The Queen would not have approved of Prince Charles becoming governor-general of Australia at least until he managed to find himself a wife, a release of Australian documents has revealed.
Talk of Charles as a possible contender, following the dismissal in 1975 of prime minister Gough Whitlam’s government, was addressed by the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Martin Charteris, in a 1976 letter to then governor general, Sir John Kerr.
“I think the point we must all bear in mind is that I do not believe the Queen would look with favour on Prince Charles becoming governor general of Australia until such a time as he has a settled married life,” Charteris wrote.
“No one will know better than you how important it is for a governor general to have a lady by his side for the performance of his duties. The prospect, therefore of the Prince of Wales becoming governor general of Australia must remain in the unforeseeable future.”
In a later follow-up letter, Charteris said: “Quite apart from considerations of a settled married life, to which I referred to in my last letter, it would be very difficult for Prince Charles to become governor general until the constitutional questions are solved.”
Charles married Lady Diana Spencer five years later, in 1981.
Plans for the prince to buy a property in New South Wales in 1974 were also dismissed as “not a good moment”, as Britain was plunged into economic gloom.
“The position is that the purchase of a property in Australia by the Prince of Wales presents no political or legal difficulties in the United Kingdom. My understanding is that the same applies in Australia. It is a project close to the Prince of Wales’ heart, and one which would, I am sure, be valuable in the context of the monarchy in Australia,” Charteris wrote.
“It is felt, however, that the public in this country would misunderstand a decision by the Prince of Wales to buy a property at a time of great economic difficulty for the United Kingdom and when housing is one of the worst problems which faces ordinary people.
“In modern times it is never “a good moment” for the royal family to spend money, but I think it fair to say that the present could hardly be a worse one.”
