Valentine Lowe's new book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown is spilling even more fancy royal tea—this time, about Prince William being all kinds of upset by the firing of Private Secretary Sir Christopher Geidt back in 2017. In other words: Settle in for some vintage royal drama.
According to Lowe's book (via The Telegraph), Geidt, aka the Queen's Private Secretary and a mentor to Prince William, was ousted amid a falling out between then-Prince Charles and Prince Andrew. “William was furious," a source said. “He felt Christopher had worked to modernize the institution and bring it closer together. He was concerned about the way it had been handled, and how Christopher had been treated.”
So, what happened? Apparently Geidt was fired after 10 years following differences of opinion on how to handle the "transition of power" between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Plus, Prince Andrew wasn't into Geidt supporting Charles's desire to have a slimmed down monarchy on the balcony during the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, felt it was “like a dagger to his heart," and "hasn’t got over it." Uh...kay!
Then in 2014, Charles wasn't here for Geidt trying to have the royals in one "streamlined communications operation," and neither Andrew nor Charles were on board with his attempt to merge royal households in 2017. The brothers actually both approached the Queen and told her “Geidt has got to go,” and he was said to be “very bruised” by the whole thing.
Meanwhile, William was so pissed that he went to the Lord Chamberlain to complain, with the source saying, “He was really angry about it, not necessarily because it was the wrong decision. He just thought it was handled very unkindly for a man who was a pillar of the institution of the monarchy, but had also played an incredibly important role when the coalition government had been formed.”
Truly, the amount of drama in this family is beyond!
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
