Queen 'saddened' as former press secretary Shea dies

Published on Monday 19 October 2009 10:03

MICHAEL Shea, the Queen's former press secretary and a high-profile member of Edinburgh society, has died at the age of 71.

Mr Shea worked at Buckingham Palace from 1978 until 1987, and was responsible for dealing with coverage of the romance, engagement, and wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

He also handled the stripping of Anthony Blunt's knighthood after he was exposed as a Soviet spy, and the incident when an intruder found his way into the Queen's bedroom at Buckingham Palace.

Following his death on Saturday, a spokesman for the Queen said she would be "saddened" at the news.

After stepping down from his role with the Queen in 1987, Mr Shea returned to Edinburgh where he played an active part in city life, with appointments to numerous boards and committees.

He was chairman of a campaign to convert the Royal High School building on Calton Hill into a National Photography Centre.

He also served as Deputy Lieutenant for Edinburgh, chairman of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, a director of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland.

He and his friend, Councillor Eric Milligan, revived the Edinburgh Oyster Club – a supper club founded by economist Adam Smith.

Cllr Milligan said: "I am sure that everybody who mattered in Scottish society was on first-name terms with him. He was quite a remarkable guy."

Born in Carluke in Lanarkshire, Mr Shea attended Lenzie Academy and then Gordonstoun – of which he would later become a governor.

He received a PhD in economics from Edinburgh University, leading the University's Liberals in the early 1960s.

He left politics behind, however, to pursue a career as a diplomat. He was posted to Ghana and then Bonn, where he met his wife Mona, a Norwegian diplomat.

It was also while in Bonn that he was inspired to begin writing. A predecessor at the embassy had been David Cornwell – also known as John Le Carre – and Mr Shea published his first book, Sonntag, under the name Michael Sinclair in 1971.

In 1978, he joined Buckingham Palace, where he was to travel with the Queen to 65 different countries.

He also had a career as an author of fiction and non-fiction, with more than two dozen titles to his name.

The Dollar Covenant(1973) was republished under his own name under the title Endgame in 2000.

His works also included Spin Doctor, The British Ambassador, and A View from the Sidelines, which was about his time in Buckingham Palace.

Mr Shea, who lived close to the Castle, in Ramsay Garden, died with his family by his side. He is survived by Mona and their two daughters.