Michael Shea

Michael Sinclair MacAuslan Shea, (10 May 1938 – 17 October 2009) was Press Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 1978 to 1987. Earlier he had been a career diplomat and was also an author of political thrillers and non-fiction. Early life Until the age of 14 Shea attended Lenzie Academy, where his mother was a teacher. He then attended Gordonstoun as a result of gaining a scholarship. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh, having read Economics; he also completed his doctorate at University of Edinburgh on economic development in West Africa. He was commissioned during his National Service into the Royal Corps of Signals in 1957. He entered the Foreign Service in 1963 and served in Ghana, West Germany, Romania and New York. Royal press secretary After helping to arrange the Queen's official visit to the United States Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, Shea became her press secretary two years later. He was at the centre of a "mole hunt" in 1986 for the person who gave a briefing to a journalist on The Sunday Times in which it was said that the social policies being followed by the Thatcher government were causing the Queen "dismay", and that Margaret Thatcher's negative attitude to the Commonwealth of Nations caused displeasure. Members of Parliament called for Shea's resignation if he was responsible. The Queen's Private Secretary, Sir William Heseltine, responded to the controversy in a letter to The Times confirming Shea as the contact, but asserting that Shea's comments had been misreported. Shea left royal service the following year; some sources indicated that he was "dropped" from the role. He continued to deny that there was any connection with the earlier controversy. He was not knighted but was made a Lieutenant of the Victorian Order (LVO) in 1985 and Commander (CVO) in 1987.