Meet the man who rescued King Charles and Queen Camilla's reputation following Princess Diana's death – and the controversial reason he was known as 'Blackadder' by William and Harry

Although Charles and Camilla are now widely seen as a loving couple and dutiful King and Queen, it wasn’t always that way. 

While she was his mistress during his turbulent marriage to Princess Diana, Camilla was branded a ‘Rottweiler’ and became known as ‘the most hated woman in Britain’.

The pair’s PR efforts proved no match for the glamorous, doe-eyed Diana who was a master at pulling the media strings to get sympathetic coverage.

And matters seemed to worsen following her tragic death in 1997, with Charles regularly coming under fire as a bad father and unloving husband.

But one man more than any has been credited with the dramatic transformation in the couple’s perception – Mark Bolland.

During the spin doctor’s reign in the late 1990s and early 2000s he performed something of a miracle, taking Charles’s popularity rating from 20 per cent after Diana’s death to 75 per cent.

For his efforts he became Charles’s ‘golden boy’ and due to his extraordinary influence was labelled by The Daily Telegraph as ‘the real power behind the future King of England’.

However his well-deserved Machiavellian reputation in public relations circles meant he made enemies too.

This included Charles’s young sons William and Harry who began referring to him as ‘Blackadder’, after the scheming comic character created by Rowan Atkinson for the eponymous TV series. 

Mark Bolland was the mastermind behind the dramatic transformation of Charles and Camilla’s fortunes

However Bolland’s Machiavellian reputation in public relations caused him to ruffle feathers, including Charles’s young sons William and Harry (pictured in 2002) 

The turnaround of Charles and Camilla’s reputation following Diana’s death in 1997, eventually allowed them to get married in a humble service, with just 28 guests, in 2005

Bolland’s scheming caused William and Harry to begin referring to him as ‘Blackadder’, after the comic character created by Rowan Atkinson for the eponymous TV series

Prince Harry was so frustrated by Bolland’s various plots to improve his father’s reputation at what he believes was his expense, that he made repeated furious references to the aide 20 years later in his memoir Spare.

And although his legacy remains controversial, Bolland was still one of the most important courtiers in the history of the Royal Family.

Bolland, then only 30, was hired as a lowly press officer for Charles in July 1996, with the promise of good things to come. 

But he climbed the ladder quickly, and royal author Penny Junor describes how his influence grew ‘overnight’.

In her 2018 biography of Camilla, she describes how his upbeat nature and attitude to the job, to life, the universe and everything’ appealed to the future King. 

They struck up an instant rapport and very soon he had leapfrogged into a position of power. 

He became ‘indispensable’ claims Junor, and the man the Charles trusted above all others.

His first job was to clean up mistakes of the past, particularly including Charles’s ill-advised move to confess to adultery in a 1994 television interview with Jonathan Dimbleby.

Another blow came during Diana’s 1995 blockbuster interview with Martin Bashir, when she even suggested Prince Charles might not be able to adapt to being King.

Although his legacy remains controversial, Bolland was still one of the most important courtiers in the history of the Royal Family

Bolland’s first job was to clean up mistakes of the past, particularly including Charles’s ill-advised move to confess to adultery in a 1994 television interview with Jonathan Dimbleby 

Following his failed marriage to Diana, Charles was reportedly worried his image was ‘in tatters’, as he came under criticism for being a bad father and unloving husband

Another PR blow came during Diana’s 1995 blockbuster interview with Martin Bashir, when she suggested Charles might not be able to adapt to being King

And he had to deal with the feeling of alarm in The Firm following the rise of anti-monarchist feeling after her death in Paris.

A two-part television series on Bolland’s work for Charles, Reinventing the Royals, was broadcast in 2015, in which the press secretary at the time of her death, Sandy Henney gave his first-ever interview.

He said the Prince was worried his image was ‘in tatters’, saying: ‘(Charles) was getting some pretty virulent criticism – bad father, unloving husband.

‘I think he was pretty hurt… if you’ve got a middle-aged balding man and a beautiful princess, it’s a no-brainer as to who is going to get the media coverage.’

Bolland went about his task to modernise Charles’s image and bring in Camilla from the cold with ‘gusto’, and ‘whatever means it took’, claims Junor. 

Before joining Charles’s team, Bolland worked at the Press Complaints Commission, now the Independent Press Standards Organisation, where he was director, and enjoyed easy access to Fleet Street editors.

And before that, the Toronto-born Bolland was schooled at a Middlesbrough comprehensive, which was definitely a different education than those of the traditional courtier. 

He was also friends with the powerful Rebekah Brooks, then Wade, who at the time was editor of Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid the News of the World.

Sandy Henney, press secretary to The Prince Of Wales, talking To Mark Bolland on the eve of the Prince’s 50th birthday

Royal aides confirmed Prince William, who was 16-year-old at the time, had met Camilla for the first time in 1998 (pictured in 2002)

Bolland began managing the 30-40 people in the prince’s ‘private life’, as well as liaising with Charles’s charities, and controlling his strategic communications.

He later said: ‘I was therefore heavily involved in all aspects of the prince’s personal and professional life’ and revealed he was also involved in briefing the media by authorising friends, and employees, to make the prince’s views known.

Royal biographer Robert Jobson, in his 2006 book William’s Princess wrote about his role: ‘Bolland signalled a fundamental change in the way that press and Palace related, initially smoothing the way and achieving a good result but at the same time paving the way for the mistrust and tense stand-offs that exist to this day.’

Bolland seemed to be adept at breaking down outmoded court secrecy and getting more information into the public domain. 

For his success in achieving his goal he was awarded the title of PR Professional of the Year.

Bolland was described in Valentine Low’s book Courtiers as ‘clever, charming’ and ‘one of the most colourful and interesting players in the royal drama of the last 30 years’.

His importance even meant he was portrayed as young, dynamic and decisive in the Netflix TV show The Crown by actor Ben Lloyd-Hughes.

Mark Bolland, centre, alongside Private Secretary Stephen Lamport, left, and  Mark Dyer at Highgrove In Gloucestershire

After Camilla and Charless’ image had been rescued they were able to marry and act like a usual royal couple. (The couple pictured enjoying a game of bowls in Wiltshire in 2007)

Bolland would even accompany Charles on holiday (pictured at his favourite ski resort in Klosters, Switzerland in 1997)

One of Bolland’s most important tasks was to ‘win over’ the newspapers that were ‘very pro-Diana’ a source told The Guardian.

And Princess Diana herself wanted to get close to Bolland, even inviting him round for tea at Kensington Palace, according to Junor.

She claims the princess rang him regularly to complain if she wasn’t happy about something. She would say: ‘Mark, I’m very cross. I don’t know what’s going on.’ 

And although he was behind the establishment of special media arrangements to safeguard the privacy of William and Harry at school and university, they quickly began to look at him with contempt.

Harry wrote in his 2023 bestselling book Spare, that he was collateral damage in the campaign to rehabilitate Charles and pave the way for marriage to Camilla, though ‘the new spin doctor Camilla had talked Pa into hiring’.

Unnamed in the book, although widely understood to be Bolland, he describes a character who meticulously choreographed those early first steps towards Charles’s non-negotiable ambition: to reign with Camilla seated on the throne beside him.

And it wasn’t just Harry who had issues with Bolland’s modus operandi, William too was given a headache due to his plotting. 

Royal author Robert Jobson wrote: ‘He had his methods and while they did not necessarily approve of him they could see that the headlines about their father, who they of course adored, were more positive.

Mark Bolland (far left with hands behind back) watches over Charles as he visits Naish Court Housing Estate in London

The methods employed by Bolland clearly made a deep impression on a then-teenaged Harry (pictured after a polo march in 2003)

And it wasn’t just Harry who had issues with Bolland’s modus operandi, William too was given a headache due to his plotting. Pictured together in 1999 

The boys dubbed Bolland ‘Blackadder’ after the famous comic character played by Rowan Atkinson

Prince Charles with Mark Bolland at North Yorkshire National Park in 1998

‘But William was not too happy about being a pawn in a chess game with the media. 

‘After all, his mother had only been dead a year, and he was understandably sensitive about the situation.’

But Bolland also had other impacts on the royal household. In a 2004 interview with Mary Riddell for the British Journalism Review, she wrote the greatest gift he gave to his old employer was the staggering informality he brought to Highgrove. 

He took steps to arrange for the heir to the throne to appear on television, talking to Ant and Dec, a feat she calls ‘hardly less audacious than fixing for the Queen Mother to swim with dolphins’. 

Bolland also orchestrated the media coverage of the prince’s first photographed public appearance with Camilla at the Ritz Hotel in January 1999 – dubbed ‘Operation Ritz’.

It was only two years after the death of Diana in 1997, when Charles’s public standing was at it lowest ebb and the idea that his relationship with Camilla might be accepted was risible. 

But as the years wore on, Bolland’s relationship with Charles began to fray. 

The beginning of the end, he told the British Journalism Review in 2004, was his absence on business as a periodic royal ‘scandal’ threatened to break 

He said: ‘That went down very badly with him (Charles) and made him think: “Well, is Mark really there for me any more?” 

‘One had a sense that he felt a great unhappiness. I did have a peculiarly clear understanding of him at a particular moment in his life, simply because I knew Camilla so well, and I had grown to understand him through her eyes. 

Bolland also orchestrated the media coverage of the prince’s first photographed public appearance with Camilla at the Ritz Hotel in January 1999 (pictured) – dubbed ‘Operation Ritz’

Camilla’s reputation continued to grow until she was honoured the late Queen with a place on the Privy Council in 2016. Pictured together on the Buckingham Palace balcony in 2022

Now King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, the pairs reputation has recovered following the death of Diana – widely attributed to Bolland’s PR wizardry

Bolland and Camilla speak again in 2011, nine years after he left the Palace in 2002, at a National Osteoporosis Society event in St James’s Palace

Bolland still has links to the media world, and is believed to reside in Clerkenwell with his husband Guy Black (pictured) who is the Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group and a Tory member of the House of Lords

‘Sometimes you end up knowing too much about people and their characters, and you lose a sense of detachment. I was starting to be used by him directly, and by him through her, as a way of second-guessing other people who worked for him.’

Bolland also reportedly clashed with Charles’s private secretary Sir Michael Peat on how best to manage Charles’s public relations strategy. 

According to The Independent, Bolland wanted the royal to spend his time with A-listers, while Peat was keen for him to prioritise his charity work. 

He finally departed St James’s in 2002, after six years as assistant and then deputy private secretary. He then set up his own PR consultancy, initially with Charles and Camilla as star clients until ties were severed in early 2003. 

He maintained links with Camilla for several months, but it became impractical. 

‘That’s when I said to Camilla: ‘I love you dearly, let’s have lunch or dinner a couple of times a year, but I can’t be at the end of a phone any more,’ he said in 2004. 

But he did not disappear completely, briefly reappearing for a year as a columnist at the News of the World, with the byline (you guessed it) – Blackadder.

He still has links to the media world, and is believed to reside in Clerkenwell with his husband Guy Black who is the Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group and a Tory member of the House of Lords.

Although Bolland has now mostly faded from the public eye, his influential legacy remains. 

He will always be remembered as the mastermind who saved the monarchy by changing how the British public felt towards their King and Queen.

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