Valentine Low - Courtiers: The inside story of the Palace power struggles from the Royal correspondent who revealed the bullying allegations

Copyright 2022 Valentine Low

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First published in Great Britain in 2022 by Headline Publishing Group

First published as an Ebook in Great Britain

by Headline Publishing Group in 2022

Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

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Hardback ISBN: 978 1 4722 9090 8

eISBN: 978 1 4722 9093 9

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CONTENTS

Richard Pohle

Valentine Low has been reporting on the royal family for over a quarter of a century, and his exclusives for The Times have made front page news and headlines around the world. After graduating from Oxford University, Valentine worked at the Evening Standard for over twenty years, reporting from all around the world. He lives in West London.

The gripping account of how the Royal family really operates from the man who has spent years studying them in his role as Royal correspondent for The Times . Valentine Low asks the important questions: who really runs the show and, as Charles III begins his reign, what will happen next?

Throughout history, the British monarchy has relied on its courtiers the trusted advisers in the King or Queens inner circle to ensure its survival as a family, an ancient institution, and a pillar of the constitution. Today, as ever, a vast team of people hidden from view steers the royal familys path between public duty and private life. Queen Elizabeth II, after a remarkable 70 years of service, saw the final seasons of her reign without her husband Philip to guide her. Meanwhile, newly ascended Charles seeks to define what his future as King,and that of his court, will be.

The question of who is entrusted to guide the royals has never been more vital, and yet the task those courtiers face has never been more challenging. With a cloud hanging over Prince Andrew as well as Harry and Meghans departure from royal life, the complex relationship between modern courtiers and royal principals has been exposed to global scrutiny. As the new Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate equipped with a very 21st century approach to press and public relations now hold the responsibility of making an ancient institution relevant for the decades to come.

Courtiers reveals an ever-changing system of complex characters, shifting values and ideas over what the future of the institution should be. This is the story of how the monarchy really works, at a pivotal moment in its history.

To JT, at last

Sydney, Australia, 26 October 2018

It used to be a standard part of a royal tour, the moment when the royals would venture to the back of the plane, where the media were sitting, to say hello and share a few thoughts about how the trip was going. But this tour by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was different. It had started off with a bang, with the announcement that Meghan was pregnant, and in many ways had been a success. Harry and Meghan had proved extremely popular in Australia, and their engagements in Fiji and Tonga had also gone well.

Harry had come a long way from the days when he was better known for his laddish exploits than his service to Queen and country. Strip billiards in Las Vegas may not have been forgotten, but it was certainly forgiven. His creation of the Invictus Games for injured servicemen and women was an extraordinary and much-valued achievement. And, now that he had found happiness with the woman he loved, the prince seemed to be in a better place than he had been for years.

But on their tour of the South Pacific, Harry had looked out of sorts. His relations with the media pack had been prickly and strained. Where Meghan smiled, always putting on her best face whenever she was on show, Harry glowered. On the five-hour flight back from Tonga to Sydney, his press handlers promised that he would come to the back of the plane and thank the media for coming. The hours passed with no sign of Harry and Meghan. Then, after the plane had landed and it seemed as if it was not going to happen, the couple appeared.

As the Times correspondent on that tour, I remember the scene well. Harry looked like a sulky teenager, forced against his will to talk to some unwelcome visitors. Meghan stood a couple of feet behind him, smiling benignly but not saying much. Her only contribution was a comment about how much everyone must be looking forward to Sunday lunch at home. Harry did all the talking. He sounded rushed, as if he couldnt wait to get back into the first-class cabin, away from the media.

Thanks for coming, he told the assembled press pack, even though you werent invited.

Even for a man who has a deep mistrust of the press, this was spectacularly rude and incorrect. The media very much had been invited to cover the tour. If the couples casual meet-and-greet moment with the royal correspondents had been meant to repair relations with the media, it had the opposite effect. Later, Harrys staff, who had spent much of the flight trying to persuade the duke to speak to us, told him how badly his remarks had gone down. He replied: Well, you shouldnt have made me do it.

Megxit was more than a year away, but Harrys petulant behaviour was a taste of the dramas that were to come. It revealed much, not just about the Sussexes hatred of the press but also of the couples deteriorating relationship with their own staff. Although everyone was aware of the tension in the air, none of the media on the plane realised quite what was going on behind the scenes. Some of the secrets of that tour the reasons behind Meghans meltdown at a market in Fiji, the hidden story of her diamond earrings would not emerge for more than two years. Two of the couples advisers would soon be gone. When Meghans assistant private secretary Amy Pickerill handed in her notice a few months later, it would prompt an angry outburst from the duchess. Samantha Cohen, the couples private secretary, would hang on for another year. By the time she left, her relief at being able to escape at last was palpable. Back home, Harry and Meghans communications secretary Jason Knauf, who was not on the tour because he had broken his collarbone, was about to compose an email containing explosive allegations of bullying that would destroy what remained of his faltering relationship with the Sussexes, and would later create headlines around the world.

Harrys behaviour also raised fundamental questions about the relationship between royal and courtier: who wields the power? To what extent do royal servants play the master? And who or what do they really serve?

A SENIOR MEMBER of the Queens household, who had originally come to Buckingham Palace on secondment from his job working for the Australian government, was on his way back home when he stopped at immigration control at Sydney Airport. The man at the desk leafed through his passport until he came to the page where the adviser had entered his profession. He gave it a quizzical look, then snapped the passport shut and handed it back.