King Charles III and the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell have seemingly reconciled. Nearly 20 years after he was caught on a microphone calling the longtime royal correspondent “an awful man,” the British monarch, 75, reportedly sent Witchell a heartfelt personal message to mark his retirement from the BBC after nearly 48 years.
The recording was played at Witchell’s leaving party at Broadcasting House, central London on March 21, according to The Mail on Sunday. The message was described by one guest as “generous and warm-hearted,” with the King reportedly joking about the pair’s “ups and downs.” According to a source, “it did come as a surprise to everyone there including Nicholas. I think it would be fair to say the King’s message was generous and warm-hearted.” While Witchell refused to comment on any possible personal message from the King, he told the newspaper, “yes there were a couple of messages – one of which was certainly a surprise.”
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“The feeling within the corporation is that everyone is pleased the King has buried the hatchet,” one BBC source told The Mail on Sunday of the message. “What happened between them is a long time ago and both men are of an age now where it’s better not to bear grudges.”
Witchell has long been linked to the British royals, having covered royal births, deaths, and marriages throughout his decades-long career at the BBC. However, he notably found himself on Charles’ bad side back in 2005 while Charles, then the Prince of Wales, was on holiday in the Swiss Alps with his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. During an official photocall with Charles, Witchell asked a question about Charles’ forthcoming wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles. After the question was asked, Charles whispered to his sons, seemingly unaware that his words could still be heard on microphone: “Bloody people. I can’t bear that man.He’s so awful, he really is.”
Opening up about the moment in an interview published last year, Witchell admitted that he was “a bit taken aback” by the remarks and the worldwide ¬publicity they attracted. He also revealed that he didn’t think Charles’ comments were sparked by the question, but rather by an earlier report Witchell had published about him vacationing in the Mediterranean aboard the yacht of a friend.
“So many people think royal correspondents are in the pocket of Buckingham Palace, blowing smoke up the Royal family’s rear end,” he said. “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.”
Charles and Witchell seemed to have mended their relationship by 2019, when Charles became patron of the National Memorial Trust, the charity co-founded by Witchell. The charity was created to a permanent memorial to British troops who lost their lives on D-Day.
