King Charles's childhood gift he 'disliked' on sight sparked a surprising life-long 'aversion'

The King famously champions nature whenever and wherever possible, but he reportedly doesn’t even like being in the same room as a particular animal. Rather unfortunately, his late aunt Princess Margaret apparently kick-started this "aversion" when she gifted Charles one.

In his book, Pets by Royal Appointment, royal biographer Brian Hoey previously claimed that Margaret gave her nephew a "kitten as a present when he was a child and he disliked it on sight". This initial reaction didn’t change, with the author adding that "since then, [the King] has developed an aversion to everything feline".

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He "says he cannot even stand having one in the same room" Hoey continued, as per Hello!, and this revelation might come as a surprise to some. After all, His Majesty is a big advocate for wildlife, but many people are either "dog people" or "cat people" and outdoor cats can also have an impact on local bird and small mammal populations.

The Royal Family in general are famously dog-lovers and King Charles has owned several himself, including a Labrador called Harvey who appeared in pictures of him and Princess Diana holidaying at Balmoral. He and Queen Camilla currently have two Jack Russells, Bluebell and Moley, and a Lagotto Romagnolo called Snuff.

The Waleses, Edinburghs, the Tindalls and Princess Anne all have dogs as well. Even if they don’t share King Charles’s apparent "aversion" to cats, it seems that they’re not interested in owning felines but their homes wouldn’t be the same without a dog.

Queen Elizabeth will forever be associated with corgis in people’s minds and she got her first one, Susan, as an 18th birthday gift. Perhaps this inspired Princess Margaret’s decision to give Charles a kitten years later, although the Queen was clearly a lot more in love with her present and she later received two more pets as gifts.

She welcomed corgi puppies Muick and Fergus to the family in 2021 and when Fergus sadly passed away, she was then gifted Sandy. These pampered royal pooches are said to have had their own room at Buckingham Palace to sleep in, complete with wicker baskets lined with cushions to keep out any chilly drafts.

In contrast, the Prince and Princess of Wales’s dog Orla is used to sleeping on the bed with them at their house. The future King spoke with another dog owner during a visit to Duchy College Stoke Climsland in July last year and she told Hits Radio Cornwall, "[He] said that his little dog sleeps on the bed with them at night, with him and Kate."

Whether this is still the case now they’ve got another canine companion isn’t clear, as the Princess confirmed in February that they had an eight month old puppy too. She didn’t specify it, but it’s widely thought that this dog is one of Orla’s litter from 2025.

Orla and her babies featured in Prince William’s birthday photo and he looked totally besotted with them so they could’ve kept one puppy. Growing up in a family surrounded by dogs, it’s unsurprising that the Prince of Wales hasn’t been tempted to add a cat to the mix when they were considering a new pet though.