Prince Charles just threw shade at the people who want him to stand back and allow Prince William to become King

Lol.

Prince Charles and Prince William

Lol.

They may be notorious for taking the stiff upper lip approach to life, but the Royal Family aren't immune to the occasional bout of humour, either.

From the late Prince Philip's love of a practical joke, to the Queen's fondness for pranking tourists while walking her corgis at Balmoral, apparently, the royals love a good laugh as much as the rest of us.

Case in point: the fact that Prince Charles just hilariously threw shade at the people who'd prefer him to step back and let Prince William become King instead.

Charles, who is thought to already be planning significant changes to the royal estate for when he succeeds to the throne, was speaking at Thursday's Prince's Trust Awards Trophy Ceremony at St. James's Palace when he decided to poke fun at his detractors.

Telling an anecdote about the time he visited a local T.K. Maxx store a few years back (which, if you ask us, is funny enough on its own grounds), Charles quipped: "I remember there were an enormous number of people who were trying to get in, as they were waiting for me to get out. Story of my life…."

Yep, really.

There has been much speculation over whether Prince Charles will forego his place in the line of succession to allow Prince William to become King, though doing so would require the involvement of parliament, and would not be so straightforward as just handing the crown over.

Charles was joined by a host of famous faces at Thursday's ceremony, including Oscar-nominated actor Richard E. Grant, as he fondly reflected on the decades of hard work and heart he'd put into building the Prince's Trust charity.

"When I created The Prince's Trust in 1976 to help improve the lives of disadvantaged young people, it was because I was so acutely aware of the challenges that they faced," the prince shared. "Over the years some of the challenges have changed, but the overall mission of giving people self-confidence, self-esteem and better opportunities, remains the same."

He noted pridefully that "we have helped over one million young people transform their lives and The Prince's Trust now works in 18 countries across the Commonwealth and beyond".

Naturally, it wouldn't be a Prince Charles speech without some sardonic humour thrown in for good measure.

When speaking of the Trust's expansion into the US, and the global relationships the charity has been cultivating, he joked, "And before I drop dead, I want to make sure we can get even further."

OK, we're officially cackling.

Kate McCusker

Kate McCusker is a freelance writer at Marie Claire UK, having joined the team in 2019. She studied fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins, and her byline has also appeared in Dezeen, British Vogue, The Times and woman&home. In no particular order, her big loves are: design, good fiction, bad reality shows and the risible interiors of celebrity houses.