{"id":267436,"date":"2025-07-16T20:06:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/267436\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T20:06:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:06:20","slug":"desperate-royals-tried-to-censor-leaked-kings-funeral-plans-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/267436\/","title":{"rendered":"Desperate Royals Tried to Censor Leaked King\u2019s Funeral Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buckingham Palace\u2019s top aides are in a tailspin after leaked plans for the death of King Charles made it into the media\u2014sparking a huge censorship operation to \u201ccontain the spill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leak to The Daily Telegraph revealed details including how Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, would be central to the current British monarch\u2019s funeral\u2014something officials are actively planning as he battles cancer.<\/p>\n

It comes despite the public fracturing of the king\u2019s relationship with his younger son, who has also been at loggerheads with brother William. Prince William will have become king by the time of Charles\u2019 funeral.<\/p>\n

\"QueenThe royal family together on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in happier times. Karwai Tang\/Karwai Tang\/WireImage <\/p>\n

Plans for the funeral, code-named \u201cLondon Bridge,\u201d are the most sensitive of royal secrets, meticulously planned by courtiers and ultimately overseen by the king himself.<\/p>\n

When the Telegraph published the revelations<\/a> on its front page with the headline \u201cPrince Harry and Meghan at heart of King\u2019s funeral plans,\u201d it was the first substantive insight British papers had given their readers into an event of world significance.<\/p>\n

But as soon as it was published, courtiers began an extraordinary operation to stop word of any future reconciliation spreading, even though the Daily Beast can disclose that the leak originated from within Buckingham Palace\u2019s planning operation.<\/p>\n

Insiders say the remarkable episode offers an insight into the kind of \u201ciron fist in a velvet glove\u201d activities that take place behind the curtain of the British royal family as it seeks to control the narrative around the institution. <\/p>\n

Multiple sources have told the Daily Beast that the king\u2019s most senior spin doctor, Tobyn Andreae, \u201chad a meltdown on the phone\u201d to editors at The Telegraph, a reliably pro-monarchy publication, about its London Bridge story.<\/p>\n

\"TobynTobyn Andreae has been working for Charles since 2022. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert\/UK Press via Getty Images) Mark Cuthbert\/Mark Cuthbert\/UK Press <\/p>\n

\u201cThese new details about London Bridge, including that Harry and Meghan will be invited for central roles and that the mourning period will be shortened, had found their way to the Telegraph exclusively,\u201d said a well-placed Fleet Street source.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a conversation with the palace\u2019s communications team ahead of publication. Tobyn [Andreae] was very, very, unhappy. He was involved directly and lobbied the Telegraph for more than 24 hours to try and influence the timing and terms of publication.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, explained a second source, a senior journalist with knowledge of the situation, its editors did not \u201cwish to be controlled.\u201d That \u201cwent down badly\u201d with Andreae, who was \u201cvery resistant to the publication.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source said, \u201cThere was a heated phone call. In the end, the view was taken that the paper needed to protect its editorial independence, and it decided to publish its scoop when it wanted to, which from Tobyn\u2019s [Andreae\u2019s] point of view was premature.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was then, however, that a censorship operation swung into action, according to a source who said Andraea tried to \u201ccontain the spill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KingHe is now one of the king\u2019s most senior advisors. (Photo by Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Getty Images) Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Max Mumby\/Indigo\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Andreae used a WhatsApp text message group with other journalists who cover the royal family for British newspapers and television networks\u2014a group known as the \u201croyal rota\u201d\u2014to trash the Telegraph story and say there would be consequences for any outlet that used the information.<\/p>\n

In one message seen by the Daily Beast, marked \u201cnot for reporting in any form,\u201d Andreae, a former senior editor at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, criticized the article as \u201cunconscionable\u201d and \u201cdownright offensive,\u201d given King Charles is currently battling cancer, and warned that outlets which repeated its detail were \u201cunlikely to receive assistance\u201d in future.<\/p>\n

In what Andreae described as a \u201cgentle advisory\u201d message to the group, which has around 15 members, and the \u201cinternational rota\u201d group, which has around 30, he wrote: \u201cWhile we won\u2019t be drawn on the details or accuracy of the claims, the bridges plans are not yet finalised and there is no active planning underway outside of the entirely routine business you will all be familiar takes place for all family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeculation about demise planning is deeply distasteful in normal circumstances\u2014but downright offensive given that HMK [His Majesty the King] is living with cancer, continuing with treatment\u2026 and doing extremely well on it, as you will all have seen from past weeks and months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sort of article is therefore unconscionable, no matter how \u2018sensitively framed\u2019. It is also a breach of the clear understanding that in order to for us to be able to assist media with operational planning, royal reporters do not write speculative pieces about Bridges planning, whatever the source.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TobynA mock-up of the WhatsApp text message Tobyn Andreae sent to the Royal Rota group on the evening of Friday 27 June, 2025.
\n Photo Illustration by Eric Faison\/The Daily Beast \"TobynPhoto Illustration by Eric Faison\/The Daily Beast \"TobynPhoto Illustration by Eric Faison\/The Daily Beast \"TobynPhoto Illustration by Eric Faison\/The Daily Beast <\/p>\n

Andreae\u2019s threat of removed \u201cassistance\u201d, sent to the influential group of royal rota correspondents, had the intended effect. No other British outlet repeated the details printed in the Telegraph, despite its reputation as an establishment newspaper with reliable royal sources. Some of the details were repeated in the U.S. media.<\/p>\n

Alongside claims about the Sussexes, the paper revealed that King Charles\u2019 \u201clifelong dedication to the environment is expected to be recognised with the incorporation of sustainable elements wherever possible,\u201d and that the period of national mourning would last from the day of his death to the day of his funeral, rather than an additional week as was the case when Queen Elizabeth II died in Sept. 2022.<\/p>\n

\"PrincePrince William, Prince Harry and King Charles came together at the funeral of the queen. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell – WPA Pool\/Getty Images) Jeff J Mitchell\/Jeff J Mitchell – WPA Pool\/Getty <\/p>\n

The censorship bid was mounted before another bombshell hit the royals: a further leak, this time of a supposed \u201cpeace summit\u201d between the king\u2019s courtiers and Prince Harry\u2019s aides. <\/p>\n

Late Saturday, details of a meeting<\/a> Andreae had at an exclusive London club, of which he is a member, with Meredith Maines, who runs general and media operations for the Sussexes in the U.S., and Liam Maguire, who runs their communications operation in the U.K., appeared in an exclusive report<\/a> in the Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"TobynAndreae has worked for the palace at an extremely fraught time in the relationship between the royal family and the media. (Photo by Andrew Milligan\/PA Images via Getty Images) Andrew Milligan – PA Images\/Andrew Milligan\/PA Images via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Images of the summit were captured in long-lens photographs taken by a well-informed photographer from the paper, whose publisher Harry is presently suing for allegedly hacking his phone and other unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years. The paper denies the allegations.<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace and The Daily Telegraph failed to respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Sussexes said they never comment on London Bridge planning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Buckingham Palace\u2019s top aides are in a tailspin after leaked plans for the death of King Charles made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,2633,7730,7731,533,1760,518,45767,1281,38484,53807,447,532,7710,519,11571],"class_list":{"0":"post-267436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-buckingham-palace","10":"tag-charles","11":"tag-charles-iii","12":"tag-kate-middleton","13":"tag-king-charles","14":"tag-king-charles-iii","15":"tag-london-bridge","16":"tag-meghan-markle","17":"tag-monarchy","18":"tag-monarchy-of-the-united-kingdom","19":"tag-prince-harry","20":"tag-prince-william","21":"tag-royal-families","22":"tag-royal-family","23":"tag-royalist"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114864717238667164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}