Secret plan to make Charles regent in final years of Queen’s reign, book reveals

Buckingham Palace aides drew up secret plans for the then Prince Charles to become regent and step in for the Queen during the final years of her reign, a new book reveals.

The proposals included a soft-touch “regency-light” and a “reversible regency” strategy had his mother become “incapacitated”.

Plans for a regency, ultimately not activated, were played down by Palace aides at the time.

Charles, who became King in September 2022 following Queen Elizabeth’s death, was himself reluctant to get involved in the planning for a serious deterioration in the Queen’s health, fearing it would undermine his mother, who had indicated she would not abdicate.

If the plan had been triggered, he would have been the first regent since 1820 – when George III’s eldest son stood in his place.

The revelations are included in a new biography of the King, ‘Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story’ by Robert Hardman, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail.

Published excerpts claim that the Government secretly feared civil unrest after the death of the Queen and that King Charles and Prince William had a private summit – without Prince Harry – on the night the Queen died.

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The book, based on conversations with senior royals and their aides, also disclosed that Queen Elizabeth II’s final moments were described as “very peaceful” in a memo written by her private secretary, which also revealed she “wouldn’t have been aware of anything”.

The biography shares how, shortly after Sir Edward Young wrote his note, a footman brought a locked red box of paperwork found at the late Queen’s deathbed which contained two sealed letters: one to her son and heir and the other to Sir Edward himself. The contents remain in the Royal Archives.

It claims that a year before the Queen’s death, Charles’s private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, had filmed a rehearsal of the Accession Council – a ritual to become the monarch.

The new King watched the video the night the Queen died with Prince William. Prince Harry, who would have been automatically invited in previous years, was not present.

According to reports from the book, Charles was reluctant to get involved in regency plans.

An extract reads: “Anything that could give the impression of an impatient Prince getting ahead of himself was subjected to what one senior adviser would call ‘the Henry V test’. Would this smack of young Prince Hal trying to oust old King Henry IV?”

Another says that the then prince and his staff “concluded that creating a committee and discussing coronation plans with Whitehall officials would indeed fail that test”.

“However, giving some discreet thought to the tone and structure of the next coronation service seemed sensible enough by the time the Queen was approaching her 90th birthday,” Mr Hardman’s book adds.

Published on Thursday, the biography promises to reveal “how Charles III is determined to move ahead at speed, the vital role played by Queen Camilla, the King’s relationships with his sons and the rest of his family, his plans for reforming the monarchy and how he is taking his place on the world stage”.

Buckingham Palace said it would not be commenting on the “unauthorised” biography.