King Charles ‘duped by senior aide into appointing colleague to Palace role’ – while monarch was recovering from cancer treatment, source claims

King Charles was cynically tricked by a senior courtier into signing a document appointing a colleague to a job at the palace – while the monarch was recovering from a bout of his cancer treatment, it has been claimed.

The incident has sparked a furious row in Charles’ court – with one of his closest aides said to have gone ‘ballistic’.

Meanwhile, the king’s private secretary has been forced to order an embarrassing U-turn over the appointment.

The courtier at the center of the extraordinary outbreak is Garter King Of Arms David White, who is believed to have been on the receiving end of a serious outbreak.

The courtier at the center of the extraordinary arrest is Garter King Of Arms David White (pictured)

Mr White is accused of ignoring long-standing legal process and instead using ‘back channels’ to obtain the King’s signature on his preference for a senior appointment to his department, the College of Arms.

This happened when the king was in London for his ongoing cancer treatment, while staff were instructed not to strain him.

A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It looks like a trick from the Middle Ages. A huge row has arisen behind the scenes.

“Some people believe that David White deliberately tried to get Charles behind their backs so he could get his favorite candidate into the role.

“What David may not have realized was that the king was tired. In other words: he was at his most vulnerable and that is why there is a good procedure.

‘When the King is in London he is here for treatment and so it can often be a challenging time for him. The aides closest to Charles knew him well enough to know that he should have been left alone at that point.”

Mr White’s role as Garter King of Arms is to advise the monarch on matters of heraldry and on the conduct of royal ceremonies. He stood on the balcony of St James’s Palace to proclaim Charles king on September 10, 2022.

However, he is not responsible for recommending candidates for positions in the Royal House to the King.

When the senior post of secretary of the Order of the Garter was mooted at the College of Arms – a department of the Royal Household that makes and maintains coats of arms – Mr White hoped to appoint a colleague, Peter O’Donoghue, who was already a Herald was at the high school.

Senior aides at Buckingham Palace had been formally advised to nominate another candidate, and planned to recommend him for the job to the king. Under normal procedure, such paperwork would go through official channels – included in the king’s red boxes and vetted by his private secretaries.

But instead, Mr. White had one of his aides pass his letter of recommendation directly to her husband, who works at the palace, to present to the king.

Insiders described White’s action as a deliberate ambush to evade the King’s comptroller and his private secretary, Colonel Michael Vernon and Sir Clive Alderton.

More senior Buckingham Palace staff had been formally advised to nominate another candidate

When contacted by The Mail on Sunday by telephone, Mr White declined to comment.

At the end of the conversation it turned out that he thought he had hung up, but you hear him say to a colleague: ‘S***. She has wind. She got wind that I nominated Peter O’Donoghue and that he has been put forward.’

A Royal House source said: ‘That direct approach to the king should never happen. It should always go to the private secretary. Michael Vernon assumed that David decided to bypass the entire system. I think Clive Alderton is equally annoyed by it.”

The Mail on Sunday understands that Mr O’Donoghue has now been passed over for Stephen Segrave, the secretary of the Central Chancellery of the Orders of Equestrianism.

Mr White was appointed to his position in 2021 and has become a controversial figure. He was removed from the roll of honor after forgetting to say ‘God Save the King’ at the Queen’s funeral – a mistake that is said to have irritated King Charles.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.