Prince William (20 page)

As she says, ‘Without Mark, the Prince would have been unhappy and the boys would have been unhappy as a consequence, and it
would have been damaging to the monarchy as a whole, so he did help. You could call it one of the greatest love stories ever or one of the greatest tragedies.'

Sandy Henney doesn't believe that first meeting between William and Camilla healed all the wounds but it was a start, and William clearly didn't come away thinking Camilla was as poisonous as he had been led to believe. She was nevertheless the ‘other woman' whom his mother had blamed and he may have felt that by fraternising with the enemy he was betraying Diana. But he could see that Camilla made his father very happy and when his father was happy, everyone was happy.

Harry was less complicated about it than his brother. As someone who knows him well says, ‘Harry was just Harry.' He just got on with life. He had no qualms about meeting Camilla, and so after consulting both boys, Charles invited Camilla to bring Tom and Laura over to Highgrove for tea one Sunday. It was the beginning of a process.

The surprise party was held on the night of 31 July, four months before his actual birthday, which fell during the school term. They had chosen a date before the summer migration to Balmoral. The Prince was incredibly touched that his sons should have gone to such trouble on his behalf, but sadly, the surprise was ruined. The
Sunday Mirror
got wind of what was planned, inadvertently from one of the guests, and ran a story the Sunday before the party. It did nothing to improve anyone's relationship with the press, but the party was a huge success nonetheless.

Tiggy and the Prince's former valet, Michael Fawcett, helped translate their plans into action but it was William and Harry who steered the event. They recruited the actors Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson – all friends of the Prince through the work they've done for the Prince's Trust – to help them write and put together a revue. It was along the lines of
Blackadder
, in which they'd appeared themselves, in front of several hundred of the Prince's family and friends. The guests ate Highgrove lamb and organic vegetables and partied until 4 a.m.

The Prince was moved to tears by his children's thoughtfulness, but what touched him most was their seating plan. They had placed Camilla in the front row of the audience between him and William's godfather, King Constantine. Camilla was thrilled that they had asked her to be there. They couldn't have given their father a more welcome or perfect birthday present, and he stood up at the end of the evening and thanked them both profusely. According to those who were there, he thanked everyone who had a hand in the evening, with the notable exception of Tiggy. She was obviously not in his good books.

Tiggy shouldered huge responsibility and took very good care of the boys; she was everything they needed to keep them happy and amused. She lifted the Prince's spirits too, which, in the days before Camilla came out of the shadows, were often very low. As Colleen says, ‘She had a really important role to play. She was more like a big sister. They used to tease each other and muck about a lot. She could have been stricter on occasion. But they liked her and needed her, she was good support for them. The general opinion within the Household was that the boys were short on discipline at the time and there was nobody saying “No” – apart from the press office.' Charles was enormously fond of Tiggy but at times she exasperated him, not least because she had an unerring ability to find her way into trouble. He was furious when a photograph appeared in the newspapers of her, with a cigarette between her lips, driving the car, while Harry was shooting at rabbits through the open window. And when a photograph of Harry abseiling down a dam wall wearing no safety gear appeared in the
News of the World
, he became apoplectic. And as Sandy says, ‘Tiggy and Mark [Dyer] got the bollocking of a lifetime and were told this must never happen again.'

Sandy had taken a call from Clive Goodman, the
News of the World
royal editor (who went to prison in 2007 for intercepting the Princes' mobile phone messages, and was arrested again in 2011 on charges of corruption for bribing police officers). It was common for newspapers to ask for a comment. ‘It was a classic Saturday
morning call. He said, “I've got this set of photographs, they're quite horrific. It's Harry going down the side of a dam on a safety line, abseiling.” “Clive,” I said, “come on, mate, it's Saturday morning, how do I know what these photos are showing?” He said, “I'll bike them to you.” An hour or so later, I see them. No crash helmet, no safety line and I'm thinking, Oh my God. First of all, get hold of Tiggy. “Tiggy,” “Yes, Granny,” which was their nickname for me, “what have I done wrong now?” “I don't know yet but I want to know the circumstances behind this,” and she said, “Mmmm yes, we were there.” So I said, “Where was bloody Mark Dyer? He's supposed to be in there acting like the big brother and sorting all this stuff out,” and she said, “He was asleep on a rock somewhere.” That's a fat lot of good.'

A passer-by had taken the photo at the Grwyne-Fawr dam in Monmouthshire, and although it showed only Harry, both boys had abseiled down the 160-foot dam wall without any safety equipment – and no doubt had the thrill of their lives.

Sandy was in a dilemma; the photos were in breach of the privacy rules but they did show the people responsible for the Princes' safety failing to protect them. In the interests of being open and honest with the press, she let the
News of the World
publish. The photograph ran on the front page with the headline ‘MADNESS! The boy dangling 100 ft up with no helmet or safety line is PRINCE HARRY.' ‘Could I have stopped it?' she says. ‘I doubt it. Yes, all right, the photographs were taken in an intrusive way but they showed someone being put in danger who shouldn't have been, so I said, “I'm not going to complain to the PCC if you run it.” It was a judgment call but for us to have suppressed that would have been more damaging to the monarchy than by admitting it was a stupid thing to do and taking it on the chin.'

Maintaining a good relationship with the media was vital – for every story that made it into the newspapers, many more were suppressed; and much of the time it was good old-fashioned horse-trading.

‘We'd say, “Okay, you've got that but let's go with this, if you
don't say anything about that.”' ‘There was a lot of negotiation like that going on,' says Colleen Harris. ‘There were many times when we managed to protect William and Harry and keep them out of the media when they were up to mischievous things. Nothing terrible, nothing criminal but things they wouldn't have wanted the media to write about.' That was partly down to good relationships with the press, but partly because she and Sandy discussed things with the boys ahead of time. ‘What could happen if you did this, and what might happen if you did that? They might not have always agreed but we worked through scenarios. William learned quite a lot from that about how to control and play the media.'

They were trying to prepare both boys for when the Code, which protected them to the age of eighteen, no longer applied. Sandy would always say, ‘Don't ever do anything that you don't want to see in a newspaper at some stage.' But she admits that life is much tougher for William than it ever was for his father at the same age.

‘Regardless of what the Prince of Wales might think of the problems he had as a teenager, the media were still respectful. I don't think anyone has gone through what William's been through, which makes me admire him all the more. I'm not deriding it, but the cherry brandy incident was about as bad as it got [Charles, in his first year at Gordonstoun, accidentally found himself in a bar for the first time in his life, having become separated from his school group on a sailing trip, and in his terror and confusion, he ordered the only drink he'd heard of, which was a cherry brandy. A journalist happened to be standing at the bar at the time and the story of the Prince's underage drinking not only made headline news, but earned him severe and disproportionate punishment from the school].

‘Look at what William's had to put up with; we had stories into the office weekend after weekend about him being seen in a nightclub, and if it wasn't him taking drugs, it was the people he was with. Once or twice I'd have to ask William himself about a [press] inquiry – and I always got an honest answer – but several
times I'd find out which protection officer was on duty and I'd ask whether William had been at this place at that time. I'd never say, “Where was he?” because that's invading his privacy. Most of the time they'd reply, “No.” The stories were complete crap. And then we'd find out that some kid in East London was a bit short of money and was making them up.'

PARTNERS IN CRIME

One morning in her office in St James's Palace, Sandy Henney had a telephone call from the gardener at Highgrove. She was in the thick of organising an overseas tour, with a hundred and one other things kicking off. ‘“Yes David.” “I've got a problem.” “Christ, I need another one. What is it?” He said, “The moorhen's dead.” I thought, do I give a stuff about the moorhen? I said, “Right, well David, what do you want me to do about it?” “I want you to tell the boss.” I said, “You're down at Highgrove [where the boss was], you go and tell him.” He said, “But the Prince of Wales is very fond of this bird.” So I said, “You want me, who's in London, to ring the boss to tell him the moorhen's dead because you won't do it?” “Yes, that's what I want.” “Well, what's so special about this moorhen?” “It's because it's been shot,” and I thought Oh and laughed.
Now
I know why he wants me to tell him, so I said, “Okay, but before I do I want you to tell me the full story.” “Well, it's been shot.” “Yes, but by whom?” “I don't know.” “Come on David, there's a reason here.” He was just like a policeman; he said, “The boys were seen walking in the vicinity of the pond.” “Right, so you're telling me one of the boys has shot the bird?” “Well, I didn't see it.” “No, but that's what your understanding is,” and he said, “Yeah.”

‘So I rang the boss. “Bernie, can you put me through to the boss please?” “Yes, what's it about?” “Don't ask, Bernie.” “Your Royal Highness.” “Good afternoon, Sandy.” “I'm so sorry to trouble you, Sir, but I've got some sad news.” “Oh, what's that?” “The moorhen's dead,” and he said, “Oh my God, I loved that bird.” I
said, “That's just what David said.” One of the things he used to do to relax when he came home from a day out, was to go out and feed the chickens and walk down by that wonderful pool, and it relaxed him.

‘Then he said, “Those bloody boys!” I hadn't said a word. I said, “I can't let you say that because I don't know that.” And he said, “Where were they?” I said, “Well, they were seen in the vicinity of the pond.” “Right,” he said, “that's it. I want you to talk to them. I want you to find out which one of them did it, I want to know what happened, and I want an apology.”

‘So I thought, Right, they're at school – my friend Andrew Gailey. “Hello Sandy,” he said. “Got a good one for you this time …” It's not funny, the bird's dead, but by this time I'm starting to giggle. “Would you mind getting the boys into your office, please, because the Prince is really hacked off about this. Could you tell the boys Granny [their nickname for Sandy] will give them twenty-four hours for one of them to cough to the boss. Twenty-four hours and that's it.” Some hours later, I'm driving home and Andrew rings and he's giggling before he starts. He says, “I got them into the office and I said, “William. Harry. I've had Sandy on the phone and your father's very upset because someone has shot the moorhen.” They're looking at each other and saying, “Shot the moorhen? Shot the moorhen?”Then William turns to Andrew and says, “Which moorhen is that, Dr Gailey?” And Harry says, “The one you told me not to shoot!”'

‘I said, “Tell Harry he's got twenty-four hours,” and bless his heart he rang his dad and said, “I'm so sorry Papa, it was me, I shouldn't have done it.” Those boys are so close to each other – the loyalty between them and the mischievousness and sense of honesty, not wishing to tell a lie. Andrew and I were wetting ourselves laughing. The Prince was delighted that Harry had coughed.'

It's interesting, however, that their father didn't simply pick up the phone to his two sons and say, ‘What's the story?'

William and Harry were ever partners in crime. In Klosters one year, a year when their equally mischievous cousin Zara Phillips
was with them, Sandy was sitting in the bar of the hotel, warming up after a freezing day but a very successful photo call. She had kicked her shoes off when she suddenly became aware of frantic waving at the window of the hotel and there, standing outside in the snow, were Tiggy and Harry. ‘I thought, Oh my God, what's happened? So I ran out. I was just wearing a jumper and it was freezing bloody cold outside and I got outside the door and that little sod Wales – I mean the big one – was pelting me with snowballs. There's me thinking, Oh my God, something's happened to him, he's fallen over and broken his neck or something … Tiggy and Harry, and one of the policemen, who was also in on this joke, were roaring with laughter, and I'm chasing William up the road, saying, “Person of doubtful parentage, you wait till I get hold of you,” and he ran around this car and he's throwing snowballs like nobody's business because he was prepared to include me in some of the fun. That was the nature of the kid, he loved mucking about and having fun.'

On another occasion, they were up at Birkhall, where the Queen Mother had a collection of eleven grandfather clocks in the dining room – which are still there today, along with the tartan walls and carpets. Sandy was having supper with them and at 10 o'clock practically jumped out of her skin when all the clocks suddenly started chiming. All three Princes could barely contain their mirth. After supper, they asked her to stay and play a game of cards the boys had made up. ‘The idea was you were kneeling on the floor and had to get these cards down as quickly as you could and of course they thought it was just hysterical and William was pushing me out of the way and I went flying at one stage – everyone roaring with laughter, trying to get back into the game to put my cards down. Is William competitive? Not half. But fun and willing to include people in his life.