Palace plans for King Charles’ death ‘already tearing the royal family apart’

Shocking new claims have emerged that Buckingham Palace is already preparing for the passing of the King and the accession of his son.

It sits. In piles, in filing cabinets, in long forgotten drawers maybe, but somewhere in the National Archives in Kew, there is an unknowably large collection of royal papers, of letters and plans and military records, that will never see the light of day.

And today, new documents have come to light, documents that are currently being worked on in the back offices of Buckingham Palace, that could well join this trove – the “secret plans” that are currently being prepared for King Charles’ death.

The stunning revelation comes from the Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes, who says that these plans are “already tearing the royal family apart”.

According to Sykes, only two short years ago, the assumption was that Charles would enjoy a couple of decades on the throne and that he “would live as long as his mother (96) or father (99)”. However, now “few but the most ardent optimists really believe” that this will be the case.

Today, “the planning and positioning for the reign of King William V” has begun.

“Executive power and influence is already flowing William’s way,” he reports, writing that inside the Palace, of father and son, “the power dynamic has shifted since the king’s diagnosis”.

Executive power and influence is already flowing William’s way. Picture: Chris J Ratcliffe/Pool/AFP

No matter what comes next, regarding the preparation for King William, it “will be very hard to put that genie back in the bottle”.

All right, so let’s be frank here. This particular subject is hard to get into without it all feeling a bit ghoulish. The seven-decade reign of Her late Majesty made her such an immovable part of public life and our collective mental furniture that her actually dying sometimes felt like an impossibility.

Of course, that magical thinking was put paid to in September 2022 and the events of this year, of not only the King but Kate, the Princess of Wales’ revealing that they have cancer, have been blunt reminders that even those with the bluest of blood are still all too human and mortal.

Still, Crown Inc is nothing if not pragmatic – I’d be surprised if even before the King’s stunning news broke that planning for his own passing had not already begun. However, what the Beast piece sets out is the degree to which His Majesty’s announcement on February 5 set things in motion that sound like they can’t be stopped.

In February, as the world reeled, William was “springing into action”, Sykes reports.

Of His Majesty’s diagnosis, “Charles’ family were told the truth: that it was serious. That, of course, is why Prince Harry flew over from California three days later, and that is why the king agreed to meet him”.

What became clear in February was that if William had hoped that he would have a decade or two to enjoy being the Prince of Wales, suddenly that leeway and all those years of prep time looked much less certain. The throne had suddenly just gotten that much closer of a possibility.

‘Only two short years ago, the assumption was that Charles would enjoy a couple of decades on the throne’. Picture: Jeff Gilbert - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Only five days after the King’s shocking cancer news broke in February, it emerged that William had tapped an experienced former diplomat named Ian Patrick, who has an MBE for work on international peacekeeping, as his new private secretary.

Per Sykes: “The implication was clear: William would be stepping up to a bigger, more global role”.

Of the prince, a source told the Telegraph back in February: “He’s very aware of the future in front of him”. The prince, the insider argued, “has made decisions about his life based on being heir to the throne. That weighs on his mind constantly”.

In the eight months since then though, something fascinating has happened. Even with having taken steps back to look after wife Kate and their kids, today, William’s profile on the world stage has never been higher and his work never getting so much attention.

The prince is the face of a new documentary set to air in the UK about ending homelessness and the next round of his astoundingly successful Earthshot Prize about to take place in Cape Town early next month.

What is so interesting to see is that in a year that has seen the King either out of public view or undertaking a necessarily pared back presence, his son and his work has only shone and shone brighter still.

Princess Kate has also been facing her own cancer battle this year. Picture: Will Warr/Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram

And then we get to the King’s other child – yes, the problematic oat milk-drinking one, for whom, Sykes reports, “the changed potential time frame for the reign of his father poses particular problems”.

For the Duke of Sussex, “there can be no meaningful rehabilitation … without a peace deal being hammered out with the institution of his family … And the truth is Harry is much more likely to be able to make a deal with King Charles III than King William V”.

Harry, one royal source has told Sykes, would not have traded his family’s secrets for all that lolly if there had not been “the expectation that he would be able to work his way back into the royal fold because of his father’s affection for his ‘darling boy’.”

The source has said they “doubt” that the royal-turned-TV-making-dabbler would have written Spare if had thought that there was a chance that William and Kate could end up King and Queen “a few short years later”.

“He thought he might have 20 years with his father as the ultimate authority to mend those broken bridges.”

For the Duke of Sussex, ‘there can be no meaningful rehabilitation … without a peace deal being hammered out with the institution of his family’. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Still, before we venture far too down this macabre road, Sykes also points out that “there is no doubt that the king is doing fantastically well in his battle against cancer” and that “the combined might of the British medical establishment is throwing everything it has at his disease”, combining “cutting-edge treatments” with His Majesty’s beloved alternative therapies. (How much lavender can one man inhale?)

Only last week, the King hosted a reception for the Commonwealth diaspora and appeared in the tippy toppiest of spirits, trying his hand at some Samoan dancing. (“He’s got the moves,” said former rugby player Freddie Tuilagi).

Clearly, His Majesty is well enough to board his RAF flight next week to fly to Sydney and Canberra on a charm mission and to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa.

Next week, on October 18, the King and Queen Camilla will touch down in Australia, their first trip here since acceding to the throne. The unspoken question that will dog their every wave and handshake and photo op will be, could this be the last trip too?

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles

Originally published as Palace plans for King Charles’ death ‘already tearing the royal family apart’