New Royal Family rift

by RICHARD KAY and LUCIE MORRIS, Daily Mail

A dramatic rift emerged in the Royal Family last night, a mere eight days into the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.

A new royal biography revealed a deep bitterness between the Queen and Prince Charles, her uncompromising attitude towards Camilla Parker Bowles and claims she viewed the late Princess of Wales as 'mad'.

Astonishingly, it emerged that the Queen considered the possibility of bypassing the Prince of Wales in the succession in favour of Prince William.

The extraordinary claim, which was published yesterday in a broadsheet newspaper, is certain to start a fresh round of in-fighting between courtiers at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, where the Prince has his office.

At the same time, a savage portrait emerged of the Queen as a failed mother, emotionally unable to provide direction for her children or even the necessary parental attention.

The biography, by the journalist Graham Turner, suggests such was her 'negligence', the Queen had 'arguably made the future of the monarchy less secure'.

Close friends of the Queen contacted by the Mail last night disputed her portrayal as remote and distant, insisting she was 'as natural as any mother'.

But it is the remarks about Charles that could reopen the row that has simmered between the Prince and his parents for the last four years.

He is upset that the claims have come from supposedly loyal courtiers of his mother's only weeks after he had promised a truce over her refusal to warm towards Mrs Parker Bowles.

'For the sake of the Jubilee he made it quite clear he would not rock the boat this year,' said a close friend last night.

'Now this happens.' In yesterday's extract Mr Turner claimed the Queen had been willing to 'contemplate alternatives' after Charles's divorce from Princess Diana, when royal popularity was at an all-time low.

He said that according to a senior adviser, a crisis point had arisen when it might be better if Charles 'were to retire to the country, marry Camilla and pass on the succession directly to Prince William'.

The unnamed courtier is said to have told the Queen who 'did not react violently against it and, indeed, appeared to wonder if it might not offer a possible solution'.

Yesterday Prince Charles refused to read the claims and went hunting in Derbyshire after ordering his office to remain silent on the matter.

According to friends, he views this latest biography as pathetic'.

'He doesn't care what is said about himself, but he minds terribly when unkind comments are made about Camilla,' one said. In yesterday's extract, the Queen was quoted as saying of Mrs Parker Bowles that 'she does look rather used'.

According to the newspaper, Mr Turner was granted interviews with 80 of the Queen's friends, courtiers, clerics and relatives. The resulting picture of her was of a 'less than adequate' royal mother.

Last night, however, Lady Abel Smith, one of the Queen's former ladies in waiting, told the Mail: 'She used to love playing with her children whenever she could. She would ride with them, play tennis and go on wonderful picnics.

'Of course she was extremely busy but when with the children, she was naturally like any mother.'