Hollywood tough guy Vinnie Jones is taking aim at King Charles, declaring that the British monarch should have stepped aside and allowed Prince William and Kate Middleton to take the throne instead.
The 61-year-old actor and former professional soccer player didn’t hold back during an appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast, questioning Charles’ decision to become king following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022.
And his biggest complaint has everything to do with the king’s controversial marriage to Queen Camilla.
Jones, who describes himself as a devoted supporter of the monarchy, believes royal traditions were bent to accommodate Charles’ relationship with Camilla, whom he married in 2005 after both had divorced their previous spouses.
“I’m a massive royalist,” Jones told Theroux, explaining that his loyalty to the royal family doesn’t necessarily extend to the current king.
The Snatch star argued that Charles went against longstanding traditions by marrying Camilla, suggesting the monarchy had changed its approach to divorce and remarriage to accommodate their relationship.
Jones made it clear that he believes William and Kate would have been the better choice to lead the royal family.
He said he had hoped Charles would voluntarily step aside after his mother’s death, allowing the younger couple to become Britain’s king and queen.
“That, to me, was my Britain,” Jones declared.
His remarks revive one of the royal family’s most controversial chapters: Charles’ relationship with Camilla and the collapse of his marriage to Princess Diana.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, while Camilla’s marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles ended the previous year. Charles and Camilla eventually married in a civil ceremony in 2005, followed by a religious blessing.
The issue of divorce once caused an even greater royal crisis. In 1936, King Edward VIII gave up the throne amid opposition to his plans to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
However, Charles’ situation was legally different. His marriage to Camilla did not disqualify him from becoming king, and no changes to succession law were required for him to inherit the crown. He automatically became monarch upon Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8, 2022.
Although Jones’ preferred outcome would have placed William on the throne years earlier, the Prince of Wales remains first in line to succeed his father.
The royal controversy wasn’t the only bombshell Jones dropped during his wide-ranging conversation with Theroux.
The actor also opened up about a painful falling-out with longtime collaborator Guy Ritchie, the director who helped launch his Hollywood career with the 1998 crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Jones admitted that alcohol contributed to their estrangement after he drunkenly turned down an opportunity to appear in Ritchie’s 2008 film RocknRolla.
The two went years without speaking before eventually reuniting while working on Netflix’s The Gentlemen, where Jones plays gamekeeper Geoff Seacombe.
Despite his famously intimidating reputation, Jones revealed that seeing Ritchie again left both men overwhelmed with emotion.
He recalled the director approaching him on set and the two breaking down in tears in front of the crew. Neither man felt the need to discuss the emotional encounter afterward.
For Jones, it marked a deeply personal moment in a career that has taken him from English soccer’s toughest playing fields to major Hollywood productions, including Gone in 60 Seconds and X-Men: The Last Stand.
The actor has also endured personal tragedy, including the death of his wife, Tanya, from cancer in 2019, and has spoken openly about his struggles with alcohol.
But when it comes to the British monarchy, his latest comments leave little doubt about where his loyalties lie. Jones remains a committed royalist, though he believes the crown should have passed directly to William rather than his father.
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