Queen Elizabeth’s ‘anti-press secretary’: How former Navy commander treated journalists with ‘scorn and contempt’ – and went into attack mode when media saw monarch shout at Prince Philip
Richard Colville first joined Buckingham Palace in 1947 as press secretary to King George VI and devoted more than twenty years to royal service.
However, the former Royal Navy commander had no experience with journalists – and it showed.
He treated the media “with a mixture of bigotry, disdain and disdain,” wrote Valentine Low in his book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown.
Colville, who was even dubbed “The Incredible No-Man” by journalists, was Queen Elizabeth II’s first press secretary after her accession in 1952 and served her until his retirement in 1968.
Martin Charteris, the queen’s private secretary, called Colville “an anti-press secretary,” Robert Lacey recounted in his 2002 book, Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
During the Queen’s tour of Australia in 1954, Colville dealt harshly with a royal failure witnessed by the press.
Prince Philip was seen storming out as the Queen angrily shouted after him.
Filmmaker Loch Townsend made a documentary about the trip and recalled how Colville told photographers to turn off their cameras and give him the captured film.
Richard Colville first joined Buckingham Palace in 1947 as press secretary to King George VI and devoted more than twenty years to this role.
Colville accompanies 11-year-old Prince Charles as he returns to school after Christmas in 1959
The queen then sheepishly thanked them for their cooperation.
In another case, about two years later, rumors began to circulate that Prince Philip had been in a relationship with another woman.
Colville publicly denied the stories, although this only fueled the stories further.
Philip was on an extended trip with courtier and Royal Navy friend Michael Parker around Commonwealth territories and was said to be “deeply hurt” by the rumours, Ms Seward wrote.
At the same time, news broke that Parker’s wife was suing him for divorce and he flew back to resign.
However, Sarah Bradford wrote in her biography Elizabeth how Parker was greeted at the airport by Colville.
Colville allegedly said to him: ‘Hi Parker, I just wanted to let you know that from now on you are on your own.’
Colville, right, with Harold Evans, press secretary to Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, 1959
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip attended a garden party during their 1954 tour of Australia
Prince Philip, right, with his private secretary, Lieutenant Commander Michael Parker in Gibraltar in 1957
During his two decades in service, he also worked closely with his younger royals, even taking 11-year-old Prince Charles back to school after the Christmas holidays in 1959.
The Daily Mail reported at the time how they boarded the 6pm train from London with other schoolboys.
When Colville retired in 1967 at the age of 60, the Daily Mail described him as a “lively, efficient man who tends to address callers by their surnames as if they were an equal number of sub-lieutenants.”
Reminiscing about his time with the royals, he said: “Of course I had some great times.
‘There was the fairytale wedding, then came the children and then the fairytale coronation.’
The newspaper reported how he traveled more than 250,000 miles with the Queen and Prince Philip.
Colville, who was knighted in 1965, also rejected any suggestion that publishers give him his memoirs. He said, ‘Never. In all caps – NO.”
His former assistant, William Heseltine, took over his role. Colville died in 1975 at the age of 67.