Advisers to William, Catherine & Harry
Raising the young Royals - Telegraph
11 March 2012
Raising the young Royals
As the Duchess of Cambridge prepares to give her first public speech - just days after Prince Harry's crowd-pleasing tour of the Caribbean - it is clear how much the young members of the Royal Family owe their ease on the public stage to a core band of trusted advisers. Prince Harry running with Usain Bolt in Kingston, and hugging the Jamaican prime minister into a swoon. Prince William flying to the Falklands to strengthen the resolve of the islanders as a helicopter pilot. The Duchess of Cambridge wowing America on her first tour as a royal, alongside her husband. These have been some of the successes in a remarkably positive year for the House of Windsor, which has seen its new generation of Royals emerge as confident, charming and hugely popular around the world.
Such scenes would not have been imaginable only five years ago, when Harry was seen as the "Party Prince" and William was hidden away in the Armed Forces. The transformation of these three young people has been a triumph for a small group of advisers, who have shaped the way the new Royals have presented themselves. Guiding Harry, William and Kate through the minefield of etiquette and diplomacy have been three key figures, including an SAS commander, a former ambassador to the US and a very modern press secretary who recently entered into the Royal household’s first civil partnership.
Arranging the details of Prince Harry’s first solo tour – around the Caribbean to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee –
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton,
Sir David Manning and
Miguel Head listened to his wish to “pay personal tribute to his grandmother, but also to spend time wherever possible with young people”. They knew he would “bring his own brand of enthusiasm and energy” to the trip, as Mr Lowther-Pinkerton put it. They visited the Caribbean in January to prepare for a tour chosen for him by the Queen. And they helped the fun-loving Harry avoid all the pitfalls of a part of the world where a taste for drinking, dancing and smoking might be easily indulged.
...Just as Harry feels he can trust his advisers, their ability to relax and let him do his thing comes from knowing him well. The first of the key advisers to come on board was
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who became Private Secretary to Princes William and Harry back in 2005. He now also serves the Duchess in the same capacity. He has become so close to Prince William that his son, Billy, was a page boy at the Royal wedding last year. Mr Lowther-Pinkerton has an impeccable military and Royal household pedigree. After Sandhurst, he served with the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, and was Equerry to the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother from 1984 to 1986. Far from being just a ceremonial soldier, he was an officer in the SAS, targeting drug barons in Colombia, fighting in the first Gulf war and taking part in special operations in the Balkans during the mid-Nineties.
...[The Duchess of Cambridge] has also leant on the wisdom of the second key figure to join the team,
Sir David Manning, 62, who was appointed as an adviser to William and Harry at the request of the Queen when they formed their joint private office in 2009. He is seen as playing a similar role to that of General Sir Frederick Browning, a decorated soldier who acted as adviser to the then Princess Elizabeth during the 1940s. The Queen is said to have been keen to ensure that William and Harry had a similar “wise man” to help them adapt as working Royals. Once described as “a super-bright owl of a man”, Sir David served in embassies in Israel, Poland, India, Paris and Moscow before becoming an adviser to Tony Blair in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war. He was the man the family turned to before the Royal wedding to give Kate Middleton “advice and mentoring” on the role she was about to take up. A senior aide recently said: “She still meets often with Sir David, taking notes on everything from foreign affairs to the constitution and how the Duchies work.”
The third adviser also joined the Princes’ private office in 2009.
Miguel Head, 33, was raised in suburban London and went to Bancrofts, a small public school in Essex.He joined the MoD press office in his early twenties and worked his way up, serving as the liaison with Clarence House when Harry went to war in 2007. Editors agreed a media blackout to allow Lieutenant Wales to serve in Afghanistan, but he had to be pulled out when foreign media gave the game away. Mr Head’s performance went down well with the Princes, who hired him. “They wanted someone who could help them with the public,” said a friend at the time. “They were impressed with how this new guy handled Harry’s stint in Afghanistan and they like him – he’s fun.” Having come from the MoD, Mr Head understands the Princes’ desire to put their military careers ahead of royal duty. Being seen to do brave things in uniform has done wonders for their public image, but more than that, they have enjoyed the space to mature out of view, with the camaraderie and protection of colleagues-in-arms.
.
.