Queen Camilla and Prince Harry have endured a very complicated relationship. The former entered the royal sphere shortly after the death of Princess Diana, and for Harry and William, it was tough to accept.
When the Duke decided to shed light on his life within the Royal Family via interviews and his book, Spare, Camilla was accused of several things, and today, their stepmother-stepson relationship lies in tatters.
Indeed, any reconciliation is extremely far away. Harry has reportedly tried to support his father as best he can during his cancer treatment, but even in challenging times like these, the tension between Harry and Camilla has remained. Sadly, a recent claim about their relationship paints a bleak picture of just how bad things have gotten.
Queen Camilla’s popularity among the public has enjoyed an undeniable upswing over the years. She was once the ‘evil’ person many blamed for the failure of King Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage. When she and Charles began dating—and later married—after Diana’s tragic death in Paris in 1997, many had problems accepting her into the Royal Family.
Prince Harry & Queen Camilla’s “tense” first meeting
Plainly put, the press mistreated Camilla. However, the bond between her and Charles conquered all. On April 9, 2005 the couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
Yet it wasn’t just the press and members of the public who had a hard time accepting Camilla. Queen Elizabeth was said to harbor strong doubts, while it should go without saying that William and Harry were’t her staunchest supporters.
With Princess Diana’s passing, the brothers were left without the loving mother who had always endeavored to raise them just like normal children. In Diana’s place they got a stepmother in Camilla, though she and Harry clashed often.
Harry recalled his first meeting with Camilla as “awkward and tense.” In Spare, he wrote that William had “long harbored suspicions about the Other Woman.”
“I think the relationship between them all is warm now but if I’m honest, it wasn’t then. I think they found it hard,” a palace source told royal biographer Penny Junor, author of Prince William: Born to be King.
“To be fair to Camilla, she never tried to be mummy but she was the ‘other woman’ and she was there and taking daddy’s time.”
Royal expert says Prince Harry “can’t stand” Queen Camila
At the same time, other royal experts also paint a picture of Harry and Camila not getting along initially. In her book The Palace Papers, royal author Tina Brown wrote that Harry “unnerved” Camilla.
“When the younger boy was eventually prevailed upon to be in the presence of Mrs Parker Bowles, he unnerved her with long silences and smouldering, resentful stares,” she quoted a courtier saying.
Moreover – when it was announced that Camilla was to become Queen Consort – Brown claimed that Harry wouldn’t accept it.
“William has accepted Camilla in terms of what she means to his father. He’s been grown-up about it.
“My father loves this woman, I can’t fight it, so I won’t,” Brown said.
“Harry, on the other hand, can’t stand Camilla, he doesn’t want Camilla to be Queen, he’s very angry that it’s happening. He has not made his peace with it, and he probably never will.”
Harry and Camilla’s relationship has undoubtedly had its ups and downs. In 2005, when he turned 21, he said that he and his brother William “loved her to bits” and thanked her for making his father, King Charles, very happy.
Prince Harry and Prince William asked their father not to marry Camilla
At the same time, however, tensions between them have continuously resided. As a friend of the brothers once said, they have never been incredibly close to her.
Before Harry’s book, Spare, was released, the Duke did several interviews and spoke on some of the subjects covered in the book. For example, he explained how angry he had been over the treatment his wife, Meghan Markle, received, as well as the death of his mother. He also mentioned Camilla.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Harry revealed that he and his brother, Prince William, had asked their father not to marry Camilla. Ultimately, they changed their minds.
“We didn’t think it was necessary, we thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person. That – surely that’s enough,” Harry told 60 Minutes. “We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her.”
During the interview with 60 Minutes, Harry continued to take swings at the Royal Family, and Camilla came under heavy fire.
Harry accused her of leaking stories about the royals to the British media, which he claimed was a part of her campaign to “rehabilitate her image.”
Harry says Camilla was “dangerous”
He added that Camilla was “dangerous” as she had been cast as a “villain” by the British media because she had a part in Charles and Diana’s collapsed marriage.
“That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen Consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that,” Harry said.
“If you are led to believe, as a member of the family, that being on the front page, having positive headlines, positive stories written about you, is going to improve your reputation or increase the chances of you being accepted as monarch by the British public, then that’s what you’re gonna do.”
While Camilla hasn’t responded to any of the claims made by Harry, royal expert and former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond wrote in a column for INews that Camilla had “no interest in cultivating a special relationship with any journalist.”
“Positive stories were given to the media about Camilla: that she was warm and kind, a soulmate for Charles. But, in my experience, there were no negative stories given about any other member of the family in some kind of tit-for-tat agreement,” Bond wrote.
“On some points, Harry is simply wrong. Camilla did not leak details of her first meeting with Prince William. It was inadvertently mentioned by her personal assistant, who told her husband, who played tennis with someone associated with the Murdoch press. The personal assistant was mortified and subsequently resigned.”
“I don’t think they’ll ever forgive Harry for that”
She added: “For all his years of therapy – which has a valuable and legitimate place in the life of anyone who has suffered trauma – the Duke of Sussex seems astonishingly lacking in self-awareness. He says nothing in his book was intended to hurt or harm his family. Just read it, Harry. He says he wants reconciliation but insists any conversations will have to be private. What about all the private conversations you’ve just leaked in your book, Harry?”
Harry’s claims about his stepmother in Spare left Camilla angry and confused. The fact that he decided to reveal things about her damaged his relationship with his father, possibly forever.
“I think people have to realize that the one thing that Charles finds unforgivable is criticism of Camilla,” royal expert Christopher Andersen told Fox.
“There’s no criticism of Camilla,” Andersen added. “And unfortunately for Harry… Harry said some pretty devastating things about her. He made it clear that he felt she was… the villain in the piece. I think that still bothers the king, and I don’t know that it will be easy for him to [forgive]. I don’t think they’ll ever forgive Harry for that.”
Prince Harry and Queen Camilla have had their fair share of battles, and what he revealed about her and her husband, his father, in Spare left the Queen Consort furious. In recent years, Harry and Camilla haven’t seen each other except on a few, rare occasions. Their last meet occurred earlier this year and wasn’t exactly a success.
When King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, Harry quickly traveled to the UK to support his father. Sadly, according to a National Enquirer source cited by the Mirror, Harry left Camilla “outraged” and she even asked him to leave.
Queen Camilla “tries to limit interaction” between King Charles & Prince Harry, source
“Her Majesty was furious Harry flew in from his ritzy California home without getting palace approval – and came with an attitude. I’m told Camilla was outraged. She’s taken a lot of bile from Harry for years and couldn’t wait to let him have it,” the source said.
The source continued: “Camilla has taken it all on the chin, but using her husband’s cancer as a ‘loving son’ PR stunt was the last straw. After the father-son reunion, I hear she told Harry he’s a disgrace to his father, the family, and the monarchy – and she left no doubt he isn’t wanted back!”
Camilla took on a huge responsibility as King Charles began his cancer treatment earlier this year. Meanwhile, in recent days, she has reportedly been stressed that her husband wants to return to a full work schedule instead of taking things slow.
The last thing Camilla wants for her husband is more distractions. And one of those distractions is, you guessed it, the estranged Prince Harry.
“Camilla dislikes Harry and doesn’t want Charles to get stressed while he’s undergoing treatment, so she tries to limit interaction,” a source told OK Magazine.
Only time will tell if Camilla and Prince Harry can ever make amends. However, in one way, the feud between the Sussexes and the Royal Family appears to have done the firm’s senior members some good.
Harry & Meghan attacks have brought Kate, William, Charles, and Camilla “closer together”
Speaking with GB News, royal author Lady C (Lady Colin Campbell) claimed that the Harry and Meghan feud has brought King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton closer together.
She stated that the four senior royals are “almost a unit,” adding that they “function in keeping with the best interest” of each other and not only the monarchy.
“Because they’re all very decent, family orientated, and loving people who want everything to go as well as it can. They’re very positive, the four of them. All this adversity, not only the health issues, but all of the problems with Harry and Meghan has brought them all together,” Lady C said.
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