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Britain's monarchy has declined to comment after unexpected references to King Charles III in a contract at the center of a dispute between Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney World.
Disney's 27,000-acre theme park near Orlando used to be overseen by Reedy Creek Improvement District, which for 50 years was controlled by Disney.
However, that changed in February when DeSantis moved to take control of appointments to a new oversight board.
This comes after Disney criticized the Republican governor's laws on sex education, which critics have nicknamed the "Don't Say Gay bill."
Now Disney has attempted to swerve the move using a legal contract that members of the new board say bypasses them entirely, giving total control to Disney.
The legal document in question states that it will stand until "21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England."
Buckingham Palace declined to comment when approached by Newsweek, in a move that may not surprise keen followers of the royal family.
The royals are known for their "never complain, never explain" policy even on matters that directly concern them, for example, giving no official public response to the bombshell allegations in Prince Harry's book Spare.
They are also required to maintain impartiality on party political issues, particularly when they relate to the politics of other nations where there is the risk of a diplomatic incident if they were to become involved.
A culture war between DeSantis and Disney over LGBTQ+ rights and sex education in schools would therefore always be a no-go area for the palace, no matter the context.
Charles' involvement is, however, purely a legal mechanism for creating a timeline to state how long the contract lasts.
The issue is therefore a long way from meeting the threshold for a Buckingham Palace comment.
For Disney it sounds like the story is far from over as Taryn Fenske, DeSantis' communications director, told Newsweek in a statement: "The Executive Office of the Governor is aware of Disney's last-ditch efforts to execute contracts just before ratifying the new law that transfers rights and authorities from the former Reedy Creek Improvement District to Disney.
"An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law.
"We are pleased the new governor-appointed board retained multiple financial and legal firms to conduct audits and investigate Disney's past behavior."
Walt Disney World told Newsweek in a statement: "All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida's Government in the Sunshine law."
The dispute came after Disney said in March 2022 that DeSantis' bill, which bans discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, "should never have passed and should never have been signed into law."
In February, DeSantis announced the new oversight board and said: "The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There's a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day."
Update 03/30/23, 9:41 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add a statement from Walt Disney World.
Update 03/30/23, 12:05 p.m. ET: This article was updated to add a statement from Taryn Fenske, communications director for Governor Ron De Santis.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more