CHARLES' HEADACHE WITH HARRY ‘WOULDN'T HAVE ESCALATED' IF KEY FIGURE WAS IN ROYAL FOLD

Sir Christopher Geidt is not a household name for most. For royal author Andrew Lownie, however, it is a name that bears significant weight. That is because, for him, he is the man who may well have saved King Charles III from the public embarrassment that has hit the Royal Family in light of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle scandal.

Having worked as the late Queen Elizabeth II's private secretary for a decade, the Baron and House of Lords member, Lord Geidt stood down from his position in 2017.

While he quit on what appeared to be amicable terms, in the period that followed, reports suggested that things weren't quite as they seemed. Some claimed that Lord Geidt had fallen out with Charles and his younger brother, Prince Andrew. Prince William, now Prince of Wales, is said to have lashed out at the pair over Lord Geidt's treatment, with suggestions that he was, in fact, ousted from his position.

Now, Mr Lownie, who penned the 2021 book Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, believes that were he not allegedly forced from his role, Lord Geidt may well have been the ideal person to help smooth over the currently frosty relationship between Charles and Harry.

The reasons for the tensions are numerous and go back years, but most recently rest with . So far, the Royal Family has kept quiet in relation to the book, refusing to comment on it at all.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Lownie said things could well be different if Lord Geidt had Charles' ear. While he said the way in which the Palace responded would have been the same if Lord Geidt was still around, he suggested the problem would not have lingered.

He said: "[It] should have been headed off much earlier and if Lord Geidt, the Queen's former Private Secretary had not been disposed of in a Palace coup by King Charles and Prince Andrew, I don't think the problem would have escalated."

However, that is exactly what happened. After details of Harry's memoir emerged it soon became clear who was to bear the brunt of it all: William, his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, and Charles' wife, Camilla, Queen consort.

In forensic detail, the Duke of Sussex highlighted the perceived frostiness between himself and Camilla, whom he was convinced was more interested in William as he was the heir to the throne.

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Lord Geidt - who prior to working for the Queen was a military intelligence officer - and his resignation were analysed in journalist Valentine Low's 2022 book, Courtiers, which dug up William's fury over the Baron's removal.

According to one insider, William was "furious" about the move, and spoke with the late Queen and Charles regarding the matter.

The source continued: "[William] felt Christopher had worked to modernise the institution and bring it closer together. He was concerned about the way it had been handled, and how Christopher had been treated.

"He was really angry about it, not necessarily because it was the wrong decision. He just thought it was handled very unkindly for a man who was a pillar of the institution of the monarchy but had also played an incredibly important role when the coalition government had been formed.

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"It just seemed like the wrong thing to do to unceremoniously chuck somebody out for a reason that had nothing to do with what was the core part of Christopher's job, which he was still doing really, really well.

"[Prince William] told Willy [Lord] Peel how he felt about it, and particularly how he felt about the way in which it had been conducted, which he thought was very unkind."

Following his resignation, Lord Geidt released a statement confirming his decision to move away from the role, adding: "With the Duke of Edinburgh's recent decision to draw back from public life, the Queen's own unwavering commitment as sovereign has the full and active support of the entire Royal Family.

"It is therefore with every confidence, and with Her Majesty's agreement, that I now hand over the responsibilities of the Queen's private secretary to my successor, Edward Young."

Lord Geidt began his time in Buckingham Palace in 2002, working initially as an assistant private secretary before being appointed deputy private secretary to the Queen in 2005.

Among the many highlights of his career include the hand he is said to have had in convincing the Queen to appear in the James Bond sketch alongside Daniel Craig for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

Express.co.uk reached out to Lord Geidt but did not receive a response to a request for comment.

Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor was published by Blink Publishing and is available here.

2023-01-27T17:14:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd