A new book about the life of King Charles III is making bombshell claims about how he allegedly made an informal deal with Queen Elizabeth II to make his wife, Camilla, the queen consort.
Christopher Andersen writes in his new book, "The King: The Life of Charles III," that Camilla allegedly got her title after her husband suggested for Elizabeth to make a statement of support for Camilla becoming queen consort in the fallout of Prince Andrew's sex abuse lawsuit.
Andersen cites two longtime and highly trusted sources that said Charles privately asked Elizabeth to support Camilla as queen consort in an "informal quid pro quo" as any money spent by Elizabeth to help settle Andrew's lawsuit would effectively come out of Charles' inheritance.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement to NBC News that Andersen's claims were "nonsense," calling them "unsourced" and "categorically untrue."
In response to the palace's statement, Andersen said in an interview on TODAY the palace's response was "standard procedure."
"Actually, when they bother to issue a statement about a book, you know you've struck a nerve," Andersen said. "As I said earlier, I've been covering the royal family for 50 years now ... this isn't an authorized biography — it's an unauthorized biography and therefore much more accurate than what the palace would provide."
Elizabeth released a statement in February ahead of her Platinum Jubilee, expressing her "sincere wish" for Camilla to be known as queen consort, which shocked many followers of the royal family.
Andersen said that while the statement seemed to come out of nowhere, it was a coordinated effort between her and Charles, according to his sources.
"It wasn't out of the blue; it was, again, an unspoken arrangement with the two of them done behind the scenes," Andersen said. "Charles was in a position where he needed the queen to endorse Camilla as they approached the Platinum Jubilee. And these things converged."
In February, Andrew settled for an undisclosed amount a lawsuit that alleged he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 years old. Giuffre had alleged she had been trafficked to Andrew in multiple locations by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The settlement came one month after a judge rejected Andrew's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. Andrew has long denied all of the allegations against him.
Andersen has written multiple books about the British monarchy. “The King” focuses on Charles’ childhood, and how his divorce from Diana, the Princess of Wales, and affair with Camilla created a chasm between him and his parents.
Prince Harry is releasing his own book, a memoir titled "Spare," in January, and Andersen said his sources are already indicating that the palace is bracing for its impact.
"Obviously there might be bombshells in that book," he said on TODAY. "The palace will not be happy, and as it's facing the coronation in May, it's obviously got them all on tenterhooks."
Charles became king when Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at age 96. Charles and Camilla are set to be crowned during a coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
