5. “Does he always do that thing with you?”<\/b> That was the question put by Charles to then Prime Minister Tony Blair, about Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. The author says Prescott was in a “class of his own when it came to discomfiting Charles”.<\/p>\n
Charles is said to have explained: “When he’s sitting opposite you, he slides down the seat with his legs apart, his crotch pointing a little menacingly, and balances his teacup and saucer on his tummy. It’s very odd.”<\/p>\n
“Was it, asked Charles, a ‘sign of hostility or class enmity?’ No, said Blair. ‘He just likes drinking his tea that way,” writes Low.<\/p>\n
6. ‘Hardball’ over funding.<\/b> The book reveals negotiations over public funding for the royals when the Sovereign Grant was introduced in 2012 – and presents the Palace as cannier about money than their counterparts in Westminster. <\/p>\n
When concerns were raised that the link with the Crown Estate profits might prove over-generous, and was likely to inflate the value of the annual grant, Low says the Palace played “hardball” and stuck to the deal.<\/p>\n
As the BBC showed earlier this year, there was indeed a significant increase over time, with public funding trebling in real terms<\/a>, to pay for repairs to Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n 7. Coronation showcase<\/b>. It was the government, rather than the Palace, that wanted to make sure that the Coronation of King Charles III in 2022 was a well-funded spectacle.<\/p>\n While the Palace was wary of anything too ostentatious when people were struggling to pay their bills, the “very clear guidance” from government was there should be no cut-price ceremony and that there should be a “maximalist” approach.<\/p>\n