'So temperamental': King Charles III jokes about his viral pen meltdown during latest trip

King Charles III appeared to make light of a viral mishap which took place during his first few days as monarch. The new King stepped out for his first in-person visit since the Queen’s funeral on Monday, to witness a “historic moment”.

Joined by his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, the sovereign headed to Dunfermline to celebrate its new city status.

Signing a guest book during one of their stops in the new city, Charles is believed to have jokingly referred to what has since been dubbed “pen-gate”, as he said with a laugh while holding a pen: “These things are so temperamental.”

On September 13, the King and Queen Consort stopped at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of their tour of the home nations.

While signing a visitor’s book in front of cameras, the new monarch realised to have written the wrong date – September 12 instead of 13.

As he stood up to let Camilla take his seat and sign the guest book, Charles noticed the pen had leaked on him.

He said, visibly annoyed: “Oh god I hate this (pen)!”

His wife chimed in to note the ink was “going everywhere”, which fuelled King Charles’s bad mood.

As he walked away, he said: “I can’t bear this b****y thing! Every stinking time.”

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This outburst, which went viral on various social media, happened while the sovereign was mourning the death of his 96-year-old mother while also undertaking a gruelling schedule packed with engagements.

King Charles had already laughed off this incident a few days before the Queen’s funeral.

As he took part in a walkabout during a visit to Cardiff, the King was gifted a pen “just in case” by one of the many well-wishers who had lined up to see him and offer their condolences.

As the surrounding crowd started clapping and laughing at the ironic present, King Charles gracefully accepted the pen, looking clearly amused.

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On Monday, Charles and Camilla were hailed by well-wishers including schoolchildren and a local pipe band.

At Dunfermline, the royal couple visited the chamber room at the City Chambers and Dunfermline Abbey.

Wearing a kilt, Charles also met Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

In a short address at the City Chamber, Charles said the new status of Dunfermline was a “historic moment”.

He added the new city status was a “fitting way to mark my beloved mother’s extraordinary life of service” and remarked how Dunfermline has been “made famous by its own long and distinguished history, and by the indispensable role it has played in the life of our country.”

Charles then recalled the Queen’s “deep love for Scotland”, which he described as “one of the foundations of her life.”

On October 2 last year, the Queen herself had opened up on her “deep affection” for the nation north of the border.

Attending the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the elderly monarch said at the time: “I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country, and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here.

“It is often said that it is the people that make a place, and there are few places where this is truer than in Scotland, as we have seen in recent times.”

The late sovereign spent her last few weeks at her beloved Scottish residence, Balmoral Castle.

She died “peacefully” on September 8, with Princess Anne and King Charles at her bedside.

Her death certificate, released after the end of the royal mourning period, stated the late monarch’s cause of death was “old age”.