The Weekly speaks to TOM BOWER
When several people suggested to Tom Bower that he should write a book on Prince Charles, the investigative journalist turned biographer had his doubts.
“I was sceptical because so many books had been written about him that I didn’t know what I could do that would be different,” he says.
But when he started digging into Charles’ life, he changed his mind.
“My expertise is to write about people who use their wealth and fame to change people’s lives,” says Tom. “Charles is one of those people. And I realised that the most important part of his story hadn’t been told – what had happened to him after Diana’s death.
“His approval rating dropped to four percent and he has spent the last 20 years trying to rehabilitate himself, and to get people to accept Camilla. I thought there was a good story there.”
Brit Tom (71) interviewed around 120 people for his book Rebel Prince: The Power,
Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles. Some are named, including former New Zealand deputy prime minister Don McKinnon, who found Charles frustrating to deal with when he was the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth; and Mark Bolland, the prince’s former assistant private secretary, whose job it was to rescue Camilla’s reputation and make her more popular with the public and the Queen.
Getting Mark to reveal behind-the-scenes details was a huge coup for the writer. “It’s the first time he has spoken and this is how the whole Camilla story has finally come out. A lot of it has come directly from him.
I was very happy when he decided to speak to me.”
Many of his other sources are not identified. “A lot of them have had a bruising experience with Charles. I’ve also talked to those who think he is marvellous and they are in the book, but there were a lot of people who were employed by him and feel like they were treated unfairly.”
What shocked Tom most as he researched the book was Charles’ disloyalty to former employees. “He expects loyalty and as one of them said to me, ‘He is surrounded by sycophants and if you don’t say yes, he will find somebody who will.’ And often when people tell him things, he just doesn’t listen.
“The other thing that shocked me was his extraordinarily expensive lifestyle. He refuses to go on commercial airlines, he has a staff of 149... He has 11 gardeners but he has complained about a wealthy banker who has 14 gardeners – he thought it was unfair this person had more gardeners than him.
“He is always complaining. He is, as someone said in the book, an Olympic whinger.”
Tom, a “desperate monarchist” who has never met the Prince of Wales, says there are times when Charles can be charming and engaging, such as when he goes on official visits to hospitals, schools and farms.
If he had to sum up the future king in a sentence, it would be, “He’s a good man – not evil, but frustrated and stubborn.”