Prince Charles speaks out on this emotive topic with ‘unusually strong words’

Prince Charles made an "odd" decision to speak "strongly" against the treatment of NHS staff in a recent royal engagement. 

• Prince Charles spoke of his "horror" to hear NHS staff were being abused during a recent visit to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. 
• The admission came on ITV's Royal Rota Podcast.
• This follows royal news that royal fans were left shocked over Princess Charlotte and Prince George's latest appearance for this reason.

Prince Charles isn't a man of many words during most royal engagements. But, he made an exception during a recent visit to see NHS staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

According to hosts of ITV’s Royal Rota podcast, Chris Ship and Lizzie Robinson, the Prince of Wales made an "odd" decision to stop and speak to members of the press at the event. 

It comes after NHS England reported that 3,569 ambulance staff were assaulted in 2020 to 2021—a 32 percent rise from five years previously. 

Clearly impassioned by the treatment of NHS staff during the global pandemic, Charles' language was of an unusually "strong" nature. 

Chris Ship explained, "We saw Prince Charles out and about in a hospital and had some unusually strong words from him."

"It's actually quite odd for them to stop sometimes and talk to the cameras, which he did on this occasion."

"He wanted to express his shock and horror, I suppose. Horror that the number of incidents of violence against frontline emergency workers has gone up in recent years."

According to the podcast, Prince Charles said to NHS workers, "You can't believe it, can you?"

"When I think of what it has been like for so long, and how many people have been lucky enough to have wonderful paramedics and ambulance staff coming to their rescue."

"But now you find the situation rising—violence, attacks, verbal attacks, racial abuse and everything else."

He branded the behavior "unreal" and "unacceptable," saying, "Why attack the people who are trying to look after you?"

The royal family has worked hard to bolster the spirits of NHS staff during the past year, with the Duchess of Cambridge supporting the NHS with private video calls in a bid to keep morale high. 

Despite joining in with the weekly "clap for carers," Prince William expressed his fears for NHS "heros" and their mental health during the pandemic.

While he explained the label of "heroes" is justified and deserved, he fears they could feel pressure to be "this strong pillar of strength" and not ask for support with their mental health.

Warning that "caution" should be used in order to not "alienate" NHS staff, he said, "We made the NHS frontline staff, rightly, heroes."

"But in doing so, we once again, give them the burden that we gave our soldiers fighting in the war, where everyone was so grateful and wanted to show their appreciation as to their fighting for their freedoms and everything. And I think we've got to be very careful with the language that we use."