The Thing Behind Prince Charles
Whenever a king or queen broadcasts from their own home, we often get an exciting opportunity to get a sneak peek of the royal interiors, isn’t it?
But when fans tuned in to watch Prince Charles' video broadcast about the NHS hospital, they got a bit more than what they’d negotiated for. Actually, the contents of a particular picture frame that sat on the shelf behind Prince Charles left the royal watchers shocked and mildly disturbed!
THE VIDEO BROADCAST
At the time of the broadcast, Prince Charles was launching the NHS hospital. In fact, he was the first member of his family to do so via a video connection!
He was speaking from his countryside residence of Birkhall, which is a part of Balmoral estate used by him and his wife, Camilla, as a summer home. He had just started talking about the hospital updates when people noticed a strange photo frame behind him...
LAUNCHING THE HOSPITAL
The speech delivered by Prince Charles was a touching one! He said that he was immensely honored to have been asked to launch the Nightingale Hospital.
Continuing his talk, he also added that the hospital was a remarkable and amazing feat of work in every sense, from its construction speed to its size and the skills of those who were involved with it. But his speech didn’t end there.
CONTINUING WITH THE PRAISE
Continuing his emotional talk, prince Charles added that the hospital was an example of how impossible tasks could be made possible and how the unlikely could be done by human creativity and will. But he didn’t stop there.
He further stated that the making of NHS London Hospital was a consequence of excellent collaboration and cooperation between NHS executives, the government, and all those concerned to build a center on a level that didn't exist in the UK before.
THANKING EVERYONE
Well, after learning how emotional Prince Charles was about the whole hospital incident, we can certainly expect that he wouldn’t have concluded his speech without thanking everyone, isn’t it? And that’s exactly what happened!
He thanked everyone including the businesses and organizations that had donated machinery and supplies for the hospital construction. However, there was still someone who wasn’t included in the thanking speech.
HOSPITAL INAUGURATION
The hospital was named “NHS Nightingale Hospital London.” In their darkest hour, the lady with light, Florence Nightingale, had given hope and healing to thousands... This was indicative of the selfless care and committed service that took place in countless individuals across the UK. Hence, according to Charles, the hospital name couldn’t be more aptly chosen.
Starting with the hospital inauguration, Prince Charles said, “Ladies and gentlemen, since the wonders of modern technology can only do so much and I can't quite reach them, maybe I could invite Natalie Gray, head of nursing at Nightingale, to unveil the plaque on my behalf to declare NHS Nightingale Hospital open.” And the plaque was revealed with a big round of applause.
PUBLIC APPLAUDS
Charles' words were appreciated by everyone. One viewer even took to Twitter to respond to his address and wrote, “Hearing his speech, [he] came across as a waiting king.
I sincerely hope this isn't for many years, but when that day comes, we're going to have in our midst a most worldly, wise, accomplished, skilled king, and we should be grateful in years to come for this.” But Charles's speech wasn’t the only thing that was noticed by the viewers.
A VIEW OF THE BIRKHALL INTERIORS
Charles' speech provided fans with a golden opportunity to pore over the interior of one of the most private properties of the British royal family, Birkhall. In reality, this house- that dated back to the 1700s, was seen only once before on the 2018 BBC show Prince, Son, and Heir: Charles at 70. But that was just a tiny fraction of how beautiful the Birkhall was!
Besides noticing the grand interiors of Birkhall, the viewers saw that there were several photos of the prince and his family, with one picture claiming to have been taken at Prince Louis' baptism ritual. But as viewers were still glancing at the photos in Birkhall, they suddenly noticed something strange about a photo frame kept on the shelf behind Charles. And that’s when people started discussing the history of Birkhall.
THE BIRKHALL
The property originally belonged to Queen Victoria, and since then, it has been passed down through the royal family. The Queen even used to vacation with her sister, Margaret, at Birkhall during her youth. It became the residence of the Queen Mother until her death, when it was given to her grandchild, Charles. But there was more to Birkhall than its grand interiors and exciting history.
While Birkhall's inner workings were largely kept under wraps, Charles addressed his gardens with Country Life Magazine back in 2013. He said the garden was very special to him, especially because it had been created by his grandmother. Adding his opinion, he had also mentioned that it was his childhood garden and all he’d really done was improve it.
CHARLES OFFICE
The room from which Charles gave his speech about the Nightingale Hospital was actually his office in Birkhall. Since his office was rarely seen, the keen-eyed viewers had thoroughly searched through the background to point out several pictures worthy of inclusion in the room. And it seems that they found a lot of them.
Since his office was rarely seen, the keen-eyed viewers had thoroughly searched through the background to point out several pictures worthy of inclusion in the room. And it seems that they found a lot of them.
A UNIQUE PICTURE
A picture subsequently published by “Clarence House” of Charles documenting his voice also gave a clear view of Charles's office. And there was nuance in this picture that the viewers wouldn’t have been able to see.
Apparently, Charles had set his tablet in place using a self-written book titled “Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World.” But this was only one of the few photos that were noticed by the viewers.
PRINCE CHARLES'S MOTHER
One of the pictures in Charles' room portrayed the Queen, Charles' mother, as an infant in the 1920s. Another picture was of the prince and his sister, Princess Anne, as children.
That picture was taken when the royal family was holidaying in Malta in the 1950s, and the prince and princess were wearing adorably matching clothes. But wait, the gallery isn't over yet!
OTHER PHOTOS
Other photographs in the room seemed to be of the royal family's public events. For example, there was a picture of Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry in military uniforms during a Royal Air Force commemorative event.
Besides, there was a picture taken just after the prince’s 2005 wedding ceremony. And then, there was a shot of Prince Harry too!
PRINCE HARRY WANTED TO END TIES WITH FAMILY
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, had declared at the start of 2020 that they would officially withdraw from the royal services. And when the news about their separation from the royal family had come out in public, a lot of fans were left heartbroken.
So we’re guessing the viewers must have been pleased to see his shot in the background. But did they actually separate from the royal family?
SEPARATION FROM THE FAMILY
It was said that Charles was extremely furious about Harry's decision. According to a January 2020 article by “The Sun,” an unnamed insider reported that both the prince and his son William had been "incandescent with anger" about Harry's announcement.
The two royals were also alleged to have been "stabbed in the back," especially because Harry obviously had not hashed out any of the specifics of the transfer with his relatives.
PRINCE HAPPY WAS NOT LEAVING?
Sooner “The Sun” was told by another unnamed source that everyone including Prince Charles wanted Harry and Meghan to be a part of the royal family. Charles, in particular, thought that Harry and Meghan’s work could be easily served by staying within the royal household.
Well, whatever happened after that was an internal matter of the royals. But it seems Harry wasn’t the only one who was dearly loved by Prince Charles.
CHARLES LOVED EVERYONE
Remember we told you about Prince Harry and Prince William’s photo in Charles’s office? It wasn’t just them whose pictures were kept in Charles’s office. There were photos of Meghan and Archie too!
A picture showed the entire family together at Louis’s baptism where Meghan was standing beside Prince Harry. There was also a shot of Charles with his youngest grandchild atop the piano.
OTHER PHOTOS
Other promising items in Charles's office included expensive-looking ornaments, flowers - possibly from Charles' childhood garden, and a picture of his niece Zara Tindall riding her horse.
Honestly, after getting to know how Charles had kept his entire office, it looks like he really loved his family. However, there was something very odd next to the photographs that were quickly noticed by his viewers.
WHAT WAS THAT MYSTERIOUS PHOTO?
A strange picture appeared right behind Charles during the video broadcast. In reality, it looked like a monochrome silhouette in a frame. Maybe it was some kind of artistic statement? Well, while people were still confused about the picture’s logic, Twitter got on the case immediately, and obviously jokes followed soon!
Writer Richard Littler took it upon himself to tweet a screenshot of the image, captioned with the words "What the..." Soon people started posting Photoshopped memes in response to his post where the space was replaced by something funny. For example, pictures of Tiger King star Joe Exotic and actor Tom Baker were pasted into the void. And some even pasted an unflattering picture of Prince Philip! Did anyone crack the mystery though?
CRACKING THE MYSTERY
Several people tried to solve the mystery behind the picture but they were left only with potential solutions. One of the users, for instance, replied that if one looked closely at the image, a slight pencil drawing could be seen in the picture.
So maybe it was a doodle that didn’t show up well on the camera? Another user quickly offered the simplest explanation: "Has Charles forgotten to put a picture in the frame?" Soon the entire incident became a joke on Twitter!
FUNNY COMMENTS
Continuing the series of funny comments, a social media user wrote: “Empty photo frame in the background? Is this for the missing siblings within the rank?”
We are guessing this might have been a reference to Charles having a twin brother as depicted in the British satirical royal comedy The Windsors. But the replies weren't limited to funny comments only. Some of the users even thought of a possibility of a conspiracy theory!
A CONSPIRACY THEORY?
Yeah, you heard right, a conspiracy theory! A Twitter user suggested that the empty picture frame represented “one of the vampire ancestors'' And, indeed, there is really a conspiracy theory that Charles is a vampire.
Apparently, the nightmarish character who was the real-life inspiration for Dracula is a distant relative of Vlad the Impaler. In the past, the prince even happily spoke of Transylvania as a tourist destination. And this certainly didn’t put an end to the weird comments!
NEW JOKES
The Twitter jokes only got weirder after the conspiracy theory comment. A user wrote that the gap in the frame showed how Prince Charles had spent 70 percent of his life trapped in the picture frame and was released under the queen’s orders only.
Another person wrote that something climbed into the outside world from the picture and people should be afraid of it! Well, if you think this was strange, read on to find out a weirder response that people came up with!
RECURRING COMMENTS
One of the repeated answers that the users gave was that either Meghan or Harry had been edited out of the photograph.
But judging by the contents of the room, that seemed unlikely to be the case. Yet there had been an occasion long before in which the Sussexes’ absence was notable. So, were the comments true?
QUEEN’S SPEECH
The 2019 speech given by the Queen during Christmas was filmed in the same manner as Charles broadcast. And even at that time, the monarch was surrounded by family pictures. However, none of those pictures showed Harry, Meghan, or Archie. So, were Harry and Meghan actually cropped out from the pictures?
Apparently, during the previous Christmas address, there were noticeable pictures on both Harry and Meghan’s tables. So, upon noticing that there were no photos present in the 2019 speech, some onlookers concluded that it must be some sort of snub. In reality, arguments broke out online, with several individuals alleging that the Queen sent a coded message about an apparent feud.
NO FEUD!
As there were increased comments about the feud, some people posed concerns about the Queen not including her granddaughter in the Christmas speech. But it seemed that she did mention baby Archie!
In fact, during the speech, she had said that she was delighted to welcome the eight grandchildren to the family. This clearly indicated that "the strange picture" wasn’t a coded message about the feud!
CLEARING THINGS OUT
Anonymous sources who spoke to the media reported that the lack of Harry and Meghan’s pictures from the broadcast caused strife in the royal family.
But according to the royal observer Katie Nicholl who spoke to Entertainment Tonight in May 2020, Harry and Meghan had settled in LA and were regularly in touch with William. So, did the mystery of the picture get solved?
THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED
Well, after looking at all the possibilities, netizens concluded that the Queen was not trying to send any signals with the missing pictures. And, presumably, Charles wasn’t signaling anything either with the strange photo in his background! On the other hand, if he ever turns out to be a vampire, later on, a lot of people would be thinking, "Told you so..."
People just love talking about the royal family whether it's a simple speech or even a strange picture! And let’s not forget the entire photoshopping scenario! Well, as long as you’re not insulting someone’s feelings, even the photoshopping is justified. Don’t forget to let us know what you feel about the whole incident. See you next time! And until then, keep reading!