The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Prince of Wales hires diplomat as he steps up responsibilities
Duke of Sussex accepts damages in settlement with Mirror and singles out former editor
THE Prince of Wales is to hire a former diplomat who was made an MBE for work on international peacekeeping as his private secretary, as the heir to the throne takes on more royal responsibilities.
Ian Patrick, who has worked for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and as a geopolitical consultant, will join the Kensington Palace team as part of a restructuring to support the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The Prince has for some years been taking on an increasingly global role, now representing King and country on overseas diplomatic visits and travelling for his Earthshot environmental prize.
He has this week faced questions about “stepping up” to support his father in the wake of the King’s cancer diagnosis. He is understood to be taking on select public duties, while the King continues to conduct all essential business of state.
On Wednesday, the Prince performed an investiture before making a speech at an air ambulance fundraiser.
Changes to the Kensington Palace team, which were put in place before the King’s illness, will give the Prince and Princess their own private secretaries, with a newly-created role of CEO yet to be filled. The Princess is currently recuperating from abdominal surgery and is not expected to return to work before Easter at the earliest.
Mr Patrick previously spent eight years in the Foreign Office and worked in international peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years. He is a trustee of the charity Crohn’s and Colitis UK.
Yesterday, the Royal family continued working out of the public eye. A source said the King “looks forward” to returning to full public duty as soon as he is able, with no plans to appoint counsellors of state – senior members of the Royal family authorised to carry out official duties – to perform any of his roles.
One constitutional expert described the formal plans to cope with the illness of any monarch as “bombproof ”, with provisions under the Regency Act 1937 for all eventualities.
The Act was introduced after the accession of George VI, as Elizabeth II was still a child at the time.
Those involved in any future application of the act – the lord chancellor, the lord chief justice, the master of the rolls, and the speaker of the House of Commons – are understood to have been “reminded of their responsibilities” this week out of an abundance of caution.
While the King has been resting at Sandringham this week, the Queen attended a concert at Salisbury Cathedral and met several charities. The Princess Royal has also undertaken several engagements. Both she and the Duke of Edinburgh also performed investitures at Windsor Castle.
The Duke of Sussex, meanwhile, has said his “mission continues” after he agreed a court settlement with Mirror Group Newspapers in the wake of an “overwhelming” victory in his phone hacking claim.
He also renewed his attack on Piers Morgan, a former Mirror editor, insisting in a statement that he “knew perfectly well what was going on” regarding hacking.
Morgan responded: “I think that invading the privacy of the Royal family is utterly reprehensible. And on that I share Prince Harry’s opinion. I just wish he’d stopped doing it.”
THE Duke of Sussex reignited his war of words with Piers Morgan after accepting “substantial” damages to end his four-year legal battle with Mirror Group Newspapers.
The High Court heard that Prince Harry, 39, had agreed a settlement with the tabloid publisher rather than pursue a second phone-hacking trial.
In December, the Duke was awarded £140,600 in compensation after 15 of 33 articles were found to have been the product of phone hacking or unlawful information gathering.
In his victory statement, he singled out Mr Morgan, former editor of the
for criticism.
He also warned there would be another trial relating to a further 115 outstanding articles if he was not awarded appropriate damages.
But yesterday David Sherborne, the Duke’s barrister, announced that MGN had agreed to pay “a substantial additional sum by way of damages” and all of his client’s costs, which are likely to be significant. He said the publisher would make an interim payment of £400,000.
In a statement read outside the court, the Duke again turned the spotlight on Mr Morgan, insisting that he “knew perfectly well what was going on” regarding hacking.
He suggested that Mr Morgan’s “contempt” for the judge’s ruling only vindicated his decision to take the matter to court. The Duke also reiterated his call for a police inquiry and vowed that his “mission continues”.
He said: “After our victory in December, Mirror Group have finally conceded the rest of my claim, which would have consisted of another two trials, additional evidence and 115 more articles.
“We call again for the authorities to uphold the rule of law and to prove that no one is above it.
“That includes Mr Morgan, who as editor, knew perfectly well what was going on, as the judge held.
“Even his own employer realised it simply could not call him as a witness of truth at the trial.
“His contempt for the court’s ruling and his continued attacks ever since demonstrate why it was so important to obtain a clear and detailed judgment. “
The Metropolitan Police said it was still considering the December ruling.
Mr Morgan, who was not a witness at the trial, has denied wrongdoing.
Asked for his response to Harry’s latest claims, he said: “I think that invading the privacy of the Royal family is utterly reprehensible. And on that I ‘We are a long way from triggering the provisions of the Regency Acts’ share Prince Harry’s opinion. I just wish he’d stopped doing it.”
In December, Mr Morgan accused the Duke of wanting to bring down the monarchy and said he “wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him around his California-tanned face”.
He branded the King’s younger son “ruthless” and “greedy”, adding: “He demands accountability for the press but refuses to accept any for himself for smearing the Royal family, his own family, as a bunch of callous racists without producing a shred of proof to support those disgraceful claims.”
Prince Harry sued MGN in October 2019 over 148 articles he alleged had been obtained illegally. Giving evidence during the seven-week trial last year, he revealed that he was motivated by a desire to protect his wife, Meghan.
Mr Justice Fancourt found that ministers and other senior officials, and holding his weekly audience with the Prime Minister.
“His absence from public appearances will mean more royal visits being undertaken by other senior royals: Princess Anne, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.
“We are a long way from triggering the provisions of the Regency Acts.”
At the most recent investiture, the Prince looked a little more careworn than he has of late.
As a military band played the national anthem, he blinked rapidly with a furrowed brow over the strains of God Save the King – the tune so familiar, the key word of “King” still so new to the nation.
Later that night, at the London Air Ambulance gala fundraiser, he was more like his old self, leaning in to speak to helicopter pilots and the patients they have saved; clapping
Tom Cruise on the shoulder and making jokes about his
shoes.
Afterwards, he went home to Windsor ready for the morning’s school run and caring for his wife.
He will not, sources emphasise, be taking on tons of the King’s engagements, with both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace mindful not to make sweeping changes to the public face of the monarchy before necessary. As a palace aide says: “The King is still the King.”
In other words, he can and will still fulfil his state duties. The only current hole will be outside the palaces, where the 500-odd engagements he does every year will temporarily fall by the wayside to minimise risks to his health.
One long-term royal watcher phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at the publisher’s three titles from 1998 and remained “extensive” from 2006 until 2011, “even to some extent during the Leveson Inquiry”.
He said two MGN directors Sly Bailey, chief executive, and Paul Vickers, group legal director, knew about hacking but “turned a blind eye” and did not inform the board.
But he warned that Prince Harry’s “tendency to assume” that all stories written about him were obtained illegally was misplaced.
He also criticised the Duke for using his witness statement as a vehicle to advance “an argument against the vicissitudes of the press” rather than keep to factual evidence relating to his claim, noting that it “did not remotely comply” with professional guidelines.
The Duke’s claim was heard alongside worries: “William can’t really win on this one. Either he keeps calm and carries on with his own programme, and people say he isn’t stepping up. Or his steps up, and people think he is trying to be King-like or – worse – that his father isn’t capable and needs him to step up.”
A palace source said there was “constant conversation” between the King’s and the Prince’s teams, but that the Prince was not expected to pick up all of his father’s engagements – a mutual decision.
One who knows the Prince said: “This week has been a reminder that yes they [the Royal family] are in these public positions, but they’re also human beings.”
“Think about it: his life partner who he’s been with since university has had major surgery. They have three children and all of the worry about keeping things normal for them. Then on top of that you find out your father has cancer?
“It’s only been four days.”
Inside both palaces, there is palpable distaste at the idea of discussing any future that is not the King’s swift and full recovery. Aides are keen that no one starts to ‘think the unthinkable’.
Indeed, Team Wales will continue a long-planned restructure for their future in the monarchy’s supporting role.
Still seeking a CEO – the first time such a position has been introduced at a palace – Kensington Palace will soon have two new private secretaries, thought to be the late Queen’s equerry Lt Col Tom White in the case of the Princess, and a safe pair of former Foreign Office hands for the Prince.
Ian Patrick, who worked for the FCO and was made an MBE for his work on those brought by actor Michael Turner, known as Michael Le Vell, actress Nikki Sanderson and Fiona Wightman, the former wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.
The claims brought by Ms Sanderson and Ms Wightman were dismissed because they were made too late.
Mr Turner was awarded £31,650 in damages after his case was “proved only to a limited extent”.
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled yesterday that Ms Sanderson and Ms Wightman should pay MGN the costs of defending their individual claims.
He said Mr Turner should pay costs incurred by the publisher in responding to his claim from March 5 2022, when a settlement offer was made.
The judge expressed concern about the way that such hacking claims were being pursued.
He warned that pleadings and witness statements were being “maximised” with scant regard for reality, stating what was needed to advance the claim, rather than what could actually be recalled.
He also criticised the failure to attempt to resolve such claims without trial, warning there was no justification for claimants to “sit tight” rather than negotiate in the hope that something might eventually turn up to support their “more outlandish claims”.
Ms Sanderson’s claim was so “misleading and exaggerated” that the judge suggested the court lay down a marker international peacekeeping, is set to join the household, on hand to help the Prince expand his geopolitical presence as he increasingly represents King and country.
A source said of the Prince: “He’s very aware of the future in front of him.
“They [the Prince and Princess of Wales] take their commitment to duty and service very, very seriously, and he has made decisions about his life based on being heir to the throne. That weighs on his mind constantly.”
First and foremost, his priority is to see the Princess safely back on her feet.
A former royal aide said: “Do not expect him to say or do anything about the future until his wife is recovered.
“He will always do the right thing, and for his wife and father right now that also means not jumping too many steps ahead.”
He and all those who work for him will hope that a future as King William V is not raised again until he is a much older man, with three grown-up children settled into their own working lives.
For now, it is the Queen who will be front and centre while her husband is working from home.
Determined to carry on with her engagements while supporting her husband in his treatment, she is said by one source to nevertheless have taken the news harder than her cheerful public appearances have so far let on.
Another – who has seen her this week – disagreed, saying: “I see resilience, devotion, optimism.”
Princess Anne, who maintains the busiest schedule, albeit with fewer headlines, has made no secret of her frustrations over the lack of youngsters for the consequences in preventing quick and fair resolution.
Meanwhile, MGN was ordered to pay the “generic” legal costs of all those currently involved in the litigation after the claimants successfully proved illegal conduct.
Other celebrities involved in the case include former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy, the estate of the late singer George Michael, ex-footballer and television presenter Ian Wright and actor Ricky Tomlinson.
The final costs figure is yet to be assessed but the court heard that the group was seeking payment of around £1.9 million towards the legal costs of bringing those allegations to court.
Last month, it emerged that the Duke faced an estimated legal bill of £750,000 after abandoning a libel claim against concerning an article about his demand for taxpayer-funded security.
Separately, he has been given permission to continue his hacking case against the publisher of the which denies wrongdoing. His claim against News Group Newspapers, publisher of and is due to go to trial next year.
Responding to its settlement with the Duke, an MGN spokesman said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business further clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologised.” stepping in to replenish the older generation.
A slimmed-down monarchy, she has said “doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing”.
The Duke of Sussex, who would once have supported his father and brother in a practical sense by picking up some of the slack, has jetted in and out of Britain and will next week spend three days in Canada with the Duchess of Sussex promoting his Invictus Games with all the publicity that entails.
There is a weary acceptance back in Britain that details of his short meeting with the King may come out.
The Buckingham Palace office, in a situation unprecedented in modern times, is simply having to wait and see what unfolds over the coming weeks and months.
The King’s schedule will be determined by how he is feeling on a day-to-day basis.
All the administrative decisions that would ordinarily be made in the early years of a reign – the Royal Warrants, the reconfirmation of Patronages, the signing-off of all manner of things across the Realms – will need to take a temporary back seat behind the more pressing problems.
Plunged into the dreaded “sandwich generation” – worrying about a young family and a parent – the Prince, a source said, is in the same position as “hundreds and thousands of others up and down the country” but also “doing it under a magnifying glass”.
He will be off work next week for half term, as is the Waleses custom. It will keep life stable for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and perhaps the nation as well.