Robert Hardman has narrated this article for you to listen to.
We are familiar with the perfectly sensible convention that monarchs should not fly with their heirs. But should they also be discouraged from foraging for their prime ministers? While researching my new book and film on the King, I was at Balmoral to see the visit of the Sunaks. At one point, the King vanished into the grounds of Birkhall to pick mushrooms for his guests, who also included Sir Nicholas and Lady Coleridge. It’s a favourite form of royal relaxation (the King was picking Birkhall mushrooms on the day the Queen died). When I mentioned this to a privy counsellor last week, he was troubled. He pointed to the ghastly tale of Nicholas Evans, the late author of The Horse Whisperer, who also went picking mushrooms in the Highlands a few years ago, plucked the wrong sort and four people ended up fighting for their lives.
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