Inside King Charles' tough challenge as pivotal royal aide to leave Palace after two decades

Inside King Charles' tough challenge as pivotal royal aide to leave Palace after two decades EXCLUSIVE: The King and Queen's principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton is to leave his post after two decades working for the Royal Family - and thoughts have turned to his replacement He has quietly been one of the most influential figures in the Royal Household for more than two decades - but now the King’s right-hand man, Sir Clive Alderton, is set to step down from his role next year. This means Charles and Queen Camilla are now left with the tough task of finding a new principal private secretary. The royal aide played a pivotal role in steering the couple through Charles’ accession to the throne and has been on hand to support the King through the likes of state visits and more personal matters, earning him the nickname from Prince Harry as 'the wasp'. Whoever replaces him, when he leaves around the time of his 60th birthday next May, will become the King’s most senior courtier and the person whom he can call on for advice and act as a bridge between Crown and government. Royal expert Jennie Bond spent 14 years as the BBC’s royal correspondent, closely following the then Prince Charles and getting a glimpse into the inner workings of Buckingham Palace. And she told the Mirror exactly what Sir Clive’s successor will need to tackle one of the demanding jobs working for the King. She explained: “I think most long-serving private secretaries become part adviser and part friend. He is someone the King will speak to almost every day of his life, someone whose principal role is to have his boss’s back, to foresee trouble and head it off before it happens. “Like most previous private secretaries, Sir Clive is an experienced diplomat, and he played a vital role in engineering the huge success of the King’s visit to the United States earlier this year. “Part of the job is to work closely with the Cabinet secretary and the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary and the three of them would have overseen the programme and carefully honed the witty speeches the King made. “To Prince Harry, he was ‘the wasp’ who blocked his way and ignored his wishes. But to the King and Queen he has proved himself a safe pair of hands, and it may be that they will continue to call on his advice. “Sir Clive is someone the King has been able to turn to, complain to, laugh with and rely on as his chief gatekeeper. His successor will indeed have big shoes to fill. Thus far they have always been men, so it would be refreshing to see a woman succeed him.” During Sir Clive’s time as the King’s principal private secretary, he has led the monarch through his cancer diagnosis and many incoming and outgoing state visits, including his trip to Washington DC to meet US president Donald Trump, where Charles delivered an historic address to Congress. He has kept pace with Charles, described as a “complete workaholic” by his wife, and over the years helped turn his ideas into action. And Jennie says his replacement will need to hit the ground running. She explained: “The world is still in turmoil, the King and Queen are now elderly, with the King still undergoing treatment for cancer. “The King‘s brother is still under police investigation, his sons are still estranged and the UK is getting to know yet another Prime Minister. The King will need someone with proven diplomatic skills, sensitivity about family matters and enough experience to deal with the shifting world of politics.” Earlier this week, royal sources said the courtier elected to share the news that he was to step aside so that an open and rigorous recruitment process for his successor can begin, with the aim of identifying the highest calibre external and internal candidates. The timeframe additionally allows for an appropriate period of handover to his eventual successor in spring/summer of 2027, once an appointment is made. And Jennie added: “The Palace are going to be looking at both internal and external candidates and they have plenty of time to cast the net wide as Sir Clive will remain in post until next year. “He has been at Charles’s side through some of the most critical times: the death of Queen Elizabeth, the succession and the Coronation. “He’s reported to have come up with a very apt phrase to describe the tone of the new King’s reign: ‘informal formality’. And it does rather sum up the way Charles goes about his business – sometimes giving and receiving hugs in the way his mother never did.”