5 things you might not know about Prince Charles

Prince Charles is well-known for his outspoken views on issues ranging from architecture to organic farming.

But the 68-year-old Prince of Wales, who arrives in Canada for a whistle stop visit this week, also has varied interests and charitable endeavours that have a broad reach.

Here's a closer glimpse at potentially lesser-known elements of the heir to the throne's work and day-to-day life. 

1. His charities are diverse and far-reaching

Charles's first charity was created using his separation pay from the Royal Navy in the mid-1970s.

"Since he established the Prince's Trust in 1976, it has helped more than 800,000 young people learn skills and find employment, including [actor] Idris Elba, who got his start with a $2,000-grant to attend acting school," says author Sally Bedell Smith, whose biography Prince Charles, The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, was recently released.

"Since Prince Charles was published in early April, I have given nearly 40 talks around the United States, and in Toronto, and I have been repeatedly struck by how little people know about Charles's enterprises and charities."

In Canada, those on the receiving end of his charitable works have included sheep farmers, disadvantaged youth and soldiers trying to find their way after their military service. Even polar bears have caught his attention.

2. He likes to paint

"People are surprised to learn that he has been a serious watercolour artist since 1970, and that he has said painting transports him into another dimension and refreshes his soul," says Smith.

3. He writes books

While books have been written about Charles, he's also taken his turn as an author.

"I think a lot of people might not realize that he's a children's book author," says Matthew Rowe, director of operations and partnerships for Prince's Charities Canada.

But The Old Man of Lochnagar, a story set in the Scottish Highlands that he once told his younger brothers Andrew and Edward, is not the only title he's penned. He's written several others, including a 2010 tome called Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World that dealt with much more grown-up themes.

"Even those people who disagree with Charles's every word will be hard-pushed to deny that this is a bold and, in many respects, a courageous book," reviewer John Preston wrote in the Daily Telegraph. "Essentially, it's a distillation of his beliefs — about nature, life, beauty and spirituality. It's also, as he says in his opening lines, 'a call to revolution.'"

4. He's not the easiest boss in the world

Working for Charles is not always the calmest way to earn a paycheque.

"Charles is difficult to work for, partly a consequence of his impulsive urge to create new initiatives that can cross lines of authority and duplicate effort," says Smith.

"This has often resulted in counterproductive infighting. Charles calls his advisers at all hours, he won't use a computer and avoids emails. Instead he fills the pages of his crested stationery with his distinctively thick handwriting — the famous 'black spider letters.'"

Those letters, which Charles wrote to government ministers, were released in 2015 after a long legal battle.

5. He takes a special pillow everywhere

Comfort matters, it seems.

"He and Camilla — who also suffers back pain — use special pillows (crimson silk for formal occasions, tartan for everyday use) filled with thermo-sensitive isotonic foam that their aides carry everywhere — from banquets to cars, helicopters, and even theatre performances," says Smith.

"I have seen them placed on chairs at a concert in Buckingham Palace and at the Queen's Commonwealth banquet in Malta."