Press offices merger to smooth road to throne for Charles

Charles’s 10-man communication team will move from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace, where one of his most senior courtiers is expected to run the new operation, taking charge of publicity for all the Royal Family, it was reported yesterday. A Buckingham Palace source said that the Press offices are being merged “to better co-ordinate various strands of activity”.

Media reports suggested the move was a sign of the gradual shift towards Charles eventually becoming King and it will be the first time in a generation that all the Royal Family’s communications teams will work from the same office.

There was also further speculation that the Queen’s visit to Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings this summer could be her last official foreign visit.

Charles will accompany the Queen to France and it is expected he will stand in for his mother at some engagements. The June 6 trip is seen as the most high-profile sharing of official duties so far.

The developments have emerged following Prince William’s decision to embark on a Cambridge University course which will give him a firm grounding for his future role running the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of land, property and investments he will inherit from his father when Charles becomes king.

William, who gave up operational duties with the Air Force in September after completing a three-year tour as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, is undertaking a 10-week agricultural management course.

Prince Harry has also recently switched the focus of his military career from a combat role flying Apache helicopters to a desk job in central London helping to organise major ceremonial events involving the Army.