May 9, 2026

King Charles, the Cat Grudge, the Aston Martin Rule, and the Queen Dancing to ABBA

Show Notes
Transcript

This episode has a little bit of everything: claims that King Charles has disliked cats since childhood, the strict no-one-touches-my-Aston-Martin rule, and new questions about media control during his years as Prince of Wales. We also look at reports that historian Anna Keay may be the King’s preferred choice to write the late Queen’s authorised biography. After the break, Queen Elizabeth’s former dresser shares a lovely story about mornings with ABBA, and a new book reveals what Bill Clinton and Donald Trump supposedly thought about the late monarch.

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Ah Calorougus Shark Media, head long and welcome to Powers Intrigue.

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I am your host. Mark Francis. The New Royal anecdote

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claims that while the Royal family is famously fond of animals,

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King Charles has had a long particular dislike of cats,

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according to former BBC correspondent and Royal author Bryan Howey,

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who said Princess Margaret gave him a kitten as at

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present when he was a child and he disliked it

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on site. Since then, he has developed an aversion to

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everything feline and says he cannot even stand having one

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in the same room. King Charles is described as a

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dog lover and is said to have welcomed the Legotto

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Roman Golo puppy named Snuff last year. While Queen Camilla

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has two Jack Russell's Bluebell and Molly, Charles has one

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prized possession he is famously protective of and one very

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firm rule to go with it. Nobody else drives as

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Aston Martin. The current question is Aston Martin d mark

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to Valante the Seychell's blue convertible he received as a

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twenty first birthday present and has remained attached to ever

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since former royal butler Grunt Harold said, the King famously

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has his Aston Martin, which was his twenty first birthday present.

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He's very, very protective of that car. He never let

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anyone else drive it. Apparently that rawle applied even with

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his family. Harold said both William and Harry had wanted

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a turn behind the will but Charles would not allow it.

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The car itself has become one of the King's most

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recognizable personal symbols over the years, partly because of its

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history and partly because Charles had it converted to run

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on biofuel made from wine and cheese by products, which

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is somehow both extremely eccentric and extremely Charles. New claims

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are raising questions about how King Charles managed media access

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during his time as Prince of Wales, with reports suggesting

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unusually strict conditions were placed on broadcasters seeking interviews. According

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to documents cited by Radar Online, media organizations were required

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to sign detailed agreements running to around fifteen pages before

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being granted access. These contracts purportedly gave Charles household significant

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control over the process, including approval of interview questions in advance,

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oversight of edits, and the ability to withdraw footage if

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expectations were not met. One senior broadcast source told Radar

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Online this was described internally as a Kin Jong unstyle

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iron fist approach to media control. The level of oversight

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being demanded went far beyond normal access agreements. Another journalist

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familiar with the negotiations said what was being proposed when

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well beyond standard access arrangements that amounted to handing over

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meaningful editorial control before an interview had even begun. The

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requirement that every question be submitted in advance, drafted in full,

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and signed off line by line fundamentally alters the dynamic

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of any journalistic exchange. The contracts are also said to

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have allowed representatives from Clarence House to attend editing sessions

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and request changes based on concerns about fairness, balance, confidentiality,

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or security, with the option to prevent material from being

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broadcast altogether. Critics argue in such arrangements risk blurring the

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line between independent journalism and managed messaging. One former editor said,

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when an interview subject is in a position to influence

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not only what is asked, but how the material is

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ultimately edited, framed, and presented to the audience, it shifts

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the process away from scrutiny and towards something much closer

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to public relations. However, Clarence House defended the approach, saying

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the issue of broadcast contracts is standard practice across the

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royal households. All broadcasters who enter into them are king

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to ensure that they do not preach any of the

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relevant broadcast rules and go to great lengths to protect

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their independence. In this regard, the contracts are put in

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place to ensure factual accuracy and protect the broadcaster as

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well as the interview subject. The King would like historian

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and a Kay to take on the task of writing

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the late Queen's authorized life story, a project that would

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eventually involve access to private papers covering her seventy year reign.

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Doctor Kay as someone the King is understood to known

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trust through their previous work together. She is best known

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for her writing on the Interranum, the eleven year period

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when Britain was briefly a republic between the reign of

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King Charles the First and King Charles the Second. She

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has also served since twenty twelve as director of the

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Landmark Trust, the charity dedicated to preserving historic buildings where

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the king is patron. Doctor Kay is also a trustee

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of the Royal Collection Trust, which cares for the monarch's

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art collection and oversees major exhibitions. In addition, she wrote

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a widely respected history of the Crown Jewels in twenty twelve.

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Friends of doctor Kay told The Times that while she

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is not primarily known as a biographer, she would bring

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a serious and thoughtful approach to the project. Once source

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described her as a bold choice at what they call

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a difficult time for the royal family, particularly given the

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continuing scandal surrounding Andrew mount Batten Windsor So. Simon Jenkins,

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the former editor of The Times and former chair of

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the National Trust, pray the reported choice. He said, she

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is a very accomplished writer and a first rate historian,

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with a keen sense of the monarchy at a particularly

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difficult time in the seventeenth century, which she wrote about

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with great verve. What's interesting is that she's an expert

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on monarchical vulnerability under the Stuarts, and thus is acutely

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aware of the vulnerability of the monarchy to the public

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mood and to republicanism. He continued, it would have been

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ridiculous to have got someone who would simply write a

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flattering hagiography, and Anna is certainly not that. But she

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does have huge respect for Britain's institutions and for the

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people who are responsible for them. This feels very much

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like Charles' choice. It is an extremely interesting and quite

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a bold choice. Any official biography of Queen Elizabeth the

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Second is expected to take years to complete. The authorized

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biography of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, written by William Shawcross,

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was not published until two thousand and nine, seven years

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after her death, and as previous royal biographies have shown,

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even officially sanctioned works can still produce revealing details. Shawcross's

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account of the Queen Mother, for example, included her reported

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hesitation of a marrying the future King George the sixth,

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as well as the anger she felt towards King Edward

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the eighth after his abdication in nineteen thirty six. Away

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from her professional roles, Doctor Kaye lives partly in Norfolk,

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near Sandringham, and partly in London with her husband, the

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architectural historian Simon Thurley. The reports suggest that if she

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has formally chosen, she could be entrusted with one of

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the most significant royal writing projects of the modern era.

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More Palatin just a moment. Queen Elizabeth's former dresser has

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shared a light hearted new glimpse into the late monarch's

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private morning routine, revealing that the Queen would sometimes start

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the day dancing to Abba while getting ready for official duties.

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Angela Kelly, who worked closely with the late Queen for

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twenty five years and eventually became her personal assistant and

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senior dresser, recalled the pair listening to Terry Wogan's Radio

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two program in the mornings while selecting outfits for the day.

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Ahare speaking to Vanity Fair, Kelly said the Queen particularly

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enjoyed abbas dancing Queen, and would sway along when the

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song came on. She said, And the song came on,

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she loved it, and both of us would dance. The

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Queen would move from side to side and sing. The

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Majesty loved singing and had a good voice. I didn't.

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I'd get carried away and be dancing all around her

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like I was at a disco, and the Queen would

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tell me to move over because I can't sing, and

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we laughed. They were moments to cherish to see the

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Queen so relaxed. Kelly said the Queen was a really

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cool granny, and recalled that she enjoyed hosting informal family gatherings,

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including barbecues, and would even help with washing up regardless

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of who was visiting. Bill Clinton shared what he thought

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of the Queen in a new book, The Queen and

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Her Presidence, The Hidden Hand That Shaped History by Susan

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pagg Clinton recalled a conversation with Barack Obama and Joe

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Biden in twenty twenty four, saying, we were all joking

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at Ethel Kennedy's funeral about how she tried to make

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every Democratic president feel like he was her favorite, and

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she was shrewd about that. Ethel was and Queen Elizabeth

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was no dummy. She knew what she was doing. Clinton

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added that he would be shocked if the Queen had

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ever singled out of favorite, continuing, I have no idea

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what she really thought of any of us. I just

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know what I thought of her, and I thought she

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was really special. The book also recounts comments attributed to

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Donald Trump following his twenty nineteen state visit to the UK,

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during which he said he repeatedly tried to prompt the

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Queen to share her true views on Prince Harry and

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Megan Michael. According to the account, he said, I asked

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her about it constantly. I'd say, come on, tell me

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what you really think. He added, the Queen will respond, no, no,

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it's very nice. Trump went on to claim I really

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think it hurt it. I don't think they treated her

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with respect that she should have frankly, while also saying

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I couldn't get her to say it. I'm good at

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that too. She would always say no, no, lovely, lovely,

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but it wasn't lovely, and I think it hurt her.

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I really think it hurt her. It was a tremendous dissension.

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And there you have it. Like to email us addresses

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the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow the

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Spotify apple the apple of your choice. I'm Mark Francis

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My thanks to John mcturnott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good terms,

King Charles, the Cat Grudge, the Aston Martin Rule, and the Queen Dancing to ABBA

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