Inside King Charles and Jimmy Savile's relationship - seeking out advice and letters of thanks
Charles had 'no knowledge' of Savile's abuse and crimesKing Charles and Jimmy Savile enjoyed a close relationship, once upon a time.
From letters of thanks to seeking out advice from the notorious paedophile, here’s an inside look at the king‘s relationship with Savile, in the days before his heinous crimes were outed.
Jimmy Savile and the royal family
Once upon a time, Jimmy Savile was one of the biggest, most popular entertainers in the UK. To many, he was Saint Jimmy, who raised more than £40m for charity. He was everywhere too, hosting his hit show Jim’ll Fix It, as well as Top of the Pops.
Savile was awarded an OBE in 1971, and was knighted in 1990.
However, following his death, it emerged that Savile had been a predatory sex offender, and due to his position, could have been one of Britain’s most prolific.
Looking back, the fact that the notorious paedophile had such a close relationship with the royals seems hard to believe. Yet it was the case. In fact, Savile was so close with the royal family that some of them even sought out his advice…
King Charles’ relationship with Jimmy Savile
In 2022, the Netflix documentary, Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, revealed that Charles, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, reached out to Savile for advice.
The doc revealed that Savile actually produced a PR handbook for the royal family, with Charles going so far as to take the TV star’s suggestions to Queen Elizabeth II.
Notes between Savile and Charles uncovered in the documentary showed that the TV star actually became something of an unofficial advisor to the future monarch over the course of 20 years.
Speaking to The Times in 2022, the documentary director, Rowan Deacon, said: “Jimmy Savile wrote this dossier, quite an in-depth document of advice, on how the Queen should behave and how members of the royal family should not be in competition with each other.”
Palace reaction to Savile’s advice was ‘lukewarm’
In a note to Savile, Charles wrote: “I attach a copy of my memo on disasters, which incorporates your points and which I showed to my father. He showed it to [the Queen].”
However, according to Deacon, the Palace’s reaction to Savile’s advice was “lukewarm”, which “frustrated” Charles.
In a note written in 1989, Charles asked Savile whether he’d be able to meet with his sister-in-law at the time, Sarah Ferguson.
“I wonder if you would ever be prepared to meet my sister-in-law – the Duchess of York? Can’t help feeling that it would be extremely useful to her if you could. I feel she could do with some of your straightforward common sense!” he wrote.
Letters of thanks
The documentary also revealed that Charles wrote letters of thanks to Savile for the advice he provided him with.
One letter from 1990 saw Charles write to Savile, praising him for being “so good at understanding what makes people operate and you’re wonderfully sceptical and practical”.
Last year, a letter written to Charles thanking him for a bottle of whiskey he sent was put up for auction.
The then-Prince also sent a birthday telegram to Savile. It included the typed names of William and Harry, who would have been four and two years old at the time.
There has never been any suggestion that Charles knew about Savile’s crimes. In 2012, after Savile’s crimes were made public, Clarence House issued a statement saying Charles had “no knowledge” of Savile’s abuse, and had not been in contact with him since 1999.
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