King Charles was cynically tricked by a senior courtier into signing a document appointing a colleague to a job at the Palace while the monarch was recovering after cancer treatment, it has been claimed.
The incident has sparked a furious row at Charles’ court, with one of his closest aides said to have “become furious”.
Meanwhile, the King’s private secretary has been forced to order an embarrassing U-turn on the appointment.
The courtier at the center of the extraordinary row is Garter King Of Arms David White, who is understood to have been on the receiving end of a severe reprimand.
The King’s private secretary has been forced to order a shameful U-turn on the appointment
The courtier at the center of the extraordinary fight is Garter King Of Arms David White (pictured)
Mr White is accused of ignoring long-established court procedures and instead using “back channels” to secure the King’s signature on his preferred choice for a senior post in his department, the College of Arms.
This happened when the King was in London for his ongoing cancer treatment, when staff are instructed not to be a burden on him.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: “It’s like a trick from the Middle Ages.” There has been a big dispute behind the scenes.
‘Some people believe that David White deliberately tried to get behind Charles’ back in order to get his preferred candidate into the job.
‘What David may not have realized was that the king was tired. In other words, he was at his most vulnerable point, which is why the proper procedure exists.
‘When the King is in London he is here for treatment and therefore it can often be a difficult time for him. Charles’s closest aides knew him well enough to know that they should have left him alone at that point.
Mr. White’s role as Garter King of Arms is to advise the monarch on matters of heraldry and how to conduct royal ceremonies. He stood on the balcony of St James’s Palace to proclaim Charles king on September 10, 2022.
However, it does not have the responsibility of recommending candidates for positions in the Royal Household to the King.
When the senior position of Secretary of the Order of the Garter arose in the College of Arms (a department of the Royal Household that creates and maintains coats of arms), White hoped to appoint a colleague, Peter O’Donoghue, who was already a herald. in the Order of the Garter. colleague.
More senior advisers at Buckingham Palace had been formally recommended to put forward another candidate and were planning to recommend him to the King for the role. The normal procedure would have such procedures go through official channels, included in the King’s red boxes and examined by his private secretaries.
But instead, Mr. White had one of his assistants pass her letter of recommendation directly to her husband, who works at the Palace, to present to the King.
Insiders described Mr White’s move as a deliberate ambush to bypass the King’s comptroller and his private secretary, Colonel Michael Vernon and Sir Clive Alderton.
More senior Buckingham Palace advisers had been formally advised to put forward another candidate.
When contacted by The Mail on Sunday by phone, White declined to comment.
At the end of the conversation it was clear that he thought he had hung up, but he can be heard saying to a colleague: ‘Shit. It has wind. He has heard that I appointed Peter O’Donoghue, that he had been proposed.
A Royal Household source said: “Such direct approach to the King should never happen.” You should always go to the private secretary. Michael Vernon was furious that David decided to bypass the entire system. I think Clive Alderton is equally irritated by it.
The Mail on Sunday understands that O’Donoghue has been ignored by Stephen Segrave, the Central Chancery Secretary of the Orders of Chivalry.
White was appointed to his position in 2021 and has become a controversial figure. He was left off the honors list after he forgot to say “God save the king” during the queen’s funeral, a mistake which is said to have irritated King Charles.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.