Prince William was left "furious" when one of the Queen's trusted senior officials was sacked following a Palace coup, a new book has claimed.
Sir Christopher Geidt, a former military intelligence officer, left his role as the Queen's private secretary in 2017 after falling out with both King Charles and Prince Andrew .
Now, a new book titled Courtiers by journalist Valentine Low claims William was angered at the way Sir Christopher, now Lord Geidt, was treated.
So much so that William spoke to the head of the monarch's household – the then Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel.
The book quotes a source, as per the Daily Mail, saying: "William was furious. He spoke to his grandmother and father. He felt Christopher had worked to modernise the institution and bring it closer together. He was concerned about the way it had been handled, and how Christopher had been treated.
"He was really angry about it, not necessarily because it was the wrong decision. He just thought it was handled very unkindly for a man who was a pillar of the institution of the monarchy, but had also played an incredibly important role when the coalition government had been formed.
"It just seemed like the wrong thing to do to unceremoniously chuck somebody out for a reason that had nothing to do with what was the core part of Christopher's job, which he was still doing really, really well.
"[Prince William] told Willy [Lord] Peel how he felt about it, and particularly how he felt about the way in which it had been conducted, which he thought was very unkind."
A source told the Daily Mail that Lord Geidt's sacking came as a "great shock", while many "hold the view that had he still been around, the Megxit debacle would not have happened".
The source added: "He had his finger on the pulse and people believe he would have found a way to pre-empt the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's departure, or at least found a way to make things work more amicably."
Lord Geidt, who served the Queen for 15 years, was seen to be very good at his job, the book claims, and made a point of stalking the corridors of the palace, speaking to as many members of the household as possible.
"When you were having a conversation with Christopher, you pretty much knew he did not have to go and check. Either he knew that that was what the Queen thought, or it is what she would want anyway, because he was just so entwined in her thinking," Low's book quotes a source as saying.
The book explained that Lord Geidt fell out with King Charles over a number of issues, while his relationship with Prince Andrew fell apart due to Andrew being sidelined from family duties.
Before he sensationally quit, Lord Geidt had worked to bring together the households of the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Lord Geidt made a forceful plea to all the households in May 2017 to come together ‘on message’, but left his role just months later.
