A new book has revealed an awkward moment in King Charles’ past that reportedly landed him “in the doghouse” with government officials.
In Power and the Palace by Valentine Low, excerpts published in The Times describe how Charles, then Prince of Wales, was left out of discussions about the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act, which ended male-preference primogeniture. At the time, Prince William and Kate Middleton were expecting their first child, and Charles raised concerns about how the law might affect the royal family.
During a December 2012 tea meeting with Richard Heaton, a senior civil servant, Charles asked what would happen if his grandchild were a girl and married someone with a common surname,would the royal house still be Windsor? He also questioned the impact of the law on Catholic marriages and hereditary peerages. Heaton, caught off guard and unbriefed, gave what answers he could.
Soon after, The Daily Mail ran a story saying Charles was frustrated that neither he nor William had been consulted about the succession changes. According to Low, this upset Whitehall officials for three reasons: Charles had misrepresented his talk with Heaton, someone had leaked details of a private conversation, and the prince appeared to be criticizing government policy. One official reportedly told Heaton not to worry, saying Charles was “in the doghouse.”
Not long afterward, Charles invited Heaton on a royal train trip to visit a pottery supported by one of his charities. While not an outright apology, Low notes it seemed to be the prince’s way of smoothing things over.
The Succession to the Crown Act, passed in 2013, confirmed that birth order not gender decides who inherits the throne. This change made history in 2018 when Princess Charlotte kept her place in the line of succession after her younger brother Prince Louis was born.
