Royal author Tina Brown has recently made headlines with claims that could impact the Firm, as well as Prince Harry. Indeed, she believes the King's private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, whom Prince Harry allegedly strongly dislikes, may be handing in his notice soon.
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If the rumour is true, what seems like a regular affair may have a big impact on the lives of both Prince Harry and his father.
Royal expert claims King Charles' private secretary is retiring
While no spokesperson for the Royal Family has expressed themselves on the matter, royal expert Tina Brown claims an anonymous source told her the news. She strongly believes King Charles' 57-year-old faithful private secretary, who has been working for him since 2006, is on his way to retirement. She writes on her own substack, Fresh Hell:
I am told by an intimate royal source that Sir Clive Alderton, the king’s all-powerful private secretary and gatekeeper, and an avowed Harry enemy, – caricatured by him as The Wasp in the explosive pages of his memoir Spare – is considering retirement.
While this may not seem extremely important to the general public, Tina Brown explains that the Royal Family's private secretaries are crucial, as well as influential. She writes:
The royals are run, to a degree the public doesn't often realize, by their private secretaries, able to block and tackle the access of people on their personal sh*t lists.
So, what does this have to do with the feud between the Firm and Prince Harry? Well, the expert claims that a new private secretary could facilitate negotiations between the two parties, in order to find common ground, and perhaps reunite in the long run. She explains:
If Alderton goes, it could create a new, friendlier path for negotiations with Harry to be given the security protection he seeks and to resume some curtailed version of his royal duties.
This is because Prince Harry is not on good terms with the King's current private secretary.
Prince Harry reportedly talked about Sir Clive Alderton in his memoir
According to Tina Brown, who wrote a biography of Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Sir Clive Alderton have repeatedly clashed over the years, and the King's private secretary is held responsible for the ongoing lack of communication between father and son.
In his memoir, entitled Spare, which came out in January 2023, Prince Harry is said to have described the Alderton as 'the Wasp'. He reportedly called him 'weedy' and 'arrogant'. He wrote about his first impression of his father's private secretary:
The Wasp was lanky, charming, arrogant, a ball of jazzy energy. He was great at pretending to be polite, even servile.
The Prince apparently believes that Sir Clive Alderton's apparent politeness actually hides someone who could stab you in the back. He goes on, saying:
Because he seemed so weedy, so self-effacing, you might be tempted to push back, insist on your point, and that was when he'd put you on his list.
A short time later, without warning, he'd give you such a stab with his outsized stinger that you'd cry out in confusion. Where the f*** did that come from?
The Firm has not commented on the matter so far, and Tina Brown does not name her 'intimate royal source', so this information remains to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Read more:
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Sources used:
Daily Mail: Could a path be emerging for Prince Harry to resume royal life? The king's all-powerful private secretary and sworn enemy of the royal (who was disparagingly dubbed 'The Wasp' by the prince in Spare) could soon be retiring, claims royal expert
Tina Brown: Military Matters and Royal Feuds
