Valentine Low's forthcoming book Power and the Palace includes a series of eye‑catching anecdotes about the royal family, ranging from accounts linked to Brexit to discussions over the Coronation budget, and recounts an incident in which Queen Camilla said she fought off a sexual assault as a teenager.
Low, the former royal correspondent for The Times, writes that Camilla described the episode in an encounter with Boris Johnson in 2008, when he was mayor of London. According to the account in the book, which draws on interviews including comments from Johnson's former communications director Guto Harri, Camilla told Johnson: "I did what my mother taught me to. I took off my shoe and whacked him in the nuts with the heel." Low says the incident occurred on a train to London in the 1960s and that the perpetrator was arrested.
Power and the Palace, published next week, is described by Low as an exploration of the "tangled relationship between the royals and the world of politics." The book, which has already been generating headlines, collects anecdotes and behind‑the‑scenes reporting on how members of the royal household and ministers interact on matters ranging from ceremonial costs to policy controversies.
Among the episodes Low highlights are informal habits at the centre of royal life, such as nightcaps being served on the royal train, and internal conversations about the Coronation's budget. The book also addresses the broader intersection of the monarchy with political events and debates, including material tied to the United Kingdom's Brexit era.
Low frames these stories through interviews with former aides, political figures and palace insiders, and he presents them as illustrations of how the institution operates in practice. The anecdotes vary in tone and subject: some underline the ceremonial and private dimensions of royal life, while others touch on how royalty and government have navigated sensitive political terrain.
Reporting on the royals has repeatedly attracted public attention, in part because the monarchy combines public duties, private lives and constitutional roles. Accounts such as those compiled by Low feed into wider discussions about transparency, the role of advisers, and how public money is used for state occasions and security.
The book's release comes as the royal family continues to be a focal point for coverage of national events and cultural interest. Low's previous reporting and his access to current and former officials informed the narrative approach in Power and the Palace, which promises readers a mixture of anecdote and institutional reporting.
Low's account attributes the most sensitive recollections to named sources where possible and frames others with typical journalistic caveats. The book will be available next week, and its publication is likely to provoke further reporting and public discussion about the episodes it recounts and the broader relationship between the monarchy and government.