The Charles aide who won’t shy from speaking truth to royalty

Charles’s most trusted adviser is expert at seeing all the angles but at the heart of power he will face scrutiny as never before.

Sir Clive Alderton (right) is the principal private secretary to King Charles III and Camilla. Picture: Getty Images

When the Duchess of Sussex claimed that a member of the royal family had questioned the colour of her child’s skin there was one person the monarchy turned to for advice.

Sir Clive Alderton, an aide to the King, provided Buckingham Palace with the now infamous wording “recollections may differ”, friends suggest.

“The famous phrase ‘recollections may vary’ was his,” a friend said. “I just laughed and thought, that is so Clive. It would be a perfect example of how he is very good with language, he’s extremely articulate. He loves a debate and always wins an argument.”

As Charles’s most trusted adviser Sir Clive, 55, finds himself at the heart of power and will face scrutiny as never before. This was in evidence this week when he was criticised for a letter putting Clarence House staff on notice of redundancy during the thanksgiving service for the Queen at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday.

Sir Clive Alderton. Picture: Getty Images

Friends say he can handle the pressure, having been an aide to the King since 2006, helping steer him through some of his most testing challenges.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were believed to have had difficult dealings with him as they tried to negotiate a future based in the United States.

“He has to make some tough calls that haven’t always gone down well,” the friend said. “On occasion he has to put his foot down … and he’s good at that. He’s a born diplomat in that he’s very charming and understanding of someone else’s perspective, accommodating it but somehow steering it round to what he wants.

“I’ve seen him in many meetings around the table with officials and they’ll tell him what they want, he’ll say ‘great’ but at the end they will have agreed to do what Charles wanted.

“He’s one of the most, if not the most, intelligent people I’ve ever met. He didn’t go to university, he got fast-tracked into the Foreign Office. He broke a record and was Britain’s youngest ambassador. He was the definition of a high flyer.”

As well as having a “calculating mind” that can “see all the angles” he is also liked by the King and Queen Consort for his “great sense of humour”.

The friend said: “He makes Charles and Camilla laugh. He knows when to lift the spirits, puncture the atmosphere or change the subject. It’s important - you must be good company because they spend a lot of time together.

“He loves socialising; he can socialise late into the night and get up first thing in the morning fresh as a daisy.”

King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, are said to like Sir Clive Alderton for his ‘great sense of humour. Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage

Sir Clive was educated at Abingdon School, an independent school in Oxfordshire, and joined the Foreign Office in 1986.

His diplomatic posts included stints in Poland, Belgium, Singapore and France. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as deputy private secretary to the King and Queen Consort, then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. He was promoted to private secretary for foreign and commonwealth affairs in 2009, a post he left in 2012 when he took up an appointment as ambassador to Morocco and non-resident ambassador to Mauritania. He returned to the royal household about seven years ago as Charles and Camilla’s principal private secretary, the most senior position in their household.

A former aide who worked with Sir Clive for several years said: “He was specifically asked back, which in itself is unusual and a sign of the high esteem in which he is held by both of their Majesties.” The former aide said the plans unfolding after the Queen’s death were longstanding, “but the design and the really important context has been crafted by Clive to make sure that they fit with the mood of the country now”.

Sir Clive is said to have played an “integral” role during recent challenges around the future of the Duke of York and “Megxit”, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as working royals. The former aide said: “When I worked with him I used to say that he likes to play five-dimensional chess. His ability to predict how issues will play out over the long term is phenomenal.

“His understanding of the King and how he will react in certain circumstances is probably his greatest asset - coupled with an encyclopaedic understanding of the constitution and royal and political history. Taken together, what you have is an incredible strategist and problem solver wrapped up in a very charming demeanour.

“I would add that his way of defusing situations and perhaps persuading the King and Queen Consort with occasional use of bonhomie and humour is also extremely impressive.

“Court life is not without its challenges and to survive as long as Clive has is an absolute skill in itself and to have done it … has been a testament to his abilities. You never see him lose his temper, even in the most trying of circumstances. He’s a realist. He understands the difference between the ideal outcome and the pragmatic solution.”

Sir Clive lives in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, with his wife Catriona, an artist. They have two children, who are both adults and are believed to have finished university.

“He’s a culture vulture,” the former staff member said. “He loves art, loves the theatre. He’s quite a cultured man but through his children is connected to what’s happening in the world with audiences of all ages.”

Kristina Kyriacou, a former communications secretary with Charles, said that Sir Clive was not afraid to disagree with the King.

“They respect one another,” she said. “Clive sees him more than he sees his own family. Clive will have a view on most things and is not afraid to speak the truth to Charles. His experience will stand him in good stead. He is well equipped for the job.”

The Times