Prince Charles turned to Jimmy Saville for PR advice for the Royal Family, new letters between the pair reportedly reveal.
The Prince of Wales received suggestions from the BBC presenter - later publicly exposed as a paedophile - on how to navigate major public incidents, as well on his own speeches, according to a new Netflix documentary.
Seeking advice in one letter from the 1990s, he said Saville was “so good at understanding what makes people operate”.
The TV presenter was later revealed to be a sexual predator who used his BBC, charity and hospital work as a smokescreen. After his death in 2011, hundreds of survivors came forward with stories of abuse.
New docuseries Jimmy Saville: A British Horror Story looks at his links with the ruling class, including former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and the British Royal Family.
It reveals a number of letters reportedly sent by the Prince of Wales in the 1980s and 1990s that were kept by Saville - and how the presenter offered advice on public relations.
One letter, sent in 1990, said: “You are so good at understanding what makes people operate and wonderfully sceptical and practical. Can you cast an eye over this draft and let me know how we can best appeal to people on this score?”
Another thanked Saville for help on a speech in 1991. It read: “It really was extremely good of you to take the trouble to put together those splendid notes and they provided me with considerable food for thought. With renewed and heartfelt thanks. Yours ever, Charles.”
The letters were shown by Alison Bellamy, a Saville biographer, who told the documentary Saville seemed a sort of “informal chief advisor” to the Prince of Wales at the time.
They reveal Saville also offered advice on how to react to major public incidents a month after the Lockerbie bombing.
This include advice that the Queen should be “advised in advance of any proposed action of family members” and an incident room with several phone lines.
Prince Charles replied to Saville: “I attach a copy of my memo on disasters, which incorporates your points and which I showed to my father, and he showed it to Her Majesty.”
On a separate occasion, he allegedly sent a letter asking if Saville would meet his sister-in-law the Duchess of York, who he said could benefit from “some of your straightforward common sense”.
The Prince of Wales has been approached for comment by The Independent.
