It’s the palace paternity case that has captivated Australia, and indeed the world.
WATCH: Camilla ‘just wanted to have fun’ with Prince Charles
And as Queensland father Simon Dorante-Day’s unprecedented court battle – to prove that Charles and Camilla are his biological parents – gains international momentum, even more new information is coming to light to back up his claims that he’s second in line to the British throne.
But while Charles and Camilla have stayed quiet so far, the Duchess of Cornwall this week made a rare and emotional public address hinting at pressures behind the scenes. Speaking from the heart at a reception to honour the domestic violence charity SafeLives, she spoke of the pain of keeping quiet due to feelings of guilt and shame.
“No-one knows what goes on behind any front door,” she said in the address. “It affects everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are.”
Meanwhile, one of the more interesting and credible new twists surrounding Simon’s claims suggests that the Queen Mother may have known of Simon’s existence nearly 40 years ago and was privy to the extraordinary lengths Camilla and Charles were going to, to conceal his birth and true identity.
One of Simon’s loyal supporters found a tip-off which alleged that a famous UK spy, Odette Sansom, who was a confidante of the Queen Mother, was well aware that Charles and Camilla had a secret son.
The secret agent was the most highly decorated woman during World War II, and her career as one of Britain’s most respected and elite spies brought her international acclaim. But it seems it wasn’t just confidential wartime exploits Odette was privy to, with claims she knew some of the royal family’s deepest, darkest secrets as well.
The tipster wrote the following post: “In 1981, I was working at a hairdresser in Weybridge, Surrey. Odette Sansom was a client of mine, she was best friends with the Queen Mother. She told me that Charles had been told to find someone and to get married as it was about to become public that one of Camilla’s children was his. Interesting, maybe it is you!”
Further research by Simon’s supporter Kim shows that indeed Odette was living in Surrey at that time, giving weight to the report.
“Odette Sansom lived and died in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey,” says Kim. “The hairdressers was in Weybridge, Surrey [10 minutes away].”
Simon says he found the new lead “very interesting” and says it’s one of the reasons he wants his story to reach as many people as possible.
“Every time I go public with a new chapter in my story, I find that more people come forward with information and that’s great for me,” says Simon. “Since my grandmother first told me I was Charles and Camilla’s son, I’ve spent decades putting together the pieces of evidence and building my case. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. And pieces of information like this only give me the resolve to keep going and get answers, because I know the truth and it’s time for the truth to come out.”
Simon, 53, has long claimed to have material evidence that he is the child of Charles and Camilla, born out of wedlock in 1966 and adopted by a family in Portsmouth, England, who had strong ties to the Queen. Says Simon: “My grandmother, who worked for the Queen, told me outright that I was Camilla and Charles’ son many times.”
It’s Simon’s belief that Camilla kept him concealed for 18 months after his birth in 1966, before he was adopted out as a toddler when he was getting too old to hide.
And while Camilla went on to marry Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, Charles stayed single until 1981 when he proposed and married Princess Diana after a whirlwind romance
– seemingly backing up the hairdresser’s claim.
“The palace has gone to such extraordinary lengths to hide my existence over the years,
I wouldn’t be surprised if marrying off Charles was fast tracked to create a red herring,” said Simon.
As Simon – along with his loving wife, academic Dr Elvianna Dorante-Day – continue to sift through new leads and build their case, there’s no doubt that pressure will be mounting on the royal family to address Simon’s claims.
For more, see this week’s New Idea – out now!
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