Prince Charles could be set to block a planned film version of a tell-all memoir by his former secretary.
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Movie company Firefly Films have approached Sarah Goodall – who worked for the prince for 12 years at London’s St. James’ Palace from 1988 – with an offer to adapt her 2006 book The Palace Diaries, which was “inspired” by her time in royal service.
The prince unsuccessfully attempted to block publication of the book – which covers his break-up from his first wife, the late Princess Diana and his affair with current spouse Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall – because he felt it breached a confidentiality agreement Goodall signed when he first employed her.
Nicholas Monson, who ghost-wrote The Palace Diaries, revealed to the Daily Mail: “It would make a great film and we are seriously considering the offer in advance of publication in America.
“The film offer is very exciting. However, I would hate to stumble because of a serious objection from Charles or his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, to being portrayed on screen.”
The project is rumoured to have the support of the British Film Council, and Monson claims to have attracted interest from the producers of forthcoming film The Edge of Love, which stars Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller.
Goodall has always insisted she was dismissed in 2000 because Camilla – who was yet to become Charles’ wife at the time – was jealous of their close relationship.
The book, which has sold more than 100,000 copies and been translated into seven different languages, includes an extract in which Sarah falls asleep on the sofa next to the prince, who she refers to as ‘his Royal Gorgeousness’, as they watch a film together.
Princess Diana – who tragically died in a car crash in 1997 – once famously described Camilla as the ‘third person’ in her marriage to Charles. In a 1994 TV interview Charles admitted he committed adultery, but only once it had become clear his marriage to Diana had “broken down”.
Charles and Camilla eventually married in 2005.
