"History Will Judge Us"

Power dynamics following the Queen's death and the Princess of Wales advocating for a robust response to the Oprah interview

The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex outside Windsor Castle greeting the public on September 10, 2022

Valentine Low, a long time Royal Rota reporter for the Times and Sunday Times always knows how to start a story off with a bang. His book Courtiers released last November gave a comprehensive history of the “power behind the Crown”, the Courtiers who helped shape the Royal Family’s agenda and day-to-day activities and also blew open the story of the Sussex staff’s unhappiness and alleged workplace mistreatment which saw many members of their staff leaving in short order.

In preparation for the paperback copy of his successful book Courtiers being released next week, Low has added 16 new pages ripe for analysis. The excerpt shared with the Times is Low at his best. There is no other Royal reporter who is as well-connected with the “below stairs staff” and as thorough as Low. There are many nuggets in these new pages that would interest anyone who loves royal gossip.

Low sheds light on the pandemonium that ensued when Queen Elizabeth passed (four days into the mourning period, long-standing aides for the Queen were given letters “warning them of possible redundancies”).

Sir Clive Alderton had troubles adjusting to sharing the access he had to King Charles and the power and clout that came along with it. Tempers were frayed as he tried to run Buckingham Palace like he ran Clarence House (“At Clarence House, Alderton had been in charge, the single most significant figure below Charles himself. At Buckingham Palace, he was also extremely important, but there were other figures there of similar importance, such as the keeper of the Privy Purse and the master of the household, who did not see themselves as answerable to the private secretary.”)

Power struggles ensued, aides who had held high level positions for decades suddenly found themselves on uncertain ground, jostling for their place on the hierarchal Palace totem pole. But it’s the sections containing how the Household of the Prince and Princess of Wales managed the response to claims the Sussexes made during the Oprah interview. The day after the interview aired in England, the Wales couple and their senior staff mulled how to respond.

While they were as concerned as anyone about not getting into a tit-for-tat with Harry and Meghan, William and Kate were clear which side of the debate they were on. “They wanted it toughened up a bit,” said the insider. “They were both of one mind that we needed something that said that the institution did not accept a lot of what had been said.”

Prince William has known since he was seven years old that he was going to be King. At many points during his adolescence, he struggled with his destiny, for lack of a better world. He said once in an interview: “I certainly don't lie awake at night waiting or hoping for it,” he said. “Because it sadly means my family has moved on, and I don't want that.” But just because he “doesn’t want that” does not mean he isn’t strategic. It goes without saying that the last few years in the Royal Family has been, at times, filled with drama and turmoil. The Waleses were on the same page. Prince William stressed to his aides that he wanted it clear that the allegations they were making would not stand, and Princess Catherine backed him up. Then Low dropped this nugget:

While some have attributed “recollections may vary” to Alderton, more than one source has said that the author was in fact Jean-Christophe Gray, William’s new private secretary, who had been in post for less than three weeks. At least two senior officials in other households were against its inclusion, because they feared that it would rile Harry and Meghan. But once the phrase had been added to the draft, it was — according to another source — the Duchess of Cambridge who pressed home the argument that it should remain. “It was Kate who clearly made the point, ‘History will judge this statement and unless this phrase or a phrase like it is included, everything that they have said will be taken as true.’ ”

“History will judge this statement and unless this phrase or a phrase like it is included, everything that they have said will be taken as true.’ ”

Before I go any further, I just want to say, this turn of phrase could not have been any more prescient if it tried. It was rooted in reality. The biggest whoopers told on Oprah? The Duchess of Sussex alleging that members of the Royal family raised concerns during “several conversations” about the color of their unborn child’s skin. She claimed such worries were “one of the reasons” Buckingham Palace decided that Archie, when he was born, could not be made a prince, fears that have since been proven unfounded.

Recollections differed in the interview itself. Meghan claimed it happened while she was pregnant on “a few occasions”. When it was Harry’s turn on the hot seat, he said it happened “before they got married and it was one comment made one time.” The Princess of Wales was right. If there was no pushback in the statement responding to Oprah, people would’ve continued to do what they did in 2021: Take the Sussexes at their word without any pushback. And if the past four years have taught us anything, it’s that Sussex statements are never the full story. In fact, I’d do well to say, they intentionally make things sound worse for the sake of garnering public sympathy and support. The last four years has showcased this phenomenon. Between Harry’s court appearance where his stories was sliced throughly by the Mirror’s lawyers or the “near-catastrophic car chase” that wasn’t. Even to bizarrely blaming the media for calling his family racist, Harry and Meghan benefit from casual Royal watchers who wouldn’t know Sandringham from Windsor. The unawareness and lack of knowledge from those reading stories about them is their lifeline.

The Princess of Wales did not make up the line, but she advocated for it to be left in. And it was the strategic thing to do. If the Princess and Jean-Christophe Gray were in front of me at this very very moment; I would buy them both a round of drinks.

“Recollections may vary" is already in the pop cultural lexicon as a way of calling someone a liar. It's like how "Houston, we have a problem" became a concept everyone knew even if you hadn't watched Apollo 13. It is a great line that connotes politeness on its exterior, but dig a little deeper? It’s a very diplomatic way of saying someone is full of shite and it spares no feelings about the state of the matter. Gray, three weeks on the job, struck the right balance of acquiescing to the wishes of his bosses (The Wales’s) and giving Buckingham Palace and the Queen something they could release without regrets. As far as the Princess of Wales being the driving factor to keep the phrase in after receiving feedback it was too harsh? And I have no doubt the Princess fought for it’s inclusion.

“She does not get as much credit as she should, because she is so subtle about it. She is playing the long game. She has always got her eye on, ‘This is my life and my historic path and I am going to be the Queen one day.’”

The mistake people make with with Princess Catherine is mistaking her temperate demeanor for someone who doesn’t have strong opinions of her own. If Catherine didn’t have steel running through her veins, she would have packed it in the first time 12 huge men with cameras followed her down the road. Or when paparazzi nearly caused a car accident with her and her younger sister Pippa — which was caught on camera. Or had her parents background discussed with derision on both on serious news programs and comedy shows in the UK, not to mention her entire life turned upside down and privacy invaded by phone hacking.

It’s been said by Royal authors like Tina Brown and Robert Lacey that the Princess of Wales hot button is her family; that her ideal life would be as a country wife living in the country with a gaggle of children to dote on. Say whatever you want about her, it doesn’t matter, she’ll push through it. But cross her family and all bets are off. I think when she fell in love with William, she made a conscious choice: If I want to make this work, I have to go into this with my eyes wide open. And she did. After twenty years together?

It’s imperative that William and Kate are built up and their star is polished as energetically as possible given they are the monarchy’s One Great Hope. The future of the whole outfit rests on them being crowned and proving so popular that the institution surges into the 22nd century on a wave of popularity not seen since the Restoration.

It’s why it makes sense she made the call and pushed for the language to stay. A weaker, more placid statement would have legitimized Harry and Meghan’s comments, many of which they’ve embarrassingly walked back strenuously.

It seems like only yesterday the Sussexes said they left because they just couldn’t tolerate the racist treatment towards Meghan by the press? Yes, the coverage was acerbic and never-ending at times but is the American press looking any better? It’s clear to me the catalyst for them leaving stemmed from Harry not understanding what being the spare means and how much he hates that he wasn't born first. In my opinion, he married someone who bolstered his belief that he is greater than the sum of all the Royal Firm so the regard for him should be higher.

The obvious question on everyone’s mind is…Who leaked this? This book is a paperback re-print of the original manuscript. It’s a great PR play that to get it back in the news, new stories would need to be shared to drum up interest. Valentine likely held onto this information for just this very moment. Word of two drafts in circulation has been news for a couple of years now. Someone was obviously holding on to this news. My money is on an aide who is no longer working for the Palace and emboldened to speak. And we thank them for sharing this sip of Royal Tea.

-Lady Sinclair