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Prince's closest aide accused in abdication row

The Prince of Wales's most trusted aide was at the centre of a furious row between broadcasters and the Royal Family last night after he was accused of telling a television documentary team that Prince Charles would be "privately delighted" if the Queen abdicated.

Mark Bolland, the Prince's deputy private secretary, met the programme makers at London Weekend Television several times, but friends insisted he did not make the controversial remarks.

He was nevertheless being seen as the prime suspect'. A senior LWT official, asked whether Mr Bolland was the aide, said : "To use that wonderful phrase in The House of Cards, you may think that but I cannot possibly comment".

The insider said the actions of the unnamed royal aide were the equivalent of Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's press secretary, giving a briefing that contained surprising details and adding: "You can say in your programme that these are the thoughts of Tony Blair". A senior programme maker at the briefings told the Sunday Telegraph that the aid had said the Prince would be "privately delighted" if the Queen stepped down.

MPs and constitutional experts said if it was established that any royal aide gave the programme makers any grounds for stating that the Prince would welcome the Queen's abdication, they should be forced to resign.

The strength and detail of IWT's statement, in which the company insisted that the senior aide had given the programme the go-ahead just a few days ago, has increased pressure on St. James's Palace to hold an inquiry.

The television company was responding to a strongly worded statement from the Prince who saidit would be "ludicrous" to believe the "outrageous and hurtful" claims made in the documentary, Charles at 50, which is to be broadcast this evening.

LWT said four briefings were held with the aide over three months and all the main topics of the programme, including the abdication question were approved.

A spokesman said Loiuse Norman, the producer, and Stuart Higgins, the former editor of the Sun and the programme's production consultant, were given extended briefings from the aide - the final meeting being held in the past few days.

"The question of abdication was raised with the senior Palace aid this week", she said. "It would have been brought up in the briefing, reiterated twice and checked again this week".

Mr Bolland, 32, whose brief includes the Prince's "communication strategy", is believed to have been behind a series of briefings to journalists in recent weeks in the run-up to the Prince's birthday.

However, close friends of Mr. Bolland, who has been acclaimed for improving the Prince's public standing, said he would never been responsible for such an inaccurate claim that the Prince privately wanted the Queen to give up the throne.

He was said to be dismayed and furious and has told-friends he was merely one of a number of Palace aids who met programme makers.

There is concern at Buckingham Palace over the number of background briefings from St. James's Palace, where the Prince's office is based, which have "backfired" and damaged his reputation. Senior press aides are known to have helped Penny Junor with her book Charles: Victim or Villain?, published tomorrow, though they said it was limited to factual assistance.

The Sunday Telegraph