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King Charles III used Prince Andrew's Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit to get Queen Elizabeth II to agree Queen Consort status for Camilla, an author says.
The account was strongly denied by Buckingham Palace to NBC News but biographer Christopher Andersen doubled down during an interview with The Today Show.
The palace told the show the book's account was "nonsense," adding it was "unsourced and categorically untrue."
Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace for comment.
He said: "It wasn't out of the blue. It was again an unspoken arrangement between the two of them done behind the scenes by these men in gray that Diana used to talk about.
"Andrew was always the queen's favorite son. Charles was in a position where he needed the queen to endorse Camilla as they approached the Platinum Jubilee and these things converged."
On the palace denial, he said: "Standard procedure for the palace. Actually when they bother to issue a statement about a book you know you've struck a nerve.
"As I said earlier, I've been covering the royal family for 50 years now, it shocks me to say it, but the sources I have now are unparalleled, solid. This isn't an authorized biography, it's an unauthorized biography, and therefore much more accurate than the palace would provide."
Virginia Giuffre accused Prince Andrew of raping her when she was a 17-year-old Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim. He denied the allegations and settled out of court without admitting liability.
Andersen's previous book also contained an allegation that Charles was the royal called out anonymously by Meghan Markle for alleged comments on the possible skin color of the Sussexes' unborn child during their Oprah Winfrey interview. At the time, a Clarence House spokesperson said: "This is fiction and not worth further comment."
Andersen's account is fleshed out further in the book itself. An advance copy of The King, seen by Newsweek, suggests Charles and William both thought Andrew should co-operate with the FBI investigation into Giuffre's allegations but the queen wanted to bail out her favorite son.
The book reads: "There was a catch, however. Since for all intents and purposes such funds would ultimately be coming out of Charles's inheritance—on becoming king he would inherit both access to the Duchy of Lancaster income and the bulk of his mother's vast holdings—Charles would have to, if not actually sign off on the deal then at least not offer a public objection to it.
"As distasteful as it was to have a slice of his inheritance go for this purpose, Charles recognised rare opportunity for some sort of informal quid pro quo.
"While the question of where the money would come from was still very much on the table, the Prince of Wales suggested privately that February 6, 2020, the 70th anniversary of [Queen Elizabeth II's] father George VI's death, might be the ideal time to make some sort of statement in support of Camilla becoming queen."
On Today, Andersen said: "The problem is that the queen was practical and she knew that putting Camilla on the throne next to Charles would be problematic to say the least.
"And by the way, Charles made a pledge to the British people to sell them on his marriage. Originally they would never make her [Camilla] queen, she would be Princess Consort.
"He never intended for that to happen. He always knew that she would be his queen.
"They're even talking now about dropping the consort from the title. She will be Queen Camilla. I think the moment that's going to be defining during the coronation is the moment when she is crowned next to him. It think it's gonna ruffle a lot of feathers. she's not popular in England."
Andersen was also asked about Prince Harry's upcoming memoir and suggested any bombshell revelations could set a dramatic stage for Charles' coronation in 2023.
He said: "Obviously there are going to be bombshells in that book. The palace will not be happy. As they're facing the coronation in May, it's obviously got them all on tenterhooks."
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