The world knows the strains and scandals of the British royal family. For years, their relationships have been a point of debate and scrutiny. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we have King Charles on the throne now. His life also has been much talked about, especially after he divorced Princess Diana and moved on with Camilla Parker-Bowles, who is now Queen Consort. Her relationship with his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, wasn’t effortless.
Prince William and Prince Harry were devastated by the death of their mother Diana in 1997. They were 22 and 21, respectively, when their father, then Prince Charles, married Camilla, with whom he had been in love for years. So, how did the young princes react to the marriage? Have they accepted Camilla as a part of their family?
Read More: How Princess Diana Actually Confronted Camilla About Her Affair With Prince Charles?
Did Prince William And Prince Harry Like Camilla?
Both Prince William and Prince Harry wanted to be supportive of their father as they loved him and saw how happy he was with Camilla. However, it wasn’t lost on them how she played a role in the destruction of their beloved mother Princess Diana’s happiness. They apparently harbored resentment toward their dad Prince Charles and his new wife.
Charles had been in love with Camilla even before he married Diana in 1981. Their marriage fell apart due to his affair, among other tribulations. The late Princess of Wales had famously said that “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
It was Prince Charles’ wish to have his sons meet the love of his life after he separated from Diana. But then, Diana died in a tragic car accident, so he kept the meetings discreet.
There have been reports of a teen Prince William finding Camilla “bossy, mean-spirited and thoughtless.” As per the Royal Observer, he was enraged when the media published a photo of Camilla kissing Charles on the cheek in public. For the impressionable William, it was a “slap in the face to his mother.”
But later, when Camilla and Charles married, Harry shared his good wishes for the couple. He called her “a wonderful woman” who made his father happy in conversation with BBC, adding, “William and I love her to bits. To be honest with you, she’s always been very close to me and William…but no, she’s not the wicked stepmother. I’ll say that right now.”
Read More: Do King Charles And Camilla Have A Lovechild? Here’s What We Know
Camilla Never Wanted To Be “A Surrogate Mother” To The King Charles’ Sons
According to royal biographer Angela Levin’s book, ‘Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Future Queen Consort’, Camilla never tried to be a “surrogate mother” to Prince William and Prince Harry, but always wanted to be in their corner and have a cordial relationship with them. “She never interfered directly or tried to be a surrogate mother. Instead, she was a supportive figure in the background. What I observed between them was always friendly,” Levin stated in her book.
The author insisted that Prince Harry treated Camilla unfairly due to her extramarital affair with his father when he was still married to his mother, Princess Diana. Angela notes that Harry “was and still is a lost soul in so many ways” and “had said some really nasty things about her too.”
While in public, the family tries to stick together, we know how the relationships have been going through major ups and downs over the years, especially with Prince Harry giving up his royal duties and moving away with his wife Meghan Markle and their two kids.
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