Prince Charles ‘asked Jimmy Savile to advise on speeches’

The story that has been repeated for many years has Camilla jokingly telling Charles about the well-known affair between their ancestors, Alice Keppel and Edward VII.

The Duchess is supposed to have told the Prince: “My great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather’s mistress, so how about it?”

But Catherine Mayer recounts in her book, Charles: The Heart Of A King, how Lucia Santa Cruz, said to be the Prince’s first love, introduced him to her friend Camilla in the early 1970s, reports the Daily Telegraph.

It is said the prominent Chilean, who is the daughter of a former Chilean ambassador to the UK, dated Charles during his student days at Cambridge University.

The pair remained friends and in 1971 she brought the Prince and Camilla together because she thought they would be a good match and, referring to their ancestors’ affair, said: “Now you two watch your genes.”

Ms Mayer in her book also claims that Charles asked Jimmy Savile, now known to be a prolific sex offender, to read over his speeches.

The author said in her unauthorised biography: “One source tells of an occasion when the Prince asked his famous occasional adviser to read over a speech he was due to give on a topic unrelated to healthcare or any field in which Savile had expertise.”

Ms Mayer’s book also touches on the Prince’s views about head coverings for Muslim women.

Charles, who has a strong affinity with Islamic art and culture, disagrees with countries like France which have banned the burqa, according to a source the biographer interviewed.

The biography claims the Prince sees the ban as “an infringement of human rights”.