Prince harming
He faces fresh battle in big year for the royals
PRINCE Charles will not welcome any book that threatens to rock the stability he has enjoyed in recent years.
It is going to be a big few months for the royals, with a new baby and a wedding, so anything that brings controversy will be unwanted.
The Prince of Wales now enjoys acceptance from the public and is more liked than he used to be.
But you only have to look at how his Yvonne & Don BY
ROYAL CORRESPONDENT
ratings took a nosedive last summer as the world remembered Diana on the 20th anniversary of her death to know that revisiting the past does not work well for his popularity.
If this book thrusts details Charles would rather we forget into the spotlight A TOURIST couple were stabbed and battered with rocks when they were robbed while hiking near Table Mountain in South Africa.
Yvonne Cormack, 67, and husband Don, 71, were with seven other hikers when they were attacked by two men, who had posed as fellow hikers for 30 minutes beforehand.
When the couple resisted they were stabbed and had rocks smashed on their heads. Don
ON AUTHOR’S CLAIMS ABOUT BIOGRAPHY
he could face another uphill battle to win round the public as he prepares to become king. Equally, if it uncovers information that shows him in a less than glowing light, it could give him a whole new set of problems.
There is the possibility the author will be sympathetic and praise his passion for certain causes. But it’s safe to assume the prince would prefer his past and present to be left unprobed. was stabbed nine times and is in hospital while Yvonne, who hit one of the attackers with a stick to save her husband, was stabbed in the arm and the back of the head.
She said: “The guys came running at us with knives. They first attacked one of the women, who was standing on a rock taking photos.
“Then they told us to throw our phones and bags to the ground. Next they started attacking PRINCE Charles is bracing himself for the publication of an “explosive” warts and all biography.
Investigative reporter Tom Bower is releasing the unauthorised biography about the heir to the throne in March.
He says it will include testimony from more than 120 people employed or “welcomed into the inner sanctum of Clarence House”. And Bower claims the book “reveals a royal household rife with intrigue and misconduct”.
Bower said: “There are a lot of revelations. I was amazed how much new material there was. It’s got a lot of very, very new, untold information.”
But royal insiders are “very sceptical” about the level of access he is claiming. One insider said: “Nobody on this side of the fence believes 120 people have spoken to him.”
Bower has moaned to friends that palace officials denied him access to cover the third day of Charles’ Welsh tour in July, when the prince visited the Royal Mint in Glamorgan.
A source claimed: “Bower asked permission in advance, but about two days before, they said it was full. Bower couldn’t believe they didn’t have space for one person behind a rope.”
A palace spokesman said: “Bower was offered alternative engagements to visit – owing to there not being a space on that one occasion – which he declined.”
A source said the book would cover “Charles’ politics and his attitude towards his family” and look at how he sought to “rehabilitate” his image after Princess Diana’s death in 1997.
Bower, a former Panorama reporter, has written books about a host of famous faces including Richard Branson, Mohamed Al-fayed, Robert Maxwell, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Bernie Ecclestone.
He also revealed Simon Cowell’s affair with X-factor judge Dannii Minogue in his 2012 book, Sweet Revenge.
Nobody on this side of the fence believes that 120 people have spoken to him ROYAL INSIDER
my husband Don, who they stabbed nine times all over his body. I took a stick and started hitting at the robber then he started stabbing me too. We are lucky to be alive.”
Yvonne and Don, of Harlow, Essex, were attacked on Saturday as they hiked in the Silvermine Nature Reserve near Cape Town.
Another hiker is in a critical condition after he was struck on the head with a rock.