King Charles reportedly angered Richard Heaton, the former Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, when he shared his worries that the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child could be a girl, which was coinciding with the Succession to the Crown Bill. The incident has come to light Valentine Low’s new political book, Power and the Palace; Low was royal correspondent for The Times between 2008 and 2023 and his new book is being serialised in the national newspaper ahead of its publication on 11 September.
In the book, Valentine writes that in 2012, Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, invited Richard to Clarence House, supposedly to talk about the prince’s charities and their relations with the government. However, Charles then started asking about the Succession to the Crown Bill and its implications if William and Kate welcomed a daughter as their first child.
The author revealed that although the future King backed the law in principle, he was concerned about whether the royal house name of Windsor could be changed if a granddaughter who became monarch had married and taken her husband’s surname. The example asked was whether the house would continue being the House of Windsor or if it could become the House of Smith.
Charles was also concerned about what might happen if a granddaughter married a Catholic, with the royals being the head of the Church of England, a Protestant church, as well as the effect it would have on hereditary titles. Richard was reportedly annoyed as at the time, the matter wasn’t his responsibility, although he answered the royal’s questions.
The civil servant was also displeased with the questions, as at the time, it was believed that Whitehall would solely be dealing with Buckingham Palace on the matter, as opposed to Clarence House. Richard was later told after a holiday that Charles was “in the doghouse” and while the future King reportedly didn’t apologise over the incident, he did invite Richard to visit a pottery with him and the pair chatted on the royal train.
Other revelations
Valentine’s book also revealed that the late Queen didn’t approve of her son getting involved in politics and that she felt her son’s engagement on certain issues wasn’t “necessarily wise”. A source told the author: “As soon as you engage in politics, you have an opinion and you pick a side — you cause a part of the population who disagree to take a partial view of you. The view of those who want to protect the monarchy was that it had to be even more elevated from the politics. Anything that dragged her into the mud was an unhelpful development.”
© Samir Hussein/WireImageCharles became less politically involved after becoming monarch in 2022, and this was always the plan. In a documentary produced for his 70th birthday, he was asked whether he would be involved in politics when he ascended to the throne. In response, he said: “I’m not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign. So, of course, I understand entirely how that should operate.”
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesA lighter moment in the book saw former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, reveal that the late Queen once asked him to tell Barack Obama that it was time to go to bed. George recalled: “I could see Obama surrounded by this big crowd. Am I supposed to go and tell him to go to bed? It was about midnight.” He told Valentine that the matter was soon sorted by the late Queen’s private secretary, Christopher Geidt.
Read the full article here
