On Her Majesty’s secret service
The man? An ex-spy who’s the Queen’s most trusted aide. His mission? To reinvent the Royals now Philip’s retired. His unlikely allies? Edward and Sophie
TO DELIVER the news of Prince Philip’s retirement, an unassuming Royal servant stepped on to a throne dais framed by a gold-embroidered canopy of crimson velvet.
It made for a regal tableau. But it is unlikely Sir Christopher Geidt’s 500 colleagues, stretched before him last week in the Buckingham Palace ballroom, thought it ill-suited to the man or his announcement.
After all, Sir Christopher, who attended private Glenalmond College in Perthshire, is no ordinary servant.
With a background in Army intelligence – he enlisted in the Scots Guards and some have suggested he was later an MI6 officer – his advice and judgment is prized by the Queen above all others. For the past decade he has been her righthand man and when he stood up to speak on Thursday morning, the ballroom hung on his every word.
Indeed, it was on the Queen’s authority that Sir Christopher made his address, issuing a plea for her family and their staff to cast differences aside and pull together.
Courtiers have spoken of last week’s announcement as a ‘line being drawn’ – the beginning of a new era that might yet see the Queen accept Prince Charles as regent.
Or as others have put it, the most decisive move yet in what might be called ‘operation handover’, the steady, carefully controlled shift of power and responsibility away from the ageing Monarch and her consort to the generations below, ahead of Prince Charles’s eventual succession to the Throne.
And central to this will be the Earl and Countess of Wessex, increasingly seen as essential to the continuity of ‘The Firm’.
For some time now attention has been fixed on the younger Royals – William, Kate and Harry. But insiders say there is expected be a greater focus on the more senior members – and with tension still simmering between his brothers, Prince Edward, the once muchmocked youngest son, will become ‘far more visible’.
In the background, Sir Christopher’s deft hand will control the delicate power balance within the rival Royal households.
It is a role he has already played with aplomb. Following the death of Princess Diana, the future of the Monarchy seemed in peril, but through subtle recalibration he gradually transformed its fortunes, and secured its existence.
Yet for one so powerful he frequently moves unnoticed, ‘rather like a secret agent in a Graham Greene novel’, noted one insider.
Last Thursday’s disclosure heralded his most challenging mission yet. The kernel of Sir Christopher’s address – the decision of Prince Philip, 95, to finally step down – was hardly shattering stuff.
But what it symbolised and signalled – the passing of an era, a message to the Royal Household to unite, a subliminal message to the Queen about the need, should circumstances dictate, to pass on the baton – was not lost on staff. When they dispersed, many were said to have appeared deep in thought.
Senior courtiers agree that it is vital the Monarch calms the turbulence that has beset the Royal Household. There have been reports of tension between William and his father following complaints that Charles ‘almost never’ sees his grandson whom he hoped to mentor. Worse has been the alleged row between Charles and Andrew over the roles undertaken by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Andrew has been forced to deny claims that he wanted his daughters to carry out Royal duties fulltime, similar to Princes William and Harry.
As they squabble and other petty jealousies beset the palaces, those previously considered bit-part players have been quietly enhancing their positions – none more so than Edward and Sophie.
The Queen has grown increasingly close to Sophie, who has become a trusted companion. The two women are said to share a passion for military history.
Prince Edward, meanwhile, is a favourite of his father – he is the only son whose portrait hangs in his study at Buckingham Palace – and has taken on his great legacy, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. He has been promised his father’s dukedom, too, although it will not simply pass to Edward as previously assumed.
Instead, the decision will be at the discretion of the Prince of Wales, but only after he becomes King.
Before that day comes, Edward and Sophie are likely to be at the forefront of Sir Christopher’s unity project, acting as a ‘buffer’ between Charles and Andrew and undertaking more engagements with the Queen.
‘Edward has moulded into a quiet and efficient figure, who does not seek attention or acquire headlines,’ said one insider. ‘He and Sophie are liked for being dutiful and uncomplaining.’
The task for Sir Christopher and other advisers, said another source, will be to take advantage of these qualities in a ‘presentational’ way.
Since last year’s celebrations to mark her 90th birthday, the Queen has been gradually slowing down. Her reign has lasted more than 65 years and speculation is rife that she will pass the mantle on to Charles, making him regent, possibly when she is 95. Philip’s decision to go, with his wife’s blessing, may speed up that process.
Unifying the households is something Cambridge-educated Sir Christopher has long championed, albeit with varying success.
‘Each Royal household is like a ship,’ a senior courtier explained. ‘Each household has a different member of the Royal Family as its captain. So the Queen may be like the Admiral of the Fleet, but it doesn’t mean all the ships are necessarily sailing in the same direction all the time. In some cases it is quite the opposite.’
Another courtier said: ‘He [Sir Christopher] is having to deal with three adult generations of Royalty, all with their own agendas while serving the institution of monarchy as a co-operative. Not easy with all the characters involved.’
In 2014, Sir Christopher was awarded his second knighthood for ‘a new approach to constitutional matters... [And] the preparation for the transition to a change of reign’ – and he has certainly earned it.
The Palace insists publicly that the Queen will carry on as if nothing has changed. It is widely acknowledged she will never abdicate and the succession is rarely, if ever, talked about in official terms. But behind the Palace gates, preparations are fully under way. Abdication may be an outlawed word, but ‘regency’ certainly is not.
The Queen has a pragmatic approach to her great age. She wants nothing more than a smooth transition. Her reign is poised and ready for a change in management at the blink of an eye.
Granted, Her Majesty is a consecrated Monarch who pledged in her coronation oath to serve throughout her life. But the question remains
‘Like a secret agent in a Graham Greene novel’
as to whether she will remain as head of state if she lives to be a centenarian like her mother.
The last time the provisions of the Regency Act – which has recently been ‘dusted off’ by senior aides – were used was in 1810 during the reign of George III, when the King became deranged.
His son was regent for ten years and on his father’s death, became George IV. The wording of the Act is vague enough to allow the Queen to simply pass the baton to her heir and effectively retire – thus effecting the smoothest of successions with the minimum of fuss. For many years second in line to the Throne, Prince William, has been cut a lot of slack by his father and the Queen. He has been said to be at a ‘crossroads’ for some time. All the indications are that his grandfather’s decision to retire will require him to be more supportive of the Queen and his father through an increased number of engagements. He may have to take on some of the Duke’s military commitments, as will Harry. The role of Captain General Royal Marines, for instance, needs to be filled.
Prince Charles, as heir and effectively King in all but name, is in the strongest position. He does not have to take orders from his father in whatever form they come. He certainly doesn’t take instructions from Sir Christopher, though they are said to get on well.
At 68, Charles has seen all these Palace manoeuvrings before. There was the time Sir Christopher wanted the entire communications team to come under the control of his appointee, former BBC executive Sally Osman.
Charles has effectively opted out of such an arrangement. His team are courteous, sharing information with Buckingham Palace but effectively autonomous – both financially and in the way they conduct their business.
On the international stage and within the corridors of power, Prince Charles has increasing authority.
Crucially, the question of Charles being a ‘meddling’ King has been resolved, with insiders insisting he knows all the parameters of the top job and will not upset the constitutional apple cart for his own agenda.
The Queen has total faith in her son and heir. But while she still holds the reins of power, she is determined all of her family will pull together both for her personally and for the health of the institution they all serve.
And she believes that there is no better man than Sir Christopher – modest yet razor-sharp, quiet but charismatic – to help them.
Married with two daughters, he was invalided out of the Scots Guards after a year and recruited by the Army Intelligence Corps. In 1989, when he was part of a mission sent to oversee Vietnamese troops pulling out of Cambodia, he was mentioned in the Commons when an MP speculated on whether he was an MI6 officer.
His friends say his experience in the world’s troublespots made him a perfect choice as the Queen’s top aide – and, along with her youngest son, the ideal man to smooth the tensions in her family.
Asked yesterday if other members of the Royal Family would now be supporting the Queen, Prince Edward replied: ‘It is always a team effort and that’s what we do, and the show goes on. If an actor retires from a show, guess what? The show goes on and everybody shuffles around and we all fill in the spaces and keep it all going.’
‘Edward and Sophie are liked for being dutiful’