Prince Charles is a massive fan of Zoom and will use it post-pandemic

The royal has got to grips with it during lockdown

Prince Charles
(Image credit: Arthur Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Despite his age, Prince Charles loves Zoom, and has really got to grips with it in lockdown—according to his private secretary.


Most of us can't wait to see the back of Zoom and have meetings with colleagues in person. But The Duke of Cornwall is a big fan of the video app.

The royal, like most of us, used the app to complete his work. However, instead of having staff meetings, he was using it to talk to world leaders and heads of state.

And despite some of his royal duties now taking place in person, according to his private secretary, the Prince of Wales hopes to continue some of them virtually.

Clive Alderton told the Telegraph: “When Covid restrictions finally disappear, I think we might just retain some of these methods of working."

The royal aide went on to say, "We became very used to and increasingly comfortable with mobile devices propped up on piles of books as messages are recorded or Zoom calls were joined.”

He went on to say that, pre-covid, most of the Duke's work, which couldn't be done in person, was done over the phone. However, Prince Charles has enjoyed how video calls have made them much more personal.

“The Prince has always done quite a lot of this sort of thing on the telephone. But to be honest, what we had never done before, was video conferencing with heads of state and government.”

Of course, Prince Charles wasn't the only one using Zoom to complete his royal duties—the Queen, Kate Middleton and Prince William, were also big fans. In fact, data from the royal court showed, in January this year, that The Queen and Prince William both carried out half their public engagements via video link or on the telephone. 

Notable online engagements for the Queen include when she spoke to three winners of the Commonwealth Points of Light award to celebrate their achievements in November last year. Prince William followed in his grandma's footsteps by completing almost half of his 181 royal engagements via Zoom. While wife Kate Middleton completed 50 public appearances via video link—including the findings of her Early Years project.

Sarah Finley

Sarah is a freelance journalist - writing about the royals and celebrities for Woman & Home, fitness and beauty for the Evening Standard and how the world of work has changed due to the pandemic for the BBC. 

 

She also covers a variety of other subjects and loves interviewing leaders and innovators in the beauty, travel and wellness worlds for numerous UK and overseas publications. 

 

As a journalist, she has written thousands of profile pieces - interviewing CEOs, real-life case studies and celebrities - interviewing everyone from Emma Bunton to the founder of Headspace.