Prince Harry “can't stand” Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and would “hate” to see her become Queen, claims his late mother’s biographer ahead of the release of her new book on the Windsor family.
Furthermore, the estranged son of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, may “go after” the duchess in his upcoming memoirs, Tina Brown said in interview for The Telegraph Magazine. Brown, who penned the “Diana Chronicle” in 2006, is now revisiting the subject of the royal family in her new book, “The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor”.
The Duke of Sussex, 37, together with his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped away from the life of a working royal in March 2020 and left for the US. He had never been able to make his peace with the relationship between his father, Prince Charles, and the Duchess of Cornwall after the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997 from injuries sustained in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, claimed Brown.
Princess of Wales Diana waves to the crowd, 27 January 1988, during her visit to the Footscray Park in suburb of Melbourne.
© AFP 2023 / PATRICK RIVIERE
It is safe to assume that Prince Harry, 37, residing currently in California with his wife Meghan Markle, 40 and their children, Archie and Lilibet, may vent his frustration in his ‘intimate and heartfelt’ memoirs, slated to come out later this year, added the biographer.
Weighing in on the bombshell revelations that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made since leaving the royal fold, including in the Oprah Winfrey sit-down in 2021, Brown said:
“William was disgusted about Meghan’s attack on Kate because she can’t answer back. But that’s nothing compared to how furious he’s going to be when this book comes out… Because Harry’s not going to go after the Queen, she’s sacrosanct. And he probably won’t go after Kate, whom he’s very fond of. But he will go after Charles and Camilla and maybe William.”
Brown, who has run reports on the royal family over the years both as Tatler's editor-in-chief and Vanity Fair's editor, emphasised that for Prince William, the Duke of Sussex’s brother, it is a “big cloud in their relationship right now”.
Brown, who opined that the entire country was “going to have the most enormous national nervous breakdown when the Queen dies,” insisted that Prince Harry would be likely to criticise his father and step-mother in his upcoming biography. Before the two finally married in 2005, Camilla was Charles' unofficial consort, staying away from the limelight.
Tina brown quoted an unnamed courtier telling her than when Prince Harry was eventually talked into being in the same room as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, he would keep silent and shoot angry looks at her.
In this July 29, 1981 file photo, Britain's Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are shown on their wedding day at St. Paul's Cathedral in London
© AP Photo
Born Camilla Rosemary Shand, she first married British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she has two children. They divorced in 1995. Camilla had been romantically involved with Prince Charles both before and during each of their first marriages. In 2005, the Duchess of Cornwall married the heir apparent to the British throne.
Unlike his younger brother, Prince William has grown accepting of his father and Camilla's relationship, claims the biographer. However, the Duke of Sussex is “very angry” that the Duchess of Cornwall will become Queen Consort when Prince Charles ascends to the throne.
Britian's Prince Charles, left, reacts with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, during a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London, Tuesday May 22, 2018.
© AP Photo / Dominic Lipinski
The relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry has been under strain both in the lead up to Megxit and has deteriorated since, especially amid continued “attacks” lobbed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the royal family.
Tina brown claimed the rift with Prince Harry was a detriment to the royal family. Alongside his wife, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, his younger brother was reportedly one of the only people who could keep Prince William “grounded.”
“One of his close people told me that everyone talks about how much Harry needed William, and he did, but William also needed Harry because all those friends you think are so real, well, they still know you’re going to be king,” she said, adding:
“Only William’s wife and his brother are going to be straight with him. William depended on that, I’m told. There was a danger William was headed towards pomposity and Harry wouldn’t let that happen.”
Earlier, a report citing the Sussexes' biographer claimed that Prince Harry only wants to speak positively about his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in his memoir.
Prince Harry “really wants to celebrate her life and his relationship with her in that book,” said Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie, speaking on the Royally Obsessed podcast.
“Harry really is going out of his way to make sure that there isn't material in there [the book] that can be seen as negative towards the Queen or her reign in any way whatsoever… I think as much as the press want this to be a burn book and an attack on the institution, this is more just about his story… I think for people expecting that warts and all moment, it's not going to happen.”
For his book, Prince Harry is collaborating with Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter JR Moehringer to produce what his publishers have touted as a “definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him.”