Prince Charles Embarrassed Queen Elizabeth, Damaged Monarchy By Doing This, Expert Says

Prince Charles previously embarrassed Queen Elizabeth II publicly due to one major faux pas he committed.

On Oct. 20, 1999, the Prince of Wales, who is a supporter of Tibet's claim of independence from China, snubbed a state dinner invitation extended to the royal family by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Prince Charles' decision was reportedly an act of rebellion as the monarch, at the time, was trying to foster good trading relations with China.

"By not attending on this occasion, he was not only letting down the monarchy, he was embarrassing his mother," Richard Kay said on Channel 4's "The Royal House of Windsor" (via Express). "Those who work for the Prince of Wales didn't have an explanation beyond that he had an unbreakable social arrangement elsewhere."

"Having a significant figure like the Prince of Wales, heir in line, signalling his disapproval of what is going on in Beijing, was damaging in the extreme," the royal expert continued.

According to Kay, Prince Charles' action sparked fury in the royal palaces and then-Labor leader Tony Blair. In fact, many described the future prince as selfish.

"Buckingham Palace's response was one of anger, so angry in fact that some of their senior officials briefed journalists about what they described as a 'petulant and selfish prince,'" Kay continued.

"The Labour government was spitting tacks, fuming about it," Kay added. "They saw this as a huge breach of the prince's duty to the state."

To make matters worse, Prince Charles didn't take any action to amend his behavior. In 2015, President Xi Jinping traveled to the UK, and the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall didn't attend the state banquet. But they insisted that they had a "significant involvement" during Xi's four-day stay in the country.

In related news, Prince Philip apparently once called Prince Charles "silly" in a letter to Princess Diana. According to the Duke of Edinburgh, they never thought that Prince Charles would leave the late Princess of Wales for Camilla.

Meanwhile, it's unlikely for Queen Elizabeth II to give up the throne to her son for several reasons. First, she promises to reign for life and has never considered abdication. Also, the monarch reportedly doubts Prince Charles' leadership skills.