Prince Charles asked Jimmy Savile for PR advice following a blunder by the Duke of York after the Lockerbie bombings, a Netflix director has claimed.

Savile wrote a media relations “handbook” for the Prince of Wales who went on to show the advice to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, according to filmmaker Rowan Deacon.

Deacon, director of a new documentary, Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, told The Times that the late BBC presenter took on a role as unofficial adviser to the Prince in correspondence spanning a 20-year period.

The filmmaker gained access to dozens of letters in which she claims the Prince sought counsel from Savile about his public speeches and family life.

Among them, Deacon says, is a dossier titled Guidelines for Members of the Royal Family and Their Staffs, handwritten by Savile in 1989 for the Prince.

The director believes the document was written following the Duke of York’s comments about the Lockerbie disaster in 1988. Prince Andrew told reporters: “I suppose statistically something like this has to happen at some stage.”

Deacon told The Times: “It reignited a discussion about how the Royal family should respond to disasters. Jimmy Savile wrote this dossier on how the Queen should behave.” 

According to Deacon, the document continues: “There must be an ‘incident room’ with independent phone lines, teletext etc … The Queen should be informed of any proposed action by family members.”

According to Deacon, the Prince responded with a memo that said: “I attach a copy of my memo on disasters which incorporates your points and which I showed to my father. He showed it to HM [Her Majesty].”

Clarence House did not comment.