Kate Mansey
The Mail on Sunday
As well as being elegantly written and insightful, Mansey’s reporting is impeccably well-informed thanks to more than a decade carefully developing contacts and sources. The result has been to shine the light of scrutiny upon one of the most powerful – and at times secretive – institutions on the planet. She has championed the public’s right to know how money is spent within the Royal households and has lifted the lid on the way cash payments are leveraged within King Charles’s own charitable foundation. Not only did Mansey’s revelations force the departure of a senior Royal aide, they raised serious questions about the Royal Household and the future of the monarchy. The reach of her coverage has been phenomenal with follow-up reports in publications all around the world.
Charles aide told Saudi Donor: We’ll help you get Knighthood was a shocking revelation. In a letter obtained exclusively by Mansey, Charles’s then closest aide Michael Fawcett offers to help a Saudi donor obtain both British citizenship and a Knighthood in exchange for generous cash donations. Within hours of alerting Clarence House that Mansey had obtained the letter - after months of dogged investigation - Royal aides announced that Michael Fawcett had stepped down as chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation. A year on, the repercussions of the story are still felt. Fawcett’s letter remains central to an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police into a potential breach of the cash-for-honours laws. It also led to probes by the English and Scottish Charity Commissions. This is public interest journalism at its very best.
World exclusive: Harry sues Britain over loss of his bodyguards again relied on Mansey’s outstanding range and depth of contacts. She established that Prince Harry had launched legal proceedings against the British government after the Home Office decided not to provide state-funded security for the prince when he visits Britain. The revelation raised sharp questions about the relationship between the Royal Family and public money. It was followed up around the world while the legal case at the heart of it continues.
Charles and Camilla to be crowned side by side shows both the variety of Mansey’s reporting and her eye for compelling detail. She uncovered plans for a re-vamped Coronation for King Charles III. In a fascinating dispatch, she revealed that government bodies and Palace aides were working together to prepare for the constitutional implications under the codename Operation Golden Orb. The Coronation blueprint used by his mother in 1953 will be overhauled as the monarchy adapts to changing times and Charles attempts to make his mark. A momentous development – and, not for the first time, it was Mansey who uncovered it.