4 Major Decisions King Charles Has Admitted Regretting

King Charles has spent decades in the public eye, but being royal doesn't mean every decision works out as planned. Some choices can haunt a person for years, especially when they affect both family and duty. And while the King rarely speaks openly about personal regrets, a few moments have offered a glimpse into what he might have done differently.

Princess Diana's funeral on September 6, 1997, remains one of the most heartbreaking moments in the royal family's history. Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, just 12, walked behind her coffin through the streets of London alongside their father, their grandfather, Prince Philip, and their uncle Charles Spencer. Years later, royal biographer Christopher Andersen claimed that Charles deeply regretted the decision after learning how much the experience had affected his sons. “I think it haunts him because it haunts them, and they’ve spoken about it,” Andersen told Us Weekly in 2022.

Charles and Diana's relationship was the most scrutinized in royal history, even after the couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. In April 2025, ahead of his 20th wedding anniversary with Queen Camilla, a friend of the couple told the Daily Mail that Charles deeply regretted the pain and sadness he caused during his first marriage. The source said, “Both of them [Charles and Diana] behaved badly in that first marriage and made decisions that none of us could ever condone. But we can seek to try to understand them.” They added, “When you look back on it now, asking someone to sacrifice… happiness for the sake of their public persona seems really quite cruel.”

When it came to raising William and Harry, Charles and Diana had a fairly relaxed approach, giving their sons more freedom than Charles had experienced as a child. But royal biographer Ingrid Seward believes the King may have gone a little too easy on them. Speaking to Fox News in April 2024, Seward said, “I think Charles probably regrets that he wasn’t strict with Harry and William… because it might’ve given both boys a few more boundaries.” The author continued, “Children all need boundaries, and I don’t think they had too many.”

Charles spent years looking for a home in Wales before finally finding Llwynywermod, an estate near Llandovery that was purchased for him in 2006. In a 2021 BBC Radio 4 conversation with poet Simon Armitage, Charles reflected on the long wait, admitting that he had found a Welsh base “rather 40 years too late, probably.” He eventually gave up the lease in 2023 after becoming King, as he was unlikely to use the estate as often.