A pen faced the wrath of the King this afternoon as it began leaking when he signed a visitors’ book in Northern Ireland.

The monarch became frustrated and swore as the pen malfunctioned – and it appears it was not its first offence.

The King was at Hillsborough Castle to commemorate his mother, the Queen.

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As he signed the book he had to ask an aide what the date was, having originally inscribed the wrong one.

After finishing his note, the King passed the pen to Camilla, the Queen Consort.

At this point he lost his temper with the offending instrument.

“Oh god, I hate this,” he said.

His wife replied: “Oh look, it’s going everywhere” as the King wiped ink from his hand.

An aide went to intervene and take the pen from the Queen Consort.

“I can’t bear this bloody thing… every stinking time,” the King said as he walked away.

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The King had also needed assistance while signing a document earlier in the succession process.

During the Accession Council at St James’s Palace on Saturday, His Majesty flapped his hand repeatedly at an ink well on the table and waited for an aide to take it away.

One former aide told Reuters that, while the King could be fun, he was also short-tempered and demanding.

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