Funeral for Queen’s former Press Secretary Michael Shea is to take place next week

By Rory Reynolds

A SCOTS diplomat who was one of the Queen’s most trusted aides for almost a decade is to be laid to rest in Edinburgh next week.

Michael Shea died on Saturday aged 71 having served as the Queen’s press secretary from 1978 to 1987 and accompanied her to 65 countries during a tumultuous period for the Royal Family.

The career diplomat also served during the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana and became a well-known figure in the UK after speaking on behalf of the Royal couple.

SHEA: respected as an author, confidant and press aide

The Queen herself was said to be “saddened” after hearing that Lanarkshire-born media professional turned author had died.

Poached

Shea first served in Bonn during the Cold War, after being “poached” by the Foreign Service.

He then met a Norwegian diplomat, who would become his wife, and would later draw on his experiences in Germany to pen his successful novel, Sonntag.  Throughout his career Shea wrote two dozen books, including many thriller novels in a time when spies were stalking the street of the German capital and back home the IRA were terrorising London and Belfast.