p>\n King Charles and Queen Camilla in Washington, D.C. on April 28, 2026. Camilla, for her part, \u201cis a huge support\u201d for Charles, a royal insider told People<\/a>in 2022, adding before he took the throne that September that Charles could be prone to \u201cEeyore moments\u201d but that his wife \u201cjollies him up.\u201d<\/p>\n Though recent years have been difficult for the king and the royal family, they \u201care not going to be the downfall,\u201d Queen Elizabeth\u2019s former press secretary Ailsa Anderson told People in April. \u201cThey\u2019re survivors. The monarchy has weathered far worse.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"King](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_instyle_articles_696\/f15d60028f57ecaef47c37c8c53d3752.jpeg\"\/)
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