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Each season of The crown has portrayed a few press scandals for the British Royal Family, from Prince Philip’s infidelity allegations, to Princess Margaret’s young man, to the Profumo affair. The just-released season four is no different, but a PR nightmare stands out for its closeness to the Queen.
In 1986, The Sunday Times published a story alleging the Queen made damaging comments about Margaret Thatcher’s government and policies, a serious breach of royal protocol and a major embarrassment to the crown. The Queen’s press secretary Michael Shea – who had served as the Queen’s spokesperson from 1978 to 1987 and watched the Windsor family go through some of the greatest crises of that decade – was considered the Times’s source.
Although he denied being the source of the leak, events ultimately led Shea to leave the palace. Here’s everything you need to know about Michael Shea.
Before working for the Queen, he was a diplomat – and also an author.
Michael Sinclair MacAuslan Shea was born in 1938 in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He attended Gordonstoun – the Scottish boarding school that Prince Philip, and later Prince Charles, attended – as well as the University of Edinburgh.
He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1963 and embarked on a diplomatic career that took him to West Germany, Romania and New York. In West Germany, he wrote several political thrillers under the pseudonym Michael Sinclair. During his lifetime, he eventually published 14 novels, as well as five non-fiction books.
Shea helped organize the Queen’s bicentennial visit to New York City in 1976 and so impressed royal courtiers that he quickly joined royal service in 1978.
He helped the Windsors through several press scandals and accompanied the Queen to 65 countries.
Shea became the Queen’s press secretary in 1978. He soon had to deal with major scandals, including the 1979 denunciation of Sir Anthony Blunt – the royal family’s longtime art curator – in as a former Soviet spy. He also had to deal with the fallout from Michael Fagan’s morning break-in to Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom in July 1982.
Shea accompanied Queen Elizabeth on tours to 65 countries and they reportedly got along pretty well. Shea had a reputation for being charming and chatty with reporters, establishing a friendlier relationship than previous secretaries.
Shea handled the palace’s difficult media relations during Charles and Diana’s relationship.
Shea was also in charge of Buckingham Palace’s media relations during the court and wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. In January 1981, shortly before the couple’s announcement of the couple’s engagement in February, the frenzy surrounding the couple became extraordinary.
While generally friendly, Shea became energetic with reporters as they followed the Queen on her annual vacation trip to Sandringham, hoping to find out if Diana had come as Charles’ guest. In a statement, Shea said: “The Queen has become more and more angry about it, to put it bluntly – this trip has been far worse than any other. Now it looks like some editors on Fleet Street think the Queen is a fair game, even when she has no official commitments. No member of the royal family can leave Sandringham without a press group surrounding them. They hang out in the stables, photographing everything that moves. ”
The media circus only intensified ahead of Charles and Diana’s wedding in July of the same year. In November 1981, Shea invited the editors to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen, who asked the press to be silent over their incessant coverage of the family, and in particular of the young princess, who had just announced her pregnancy.
The Queen’s request clearly did not work. During a “babymoon” in the Bahamas with Charles in February 1982, paparazzi took pictures of Diana, then five months pregnant, in a bikini. The tabloid coverage shocked the Queen, and the palace statement called the incident “in the worst possible taste.”
Shea left the palace in 1987 after a report alleging that the Queen was “appalled” by Margaret Thatcher’s policies.
Shea was essentially kicked out of royal service after a major press scandal in July 1986. The Sunday Times published an article alleging that the social policies of the Thatcher government were causing the Queen’s “dismay”; that the Queen disapproved of Thatcher’s handling of the coal miners’ strike; and that Thatcher’s negative attitude towards the Commonwealth of Nations caused the Queen’s “discontent”.
Shea was speculated to be the source of the comments, which were extremely damaging to the Queen and the Monarchy, traditionally avoiding public interference in politics.
The Queen’s Private Secretary William Heseltine responded to the controversy in a blunt letter to The temperature, writing that it was’ absurd to suggest that any member of the Queen’s household – even assuming he or she knew what Her Majesty’s views might be on government policy (and press certainly does not know) would reveal them to the press. ”
But Heseltine confirmed that it was Shea who spoke to a Times The reporter and Shea himself admitted the conversation took place, although he denied the details and said his statements were misrepresented. Shea left royal service the following year.
After leaving the palace, Shea returned to Scotland.
After resigning as the Queen’s Press Secretary, Shea worked for six years at Hanson PLC as a director of public relations and continued to write novels. In 2003, he published a thesis, A view from the sidelines, about his stay at the palace.
Shea was also an active member of the Edinburgh arts scene, chairing the Royal Lyceum Theater, directing the Edinburgh Tattoo and working as a member of the Edinburgh University Court.
He received the honor of the Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, but notably did not receive chivalry, which one would expect from someone in a position as close to the Queen as he is.
He died of dementia in 2009 at age 71.
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