King Charles Hires Royal Reporter for Palace Press Role

King Charles and Queen Camilla smiling and wearing winter coats; Rhiannon Mills in a blue coat standing in front of a cameraman — (Image credit: Getty Images/Alamy)

It’s not often that a journalist goes from covering the Royal Family to becoming part of the palace machine. But with a decade of experience reporting on the monarchy, Sky News’s longtime royal correspondent, Rhiannon Mills, has been hired to be King Charles and Queen Camilla’s new media secretary.

The news was reported by the Times on Friday, March 20, with a palace source telling the outlet that Mills was “a great fit” for the Buckingham Palace role. The insider praised the news personality’s “intelligence, quick thinking, good humor and resilience”—all qualities that are necessary for working in the palace press office.

Mills already has a strong connection to the Royal Family outside of her work, as her partner, Andrew Parsons, works as a photographer for Prince William and Princess Kate.

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Rhiannon Mills wearing a blue coat reporting outside the Lindo Wing — Rhiannon Mills reports on Princess Charlotte's birth in 2015.

Queen Camilla and King Charles in formalwear at the Nigerian state banquet — Mills will serve as media secretary to The King and Queen.

As Kate Mansey, royal editor for the Times, pointed out on Instagram, Mills might be “switching sides,” but her background makes her the “ideal candidate” for the demanding job.

With Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s repeated scandals hanging over the family and tensions between Prince Harry and his father, hiring someone deeply engrained in the royal world can only benefit The King. Mills has interviewed everyone from King Charles to Prince Harry and Prince William, although her off-the-cuff question to the Duke of Sussex once made headlines when he admonished her in Africa.

“That short conversation, what do you hope to achieve through it?” she asked Harry as he left a hospital, with the duke replying, “What? Ask them,” referring to those inside. When she continued, “Is that why it’s important for you to come and talk to them?” he scolded her, stating, “Rhiannon. Don’t behave like this.”

A palace source noted that Mills's precise start date is “yet to be confirmed,” but she'll be joining the royal household “sometime before summer.”

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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.