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Queen gave ‘express approval’ for books

Queen Elizabeth’s former dresser Angela Kelly is not departing quietly to the grace and favor home in the north of England given to her by King Charles. After last week’s revelation that he had gifted her the residence in exchange for her signing her an NDA—after she was forced to leave her home in Windsor—the Mail on Sunday reports that the late queen wrote a letter to her former dresser “granting express approval” for her to publish three books.

Only two books by her have so far been published, and Charles—by reportedly getting Kelly to sign an NDA in exchange for her new digs—might have thought that the possibility of more behind-the-scenes Palace secrets being revealed had been safely extinguished.

The NDA itself was thought to have expressly forbidden the terms “palace” and “king”—which doesn’t exactly gag Kelly from dishing what she chooses on a whole bunch of stuff. Charles reportedly thought Kelly told too much when writing about the queen’s moment of private contemplation after Prince Philip’s funeral two years ago,” the Mail says.

Sources close to Kelly speculated that the queen’s written approval “could even take precedence over the NDA.”

A source told the paper: “It’s certainly a formidable weapon in her arsenal to have a letter like that from Queen Elizabeth II in her possession. It’s quite something because it seems she is protecting her favored assistant from beyond the grave. It is pretty important because it includes the queen’s wishes, and no one would want to ignore those.”

Kelly seems unhappy at how she has been treated since the queen’s death—from having an extremely high status and influence within the palace now she has neither. The Daily Mail reported that last weekend she posted on her Instagram account—agenthighheels—a since-deleted image bearing two quotes, one reading: “No matter how kind and generous you are, you’ll never satisfy an ungrateful person,” and another saying: “Learning how to remain calm when you’re disrespected is a superpower.”

Charles’ fave holiday hideaway: Transylvania

King Charles is heading for some R&R time, without Queen Camilla, in rural Transylvania. Camilla will stay home in Wiltshire.

“The king will sleep in a simple wooden bed, drink hand-pressed apple juice—and maybe even judge the local lawn-mowing competition, as he has done on previous visits,” the Mail reports.

Charles, distantly related to Vlad the Impaler, secretly bought a run-down former farmhouse in Zalanpatak, close to the Carpathian Mountains, several years ago with the help of local landowner Count Kalnoky, the Mail on Sunday reports. “The property has now been restored with authentic textiles and antiques from the region as well as indoor toilets. But it still retains a simple, Transylvanian authenticity, with heating provided by wood-burning ceramic tile stoves and tap water sourced from springs.”

Low on tech, it also gives Charles the opportunity for lots of walks in the fresh air.

One source told the Mail the village was “the land that time forgot… There are no private secretaries accompanying him and very little in the way of staff generally, in fact. There's certainly no valet or chef that travel over with him. The local produce and cooks are too wonderful.”

William and Harry met Paul Burrell before Harry’s wedding

Prince William and Prince Harry had a secret meeting with Paul Burrell, their late mother Princess Diana’s butler, before Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle, the Sun reports. The paper says while it was thought the brothers had last seen Burrell after Diana’s funeral in 1997, the trio met in 2017 at Kensington Palace.

A royal source revealed nothing that specific about what was discussed. “It was a very low-key meeting, but the brothers wanted to speak to someone who had been close to their mother,” the source said. “There were some aspects of her life they felt Paul could provide better clarity on. They asked to keep it all under wraps and he respected that. Paul was happy to tell them everything he knew and shed some light on their memories.”

Of Burrell's 2001 book, A Royal Duty, about his time as Diana’s “rock,” Harry wrote in his own memoir, Spare: “Mummy’s former butler had penned a tell-all which actually told nothing. It was merely one man's self-justifying, self-centering version of events. My mother once called this butler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly. We did too. Now this. He was milking her disappearance for money. It made my blood boil.”

Charles keeps it cold

King Charles’ enviro-credentials are oft-invoked; this has now reportedly spread to the Buckingham Palace pool, the temperature of which has suddenly dropped, blue-toed and shivering sources tell the Sunday Times.

The king’s staff have noted the thermostat seems to have been turned down, in a bid by Charles to reduce the royal household’s energy use. A source told the Times: “A few people using the pool have noticed that the temperature of the water has dropped, and it is quite a bit cooler than it used to be. They have been told the King has had the heating turned down.”

“Senior members of the royal household are permitted to use the pool, but must check in advance if a member of the royal family is planning to swim, to avoid a clash,” the paper reveals.

It’s a “basic” pool too, with nothing fancy about it (apart from the royals having their own palace pool). A former aide told the paper. “The water was warm but it is definitely not glamorous. There are no loungers. It is not like a spa where you’d want to linger. You’re in and out.”

Kate charity boss is convicted murderer

Kate Middleton was reportedly unaware that the head of a charity she is patron of is a convicted murderer. The Mirror reports that while colleagues of Action for Children boss Paul Carberry knew he had stabbed a father-to-be on a train in 1979 (when Carberry was 16; he is now 60), Kate and husband Prince William did not know when they met Carberry at an event a year ago.

Carberry, now 60, told the Mirror: “That’s something I’ve regretted every day of my life. A family did not have their loved one because of me…I’ve committed a terrible offense, it’s something that I regret.”

Carberry told the Mirror that it haunted him that victim John Murray’s child never met her father. “Of course. For me, and particularly the line of work that I’m in and coming from a close family, a loving family. That’s absolutely been a factor in my life. And, actually, it’s been a factor in what I’ve then done as a result. I haven’t tried to make contact because I didn’t want to add to anybody’s suffering and did not want to open up old wounds for anybody.

“I’ve had many opportunities to go on record, many opportunities, and I’ve chosen not to. And the first thing for me was some mother did not have her son because of me and some child did not have a father. The last thing I wanted was to go on the record talking about my progress or whatever. The trustees know and I always acknowledged my background on the basis of need to know.”

This week in royal history

On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth was crowned at her coronation in Westminster Abbey.

Unanswered questions

What did William and Harry talk to Paul Burrell about? Should King Charles be worried by sources close to Angela Kelly saying she feels she has the go-ahead for a third book on working for the queen—and, if so, what might she say in it?

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