Sir Clive Alderton, who works for King Charles as his principal private secretary, has announced he is to step down next year after working for the Royal Household for 20 years
The King with Sir Clive Alderton at Sandringham earlier this year (Image: Getty Images)
The King’s right-hand man and most senior aide has revealed he is stepping down next year.
Sir Clive Alderton, who has worked for the Royal Household for 20 years and is currently Charles and Queen Camilla’s principal private secretary, will leave his role next year to coincide with his 60th birthday next May.
In a message to staff the aide said: “It has been the greatest imaginable honour to serve the King and Queen in my present role through such historic times and with unforgettable humour along the way. That support will continue, in a less formal capacity, for all of my life.”
Sir Clive has been one one of the most influential figures in the British Royal Household for 20 years. Before his role as the former Prince of Wales’ and now the King’s chief gatekeeper and principal strategist, Alderton joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986 and served in diplomatic postings in Poland, Belgium (working with the European Union), Singapore and France.
He pivoted his career as a diplomat to asenior courtier, serving as Charles’s closest adviser for more than a decade. Alderton first joined Charles’s household in 2006 as Deputy Private Secretary when Charles was Prince of Wales.
In 2012 he became the UK’s Ambassador to Morocco and non-resident Ambassador to Mauritania before returning to royal service in 2015.
In 2015 he was promoted to Principal Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, becoming Charles’s most senior aide. When Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 and Charles became King, Alderton moved with him to Buckingham Palace as the King’s Private Secretary — the most senior operational official in the Royal Household.
He appeared to irk Prince Harry, who is said to have regarded Sir Clive as one of the “men in grey suits” at the Palace and although he did not refer to him by name, appeared to give him the nickname “the Wasp”.
He wrote in his controversial memoir Spare: “Without warning, he’d give you such a stab with his outsized stinger that you’d cry out in confusion.”
Royal sources said the courtier elected to share this news to royal staff today, so that an open and rigorous recruitment process for his successor can begin, with the aim of identifying the highest calibre external and internal candidates.
The timeframe additionally allows for an appropriate period of handover to his eventual successor in spring/ summer ‘27, once an appointment is made.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The King and Queen are deeply grateful to Sir Clive for his tireless support and wise counsel over the years, and for the enduring loyalty that will ensure a smooth transition to his successor.”
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