King Charles Once Went ‘Ballistic’ Over Edward’s ‘Desperate’ Attempts to Access William: Author
Tensions ran high in the 2000s when Prince Edward allegedly breached Prince William's privacy, forcing King Charles to issue an ultimatum.
After his relationship with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor fell apart, King Charles reportedly leaned on his youngest brother, Prince Edward, 16 years his junior. Though they are now close, tensions ran high in the mid-2000s when Edward allegedly breached a young Prince William's privacy at university to sustain his production company. Royal author Robert Jobson claimed the lack of respect for his son made Charles go 'ballistic,' prompting him to issue an ultimatum if Edward wished to regain the family's trust.
In 2001, Prince William of Wales enrolled at St. Andrew's University in Scotland, where he studied Art History before switching to Geography. As reported by the Daily Express, after his admission, the Palace had an agreement with the press that they could only film his arrival at the university but would refrain from pestering him during his studies. While most media houses followed this rule, Ardent Productions, a film company set up by Edward in 1993, was not interested in going by the book. The company, which mostly produced documentaries, set up cameras inside the university, with two men trying to film William while he was leaving a lecture hall.
When this serious breach was discovered, Jobson wrote in his book, William's Princess, that William and Charles were reportedly 'furious' at Edward, as it was his company that tried to procure the footage. He penned, "The programme was understood to be keeping Ardent afloat. Desperate times seem to have called for desperate measures for Prince Edward. William was furious. He felt his uncle's company’s actions had threatened to undermine the carefully nurtured relationship between St. James' Palace and the media and, in turn, that it would threaten the entente cordiale between him and the press."
To add insult to injury, the royal author revealed that Edward's alleged shady dealings made the then-Prince of Wales go "ballistic," who "berated his youngest sibling, furiously demanding from the Queen that Edward be made to choose once and for all between his public duties and his television company." He further claimed, "Relations between the brothers plummeted to an all-time low as St. James' Palace publicly criticised Edward for his idiocy and the behaviour of his production company. In unusually blunt terms, a spokeswoman for Prince Charles said that he was: 'Disappointed, very much so.'"
A statement from Ardent Productions soon followed, which stressed that the now Duke of Edinburgh was unaware his crew had remained in Scotland after filming William's arrival and that he ordered all activity to stop once informed. Lucky for him, his dispute with his brother did not appear to have a lasting impact on their relationship, which is now strong. As for his defunct production company, it effectively shut down in 2009 after struggling financially and failing to secure enough commissions because of the incident and Edward's decision to focus on his royal duties.
