Mark William Bolland (born 10 April 1966) is a British public relations executive. Bolland worked for the Advertising Standards Authority and the

Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Ind ...

before serving as Deputy Private Secretary to

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

, from 1997 to 2002. During his time with Charles, Bolland was credited with rehabilitating the prince's public image and enhancing the public image of the relationship between Charles and

Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in E ...

, who would become the prince's second wife. After leaving the Prince, Bolland established a public relations and communications firm, Mark Bolland & Associates, and has held several roles in the charitable and third sector.

Biography

Early life

Bolland was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, the son of Arthur Bolland, who had emigrated from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in England, and his wife Joan. His parents later had a daughter and the family returned to England. Bolland was educated at the King's Manor School in Middlesbrough, and the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, where he received a BSc in chemistry. After university Bolland worked as a public affairs executive with Public Affairs International in Toronto before joining

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

's UK branch as a marketing executive where he worked from 1987 to 1988. Bolland then joined the Advertising Standards Authority and began a career in media regulation. Lord McGregor, then Chairman of the ASA, promoted Bolland to be Research Manager and Adviser to him and the Director-General from 1989 to 1991. Bolland then followed Lord McGregor to the newly created

(PCC), serving as his executive assistant and then being promoted to Director of the PCC from 1992 to 1996. McGregor's successor at the PCC, Lord Wakeham, recommended to

, that Bolland should work as his adviser, and Bolland's partner, Guy Black, who had worked previously for Wakeham, subsequently succeeded him as director of the PCC.

Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales

Bolland was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales in August 1996, and in 1997 became Deputy Private Secretary. He served in the role of Deputy Private Secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales until 2002. Bolland has been described as a 'key figure' in the rehabilitation of Charles following his negative public image after the death of his first wife, Diana, in 1997 and helping to create public acceptance for the relationship between Charles and

which led to their marriage in 2005. The popularity rating of Charles increased from a low of 20 per cent following the death of Diana to 75 per cent during Bolland's tenure. Bolland and the prince's Private Secretary, Stephen Lamport, helped devise a media strategy that enhanced the public image of Charles and Camilla's relationship. The pair orchestrated the media coverage of the prince's first photographed public appearance with Camilla at the Ritz Hotel in January 1999 (dubbed 'Operation Ritz'), and of Camilla's first meeting with the Queen in June 2000 at a private party at

Highgrove House Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was pu ...

. A June 2000 article in ''The Times'' by

Andrew Pierce Andrew Pierce (born Patrick Connolly; 26 February 1961) is a British journalist, editor, author, broadcaster and political commentator. Early life Pierce was born in Bristol to an Irish Catholic mother and an unknown father. He spent the fir ...

said that the media coverage of the meeting between the Queen and Camilla had marked 'the culmination of three years work by Bolland and Lamport' who since the divorce of Charles and Diana had 'worked tirelessly ever since on the public rehabilitation of Prince Charles and Parker Bowles...In the past week Parker Bowles has lost the loaded word mistress. She is now referred to as companion or even partner'.Andrew Pierce. "How the mistress became a partner.", ''The Times'', London, 9 June 2000. The first report of the Highgrove meeting was published in '' The News of the World'', then edited by

Rebekah Brooks Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was ...

, a close friend of Bolland. An October 1998 article in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' called "The Prince's Circle" described Bolland as having been '...credited with "updating" the Prince's image' by encouraging Charles to meet the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, and

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

but also said that he was blamed for the negative publicity that resulted from Penny Junor's biography of the prince, ''Charles: Victim or Villain?''. Bolland also helped the establishment of special media arrangements to safeguard the privacy of Charles's sons, princes

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Harry at school and university, and was reportedly nicknamed "

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four Period piece, period British sitcoms - ''The Black Adder'', ''Blackadder II'', ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' - plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 19 ...

" by the young princes. Lamport was replaced as the prince's Private Secretary by Michael Peat in 2002 and Bolland later felt that he should have left at the same time. He was pressured to stay and remained in post, before becoming a consultant to the Palace for a short time, at which time he decided he needed to move on. His role was recognised by the PR industry in 2001 when he was awarded the prestigious ''

PR Week ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine and news website for the public relations and wider communications industry. It is published by Haymarket Media Group. History ''PRWeek'' was originally launched as a private venture in 1984 and was acquired ...

'' "Professional of the Year Award". A two-part television series on Bolland's work for Charles, ''Reinventing the Royals'', was due to be broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

in January 2014 but was postponed. The programme was written and presented by Steve Hewlett and was made without cooperation or the involvement of the royal family.

Post-royal work

In 2003, Bolland established a strategic communications consultancy, Mark Bolland & Associates, and advised a number of businesses, individuals and international foundations. Bolland has held numerous positions in the third sector, having joined the Journalists' Charity, which was known as ''The Newspaper Press Fund'' when it was first established, as its vice-president in 2007, and serving as a trustee of the Open Futures Trust from 2010 to 2014 and the Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation from 2012 to 2014. Bolland has also served as a trustee of several high net worth family charitable foundations and trusts including the ''Helen Hamlyn Trust'' from 2008 to 2014, the David Ross Foundation from 2011 to present, and as director of the Bertarelli Foundation from 2013. Bolland wrote the ''Restaurant Spy'' column for ''ES'', the lifestyle magazine of the ''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'' from 2006 to 2009, has contributed occasional articles for the ''

Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...

'', and book reviews for the

British Journalism Review ''British Journalism Review'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal covering the journalism genres, field of journalism. The journal's editor-in-chief is Kim Fletcher. It was established in 1989 and is currently published by SA ...

, and wrote a column for the ''News of the World'' under the

byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably '' Reader's ...

of 'Blackadder'. He has also appeared on '' Newsnight Review''. In 2014, Bolland was named as one of London's most 1000 influential people by the ''Evening Standard''. Bolland is a member of the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a private members' club in London, founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, ...

In popular culture

Bolland was portrayed by Ben Lloyd-Hughes in the fifth and sixth seasons of the historical drama television series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

''. Lloyd-Hughes depicts Bolland in his role of Deputy Private Secretary. He makes his first appearance in the series during episode nine in season five.

Personal life

Bolland entered a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

with his partner Guy Black in February 2006 at

Islington Town Hall Islington Town Hall is a municipal facility in Upper Street, Islington, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters for Islington London Borough Council, is a Listed building#England and Wales, Grade II listed building. History The buildi ...

, in a ceremony witnessed by Murdoch MacLennan, the chief executive of the

Telegraph Media Group Telegraph Media Group Limited (TMG; previously the Telegraph Group) owns ''The Daily Telegraph'' and '' The Sunday Telegraph'' and is a subsidiary of Press Holdings. David and Frederick Barclay acquired the group on 30 July 2004 from Hollinger I ...

, and

, then editor of ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

''. On 22 June 2015, the couple married, again at Islington Town Hall. The couple live in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

and have a home in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Black was the former Press Secretary to

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

during Howard's period as leader of the Conservative Party, and presently serves as the Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group and Chairman of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. Black was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 2010 as Baron Black of Brentwood, and sits as a Conservative member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolland, Mark 1966 births Living people Alumni of the University of York British public relations people Canadian LGBTQ businesspeople English LGBTQ businesspeople English gay men Canadian gay men Members of the Household of the Prince of Wales Businesspeople from Toronto Spouses of life peers Gay businessmen 21st-century British civil servants 20th-century British civil servants 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople 21st-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian businesspeople 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian businesspeople 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people