Prince Charles Not ‘Highly Rated’ Like Princess Diana, Prince William In China

Prince Charles isn’t as popular as his ex-wife Princess Diana and son Prince William in China.

According to Matthew Kirkham, a journalist for Express, China snubbed Prince Charles. In 2006, the first Madame Tussauds waxworks museum for celebrity-obsessed Chinese netizens opened in Shanghai. It featured a list of celebrities including David and Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, among many others.

Princess Diana's and Prince William’s wax figures were also put on display. The People’s Princess was a crowd favorite, and a number of girls also queued up to take a photo with the Duke of Cambridge.

Many were wondering why the Prince of Wales wasn’t included in the museum. Prince Charles reportedly made a comment that gave him no room at the gallery.

However, Madame Tussauds insisted that the real reason Prince Charles was left out was because he didn’t rate high enough in the market research.

“Prince Charles was not a major celebrity in China in those days,” The Telegraph said in 2015.

The museum’s manager, Edward Fuller, gave a statement about the issue. “The museum decided not to put Prince Charles forward as an option because we were only getting a lukewarm response from focus groups,” he said, adding that the “Communist Party officials had the final say on which works could be shown, ruling out personalities controversial in China.”

Prince Charles was in conflict with China because he supported Tibet’s claim of independence from the nation. In 1999, Prince of Wales even embarrassed Queen Elizabeth II when he did not attend the state dinner extended to the royal family by then-Chinese president Jian Zemin during his visit to London.

According to Richard Kay, Prince Charles’ decision to snub the invitation did not only let down the monarchy, but also embarrassed Her Majesty. He added that the heir was showing his disapproval about the ongoing issue on Beijing, and it was “damaging in extreme.”

Those who work under Prince Charles said that he had an unbreakable social arrangement elsewhere. However, Buckingham Palace was so angry that its senior officials briefed journalists, describing the future king as a “petulant and selfish prince.”

Prince Charles remained stiff against China. In 2015, he didn’t attend the state banquet when President Xi Jinping visited the UK. However, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall said that they had a “significant involvement” during the leader’s four-day stay in the country.