Few journalists can claim to have had a gun pulled on them by a member of the Royal Family, but Valentine Low has got closer to the Windsors than most. The former royal correspondent for The Times has travelled the globe on countless royal tours, documenting the lives of the monarchy up close.
Now, the author of Power And The Palace is peeling back the curtain to reveal the truth about the royals’ public and private faces. From the King’s exhausting schedules to the Duke of Sussex’s surprising rudeness, Low details who plays favorites and who demands distance. He also unveils the astonishing moment Queen Camilla turned a prop gun on him during a tour.
‘Royal tours are not as glamorous as people think,’ the 66-year-old tells Woman’s Day. He describes the trips as exhausting, especially when accompanying the King, as you ‘have to scrabble to keep up with his amazing schedule.’ The energetic monarch ‘famously doesn’t have lunch,’ setting a demanding pace for his team and the press pack.
The Unfriendly Windsors and the Palace Favourite
Despite journalists being invited, royal reporters are always kept at a distance, usually ‘behind a rope or metal barrier.’ Low reveals that the current King ‘gets very antsy’ if anyone shouts out a question. ‘I saw a TV reporter once shout out and he was quite withering,’ he recalls.
The gong for the grumpiest royal, however, surprisingly goes to Prince Harry. Low, who was on the 2018 Australian tour, recalls a shocking moment flying from Tonga to Sydney when Harry and Meghan reluctantly came to the back of the plane to address the press. Instead of the usual pleasantries, Harry said: ‘Thanks very much for coming, even though you weren’t invited.’
Low says the press pack was ‘quite stunned by the rudeness.’ ‘We had all come a long way, at some expense in terms of family life and cost to our newspapers and television stations,’ he explains, adding: ‘So to have Harry say we weren’t invited – which was stupid and not true – went down really badly.’
The Duke of Sussex hadn’t always been so surly. Low remembers an era when Harry was genuinely friendly: ‘I can remember the era when he used to greet the Daily Mail’s royal reporter with a kiss.’ Low concludes: ‘He’s a very different chap to what he used to be.’
Is Prince Harry’s ‘Briefing’ Claim True?
Prince Harry has repeatedly claimed that members of his family brief against him. Low, however, remains unconvinced by this narrative. ‘I’m very sceptical about Harry’s claims,’ he says, adding: ‘I don’t buy it. No one briefed me negatively.’ Any comments made were, in his experience, ‘actually genuine concern.’
As for the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s opinion of Meghan, Low was on the trip the two took together on the Royal Train to Cheshire in 2018. He notes they ‘seemed to get on OK.’ His personal suspicion, however, was that the Queen ‘found her a bit puzzling, but I think she wanted her grandson to be happy.’
Low notes that the friendliest royal is currently Queen Camilla, who ‘she’ll always come and say hello’ and ‘will catch your eye and there would be a light in her eye.’
The Prop Gun and the Downton Abbey Disaster
Low insists that to maintain his career and write the truth, he had to ‘develop a thick skin’ and ‘can’t care if you’re going to annoy someone.’ While he won’t say who iced him out of communication after a tough story, he admits he once upset the ‘usually jolly Camilla’ when he accidentally revealed a major plot point from Downton Abbey.
The journalist recounts being on tour in Queensland in 2012 when Camilla approached him. ‘But she says, ‘Valentine, you totally ruined my Downton.” The plot point he revealed was the death of Lady Sybil Crawley.
However, the most special memory of his time on tour was the moment ‘Camilla pulled a gun on me.’ This occurred in Denmark in 2012 when Camilla and then-Princess Mary visited the filming location for the Danish TV series The Killing.
Low explains that Camilla took the prop gun, put on a ‘comedy voice,’ and pointed it at him, saying: ”Ha ha, it was me all along.'” Princess Mary then quickly quipped: ”Now you’ll have to write something nice.'” Low says the moment was ‘such a brilliant moment’ and ‘made the front page.’
Prince William and Kate: Trying Too Hard to Be Normal?
Low describes the Prince and Princess of Wales as equally friendly, noting that they are actively trying to appear ‘more down-to-earth’ than their predecessors. This attempt to make the Royal Family ‘more human and approachable and less remote’ is ‘part of the natural informality of his generation.’
However, the royal expert questions the long-term strategy of this approach. ‘But I wonder where it leads,’ he says, warning: ‘because the whole point of the royal family is that they are special. If you make yourself not special, the more you undermine that.’
The journey for royal correspondent Valentine Low was one of dramatic highs—like the unforgettable moment Queen Camilla pulled a prop gun on him—and surprising lows, including Prince Harry’s public rudeness toward the press.
Low’s experience debunks Harry’s claims of negative family briefings but confirms the Duke’s shift from friendly youth to surly adult. Ultimately, the veteran reporter questions the future of a monarchy that attempts to be too approachable, warning that trying to be ‘not special’ risks undermining its very purpose.
IBTimes UK has reached out to Prince Harry’s reps for comments.
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