Prince Charles reveals his discomfort with media

London — On the ski slopes of Switzerland, Prince Charles revealed a degree of awkwardness with the media that seemed, in one uncomfortable moment Thursday, to capture the essence of his failure to win British hearts.

“Bloody people,” he muttered in comments captured by microphones. “I hate doing this.”

A week before his second wedding, gaffes by Charles — sitting alongside his much more poised son, Prince William — underscored doubts about whether the heir to the throne has the media savvy to be an effective king.

Since announcing he was marrying longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles has been embroiled in a series of embarrassments, including being forced to change the site of his wedding from Windsor Castle to the decidedly more plebeian town hall and the revelation that his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, won’t be at the nuptials.

On Thursday, in fact, it was William who gave Charles direction during the media opportunity rather than the other way around.

After being urged by a journalist to “look like you know each other,” Charles put his arms around William and his younger son, Prince Harry, then — looking bemused — mumbled to William: “What do we do?”

“Keep smiling,” William replied. “Keep smiling.”

Spears takes aim at tabloids

New York — Tired of pregnancy reports, Britney Spears is lashing out at tabloid magazines.

“Do you, Us Weekly, In Touch, Star and other desperate magazines want employees who are honest, or those who are liars?” Spears writes in a posting on her Web site addressed “Dear False Tabloids.”

Rumors have swirled recently that the 23-year-old pop star is pregnant and that her marriage to Kevin Federline is on the rocks. Spears didn’t specifically address either issue, but instead asked magazines for some self-examination.

“Your employees are a reflection of your magazine,” she writes in Wednesday’s posting. “I’m really concerned about the people you hire to work at your companies.

“I’d like them to ask themselves the question, ‘What am I lying to myself about?’ Is it that you are 50 pounds overweight? Is it that your children aren’t making wise decisions? Or is it maybe that your husband or boyfriend is cheating on you?”

Birthdays

Actress Debbie Reynolds is 73. Actress Ali MacGraw is 67. R&B singer Rudolph Isley is 66. Singer Bijou Phillips is 25. Actor Sam Huntington is 23. Actor Josh Zuckerman is 20.