King Charles's former press secretary, Sandy Henney, has passed away.
Sandy, who held the post for seven years from 1993 to 2000, resigned from her position following a dispute over photographs from Prince William's 18th birthday in June that year.
Following news of her death, she has been inundated with tributes from former colleagues, who called her the "very best" and the "most fun" to work with.
A funeral service for Sandy was held at Worthing Crematorium last week, according to a tribute page online. No more details have been revealed about her death.
Royal author Robert Jobson wrote: "Sad to hear of the passing of Sandy Henney, press secretary to the Prince of Wales & widow of Commander Bob Marsh, head of SO14.
"Hung out to dry over the William photo row. Travelled with her on the silly hats tour with Charles. A devoted Spurs fan who could name the entire 1961 Double side. Sandy — they’re 18th. You’re well out of it. RIP."
Royal photographer Tim Rooke called it "sad news" and remembered joining Sandy on Charles's 1996 tour of Canada. Broadcaster Simon McCoy added: "She was an absolute joy to work with. Although in opposite sides - press office and media - she was always fair and kind. And also good fun. She was badly let down. I shall miss her."
What was the photo row?
© PA Images via Getty ImagesThe royal aide oversaw a turbulent time for the then-Prince of Wales, including Charles's divorce from Princess Diana and her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997. In the tributes shared over the weekend, royal reporters claimed she was "hung out to dry" and "badly let down" by the palace.
Sandy had reportedly given the Daily Telegraph and ITN exclusive access to images from Prince William's birthday party, which caused anger among other outlets. At the time, she was accused of breaking an agreement with the Telegraph, after the photos were also released to other papers.
It also sparked a copyright row between the photographer, who traditionally owns the rights to their own work, and the Palace, which owns the rights to official photographs.
The row led Sandy, who had over 20 years of experience in press relations and was said to be "fiercely loyal" to Charles, to resign. Charles accepted the resignation with "deep regret".
© Getty ImagesWriting in her book, Prince William: Born to Be King, royal author Penny Juror claimed that Sandy had offered her resignation "as a matter of formality, never for a moment believing it would be accepted".
In a following passage, she wrote: "The Prince of Wales, for whom she'd tirelessly worked long and unreasonable hours, for seven years, never even said goodbye, but Prince William immediately telephoned".
Sandy herself recalled in the book: "There was no thought for himself, it was all about how I was. Total loyalty. I didn't hear a word from the Prince of Wales, and there's William, not quite eighteen and right in the middle of his A levels, the total opposite. That spoke volumes to me about the sort of man he was going to be." About leaving the position, Sandy said: "I was so upset - I really was gutted."
St James's Palace said in a statement at the time: "It is a matter of deep regret that confusion has arisen over the photographs commissioned to mark Prince William's 18th birthday. The copyright of these pictures should have been established at the time they were taken to ensure that St James' Palace owned the copyright and that any proceeds arising from the use of the photographs went to charity as had normally happened in the past.
"The issue was not resolved and the copyright is now wrongly vested elsewhere. The Prince of Wales hopes that, in the light of the clear and consistent policy, no one should profit form pictures, either of Prince William or Prince Harry, and that those who do own the copyright will make clear that all proceeds will go to charity.
"To do otherwise would be to undermine the work of the Palace, the press and the Press Complaints Commission have all vested in the protection of Prince William and Prince Harry's privacy."
What did Sandy say about the royals afterwards?
In a 2015 interview for a BBC documentary, Reinventing the Royals, Sandy spoke out for the first time since her resignation.
© Samir Hussein./WireImageDuring her appearance, she claimed Charles's image was in disarray when she first took up her post as press secretary, as the royal was seen as a "bad father" and "unloving husband".
She also recalled how she feared backlash against the monarchy following the death of Princess Diana in 1997. She said: "I remember briefing one of our private secretaries on the phone and saying, 'I know you're seeing it on television but you really have to be here in London to feel the atmosphere. People here are really antimonarchy',' she said.
'I have to say, yeah, I was worried in terms of where was this going to go?'
