Calligraphy expert reveals King Charles has been holding his pen wrong all along

A calligraphy expert has revealed where King Charles III has been going wrong in his now-viral signature videos - and it turns out he's holding the pen all wrong.

Brian Bramble, 60, from London qualified in calligraphy 15 years ago at Reigate School of Art and runs his own business.

He has looked at the various videos of King Charles struggling with pens as he signs official documents over the last few days, and has come to the conclusion he "holds the pen too flat".

"He appears to be using a parker fountain pen," Brian said. "Once the ink is flowing, they work fine, but you have to hold them vertically."

The expert said that pens have to be stored correctly in order to work properly, and suspects Charles' was left horizontally in a draw which impedes ink flow.

"It can be troublesome when the pens have been left flat and have not been used for a while," he explained.

"It looks like the pens needed a bit of maintenance - some of the ink had probably dried on the shaft which consequently affected the ink flow.

"This does happen with these pens if they are not used constantly."

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Brian added the paper appears to be an old parchment-style paper, which could impact the ink flow, making it more challenging to write.

"There are ink pots on the side, but they appear to be for decoration, you would use this type of ink with traditional quills and metal nibs, not fountains," he said.

The calligrapher added: "All the pressure of being surrounded by cameras probably didn’t help.

"It’s common for a lot of writers. I use dip pens - one nib will flow really smoothly and with another you’re fighting with the paper."

Brian uses more modern dip pens rather than fountain ones but says preparation is key when it comes to penmanship.

A few weeks ago, Brian was using a particularly testing parker pen but dropped water onto it to make it work.

"When I go on a job, I would have always practised with the pens beforehand," he said.

"Someone should have tested the pens and stored them in the right way."

Credit: Lydia Patrick, SWNS.

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