Alan Titchmarsh has 'no assumptions' on friendship with King Charles

Alan Titchmarsh dined with King Charles the night before the Queen died but says he has ‘no assumptions’ that their friendship of 40 years will continue now he is monarch

• Titchmarsh, 73, has had a long standing friendship of 40 years with the monarch
• Now King Charles has succeeded the throne, he understands he’ll be ‘very busy’ 
• Defending the King’s pen incident: ‘You’d get in a bit of a strop… wouldn’t you?’ 

Alan Titchmarsh revealed that he has ‘no assumptions’ his friendship with King Charles will continue now he has succeeded to the throne.

Revealing that he had dinner with the King the evening before his mother the Queen passed away, he admitted that the new monarch will be ‘very busy’.

Titchmarsh, 73, has had a long standing relationship with the monarch and the pair have now been friends for 40 years.

Speaking candidly, in an interview with the Times, the much-loved broadcaster and gardener described his dinner with the King, then Prince Charles, the night before the Queen died.

Alan Titchmarsh revealed that he has ‘no assumptions’ his friendship with King Charles will continue now he has succeeded to the throne

He said: ‘There was a glass of fizz and dinner, and the prince and I had a natter.’

‘Afterwards there was coffee and music in the tapestry room, then we said goodnight. The next day his mother died, he became king and his feet haven’t touched the ground since.’ 

Titchmarsh added that he is not oblivious to how much has changed now, but hopes that their ‘feelings’ for each other will continue.

He said: ‘I have no assumptions our friendship will continue — he’s king now, he’ll be very busy.

‘I believe our feelings for each other will continue. We understand each other. 

Titchmarsh, 73, has had a long standing relationship with the monarch and the pair have now been friends for 40 years

Titchmarsh added that he is not oblivious to how much has changed now, but hopes that their ‘feelings’ for each other will continue

‘He’s a good man who works unbelievably hard for the good of our country.’ 

Referencing the ‘thing with the pen’ – when a few days into his reign the King became visibly frustrated with a leaking pen – Titchmarsh defended his friend and added his concern that ‘people wouldn’t give him a chance’.

He said: ‘This thing with the pen — I mean, for God’s sake. He lost his father last year and he’d just lost his mother. 

‘And suddenly he has to sign a proclamation and then visit the countries of the kingdom — I mean, you’d get in a bit of a strop if your pen leaked, wouldn’t you?’

Titchmarsh added that whilst the Queen generally got ‘everything right’, her errors, which came when she didn’t get to the 1966 Aberfan disaster quickly enough and when she stayed with the grandchildren in Balmoral after Princess Diana’s death, he said, were before the time of social media.

‘Now people are judging every expression. It’s inhuman to expect our new king to survive that level of scrutiny. He’ll go nuts’, he said.

Titchmarsh was awarded an MBE in 2000, where the Queen famously said to him – as was raised in her funeral broadcast – ‘you give a lot of ladies a lot of pleasure’.

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