ROYAL EXCLUSIVE HOW VERY INDISCREET... YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT PHILIP SAID ABOUT CHARLES
THE DUKE of Edinburgh claims his son Prince Charles would damage the monarchy if he was crowned king, according to an explosive new book.
The astonishing claim is made by investigative journalist Tom Bower in Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion And Defiance of Prince Charles, which hit bookshops yesterday.
Mr Bower claims Prince Philip, 96, poked fun at his 69-year-old son at a private dinner party with friends in Mayfair. Amid laughter, Philip apparently explained that the reason for his and the Queen’s longevity was to keep Charles from the throne.
The author says: “At 91, he said, the Queen was in robust health and, he implied, could well live for another 10 years. Charles would have little opportunity to damage the monarchy if he was king for only a brief period.”
The rebel prince, Philip feared, would become a meddling monarch, it is claimed.
Indiscretion
The pair have a strained relationship but royal watchers will be amazed at Philip’s alleged indiscretion.
Mr Bower is noted for unauthorised biographies of prominent figures including Robert Maxwell, Mohamed Fayed, Bernie Ecclestone, Tony Blair and Sir Richard Branson.
His next target is said to be Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In Rebel Prince, Mr Bower claims Philip “did not hide his scorn for his son’s achievements and vision and showed little confidence that Charles could impress himself upon history as an exceptional king”.
Charles, a landowner “hankering for a forgotten world”, could not unify 21st-century Britain, it is claimed.
His willfulness could cause “a constitutional crisis which would jeopardise the monarchy’s very existence”. Charles’s sons William and Harry do not escape scrutiny either, with Mr Bower claiming Buckingham Palace regards the trio as “pursuing their own celebrity interests at the expense of quietly fulfilling the Royal Family’s traditional duties”.
All three “performed half-heartedly… during moments of national celebration and crisis”, he said.
Assessing his sometimes strained relationship with his eldest son over the decades, Philip once concluded: “He’s a romantic and I’m a pragmatist. That means we do see things differently.”
After speaking to 120 people from the inner circle within the Royal Family, Mr Bower paints Charles as a frustrated individual who thinks he should be listened to more than he is.
Mr Bower said yesterday: “He hates criticism. He’ll hate this book.
“But the point is he refuses to engage with his critics. He knows how to criticise but doesn’t like to be the person to take it himself.
“He’s rather sad. His marriage, his relationship with his mother and father, which isn’t very good.
“He wants a legacy, he wants there to be an era of Charles. But of course, he’s going to be frustrated, because the Queen is going to live hopefully for many, many more years and there won’t be that legacy that he wants.”
The book is said to reveal Charles’s innermost secrets.
Mr Bower reveals items he deems necessary when he travels are “a toilet seat, his own bed, his bedding”.
He said: “It’s a huge operation wherever he goes and visits people.
“Often he’s not invited back because they can’t stand the coming and going. He also travels with his own bread. He went to India and took some Italian bread with him.”