Ray Martin says he confirmed his 'worst suspicions' about the royals. Photo / Getty Image
Ray Martin says he confirmed his 'worst suspicions' about the royals. Photo / Getty Image
Veteran Nine journalist Ray Martin has lifted the lid on interviewing the royals – including the “arrogant” senior figure that confirmed his “worst suspicions” about the British family.
In 1981, Martin – then a reporter for 60 Minutes – was offered a rare sit-down with the late Prince Philip about his role as the international president of the World Wildlife Fund.
Unsurprisingly, it was a tightly-controlled environment on board the royal ship HMY Britannia, where the interview took place.
“It was strictly about World Wildlife, we couldn’t talk about anything else,” Martin told news.com.au podcast I’ve Got News For You.
“I didn’t like Prince Philip – he was quite priggish and arrogant, and that confirmed all my worst suspicions of the royals.”
Prince Philip visiting Taupō Airport in 1977. Photo / Jaye McIsaac
However, Martin, 78, had quite a different impression of then-Prince Charles when he was granted an interview with him in 1994 amid a growing Republican movement, describing him as “very pleasant, very comfortable”.
“[He was] a little shy, and went out of his way to be nice and polite to our team … He certainly made it easy for all of us, and I went away thinking, ‘You’re not a bad bloke’,” Martin told IGNFY host Andrew Bucklow.
Britain's King Charles III. Photo / AP
He also revealed that no topic was deemed off-limits ahead of the interview, which took place in Brisbane, although he avoided broaching any deeply personal topics as he knew it would be fruitless.
“I don’t remember them saying he wouldn’t talk about [Princess Diana], but protocol was that he was prepared to talk about the Republic and other issues like that, so that was it.”
Princess Diana.
One rule of the half-hour interview Martin does remember was that there could be “no editing”, so Charles’ words were delivered verbatim to viewers.
Following their chat, the journalist added, the royal went out of his way to greet every member of the Nine crew, after which Martin decided to invite him along with them for a drink.
“It was a really hot Queensland day, and I said, ‘We’re going down to the Gold Coast for a swim and a beer, would you like to join us?’” he revealed.
“And he laughed and said, ‘I would like to join you, but I’ve got to give a bloody speech in Auckland... but I’d much prefer to go to the Gold Coast and have a beer.’ So it was kind of funny. I think he enjoyed the day, and we enjoyed it.”
