Meet the Inner Circle of Friends and Courtiers Advising King Charles III
Anyone who watches The Crown knows the British royal family is extremely dependent on a fleet of courtiers who advise them, affectionally (maybe?) known as the "Men in Gray." These men and women might not be in the spotlight, but they go everywhere the royals go—and if you look hard enough, you'll see them lurking in the background of pretty much every royal engagement.
Since the Queen's passing, there's been huge turn-over in palace staff with over 100 layoffs that made everyone "absolutely livid" and "visibly shaken." And as King Charles builds up a new team of advisors to the Crown, he already has a few people at the heart of his inner circle. First things first, let's start with King Charles's main right-hand man—who also happens to be a literal knight. Because yep, in this our year of the lord 2022, the whole "knights of the round table" thing is very real.
Sir Clive Alderton
Sir Clive Alderton is King Charles's private secretary and was his and Queen Camilla's principle private secretary before that. So how did he get the job? Clive has a pretty impressive resume; after attending one of the oldest schools in the country (Abingdon), Clive joined the foreign office and held a bunch of diplomatic positions before being appointed deputy private secretary to Charles and Camilla in 2006. Guess he did a good job, because he was promoted to private secretary for foreign and Commonwealth affairs in 2009. He then spent a few years becoming ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania (casual), before becoming Charles and Camilla's principle private secretary in 2015.
He's important enough to Charles that he walked with the royals as they accompanied the Queen's coffin to Westminster Abbey:
Tobyn Andreae
Tobyn is a relatively new addition to Charles's inner circle, and joins the team as the King's communications secretary. His hiring is slightly controversial considering he was the co–deputy editor of the Daily Mail–and interestingly, it sounds like Camilla is the one pushed for him to join the team.
Major Johnny Thompson
Johnny is Charles's bodyguard and royal equerry (an officer of the royal household), and everyone has been busy thirsting for him ever since he was pictured in a kilt during Charles's meeting with then-prime minister Liz Truss.
As equerry, Johnny is by the King's side at public events, and apparently will come to his rescue if he ever needs it thanks to the whole bodyguard thing. He previously worked with the Queen as her bodyguard and was pictured at several events with her.
Dr. John Sorabji
Dr. John Sorabji is a new hire at the palace and will work under Clive Alderton as the King's deputy private secretary. Before joining the royal household, Dr. Sorabji worked at University College London and was also a barrister. A source described him to the Telegraph as a “good man” and “super smart."
Sir Nicholas Soames
Sir Nicholas (another knight, lol) doesn't have an official role in the royal household, but as one of Charles's best and oldest friends he's definitely in the inner circle. Sir Nicholas is actually the grandson of Winston Churchill, who was close to the royals during his time as prime minister.
And there you have it! Obviously, King Charles' staff is much bigger than this, and as important positions continue to get filled, we'll add to this article.
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