Camilla Parker Bowles is the wife of Prince Charles, which makes her the stepmother to
his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. After tumultuous beginnings, Camilla and Charles finally
seem to have settled down. But does the Duchess of Cornwall get along with William and Harry?
The affair between Charles and Camilla was well documented, which likely made it difficult for
William and Harry to escape it. Princess Diana was well aware of the relationship,
and she and Charles reportedly had huge fights about it at home,
presumably while the boys were there, according to the Daily Mail.
Royal author Penny Junor revealed that while it's not entirely clear how early Harry learned
about the relationship between Camilla and Charles, William knew who Camilla was,
and understood just how his mother felt about her. Diana even allegedly had a specific nickname for
Camilla that she reportedly used in front of William. As Junor explained to the Daily Mail,
"Indeed, Camilla's name was never far from Diana's lips — she called
her 'the Rottweiler' — and the epithet was frequently accompanied by vitriol or tears."
Charles' extramarital relationship with Camilla undoubtedly had an impact on the young royals.
Princess Diana's death in 1997 changed a lot for the royal family. For starters, her tragic
passing was completely unexpected. Diana was in Paris, France, with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed,
when the vehicle they were in crashed. No one in the car was wearing a seatbelt, and Dodi
and the car's driver died on impact. Princess Diana suffered extensive internal injuries,
and was reportedly declared dead just a few hours after the crash occurred.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana had finalized their divorce a year before she died,
and he'd made the decision to tell Prince William and Prince Harry about his revived
relationship with Camilla two months before Diana's passing, according to the Daily Mail.
William was reportedly hesitant about the pairing.
After their mother died, it appears that the idea of introducing his sons
to Camilla was completely put on pause. In fact, Prince Charles wouldn't broach
the topic again until nearly a year later, according to The Guardian.
Nearly a year after Princess Diana's death, William and Camilla met.
According to The Guardian, the half-hour meeting at St. James' Palace wasn't planned,
and William is said to have decided to stop by the palace to see his father
without knowing that Camilla would be there. A spokesperson for Prince Charles
confirmed the news and implored the media to avoid fixating on the topic, saying,
"Meetings between the children and Mrs. Parker Bowles are a private family matter,
which we are not prepared to discuss,
and we hope for their sakes, the media will now leave this very personal matter alone."
As reported by the Irish Times, after the 30-minute chat, Camilla reportedly uttered,
"I need a gin and tonic."
As Prince William's meeting with Camilla wasn't planned, it seems that Charles wanted
to be careful about when and where his new partner was introduced to his youngest son.
In fact, it seems that the chance encounter between William and Camilla sped things up.
Harry met Camilla a few weeks after his brother did when the pair were joined by her children,
Tom and Laura, for tea. Further details of the meeting between Camilla and Harry have
never been revealed, but in her book, "Harry: Conversations with the Prince,"
royal author Angela Levin noted that Harry was happy to defend Camilla, explaining,
"To be honest, she's always been very close to me and William. She's not a wicked stepmother."
Camilla Parker Bowles really took her time getting to know Prince William and Prince Harry,
which is evident in how the two men have spoken about her over the years. The two boys
were in charge of arranging a 50th birthday party for Prince Charles in November 1998,
and they reportedly encouraged Camilla to sit next to their father
at the event. When the foursome spent time together, they made a point of staying at
York House instead of Highgrove, as the latter was a home that Princess Diana had lived in as well.
A few months later, Charles and Camilla made things official
when they were photographed at a friend's 50th birthday party, according to the BBC.
In "Harry: Conversations with the Prince," Harry commented,
"Don't feel sorry for me and William, feel sorry for her [...] She's [a] wonderful
woman and she's made our father very, very happy which is the most important thing."
While Prince Harry and Prince William have each commented positively about Camilla Parker Bowles
to the press, they've avoided discussing their mother's opinion of the Duchess of Cornwall.
And when it comes to their stepmother, the two have said next to nothing on a public platform.
Perhaps that is partly due to how they found out about her. In 1995, Princess Diana explained in
a BBC interview that William asked her why her marriage to his father had failed. She revealed,
"William asked me what had been going on, and could I answer his questions,
which I did. [...] And I said, well, there were three of us in this marriage, and the
pressure of the media was another factor, so the two together were very difficult."
Royal watchers are also curious as to whether Camilla could be stripped of her royal titles when
Prince William ascends the throne. Traditionally, Camilla would be named the Queen Mother when her
husband's son becomes king, but it's currently unclear if the prince would allow that to happen.
In May 2021, Prince William curiously put himself in the spotlight when he attacked Princess Diana's
infamous 1995 interview with the BBC, which was allegedly arranged after the interviewer had lied
to Diana, as an internal investigation discovered. William sent out a video message in which he said,
"The interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship
worse and has since hurt countless others."
"It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained greatly influenced
what my mother said."
As many followers pointed out, what most people believe led to the end of Prince
Charles and Princess Diana's marriage wasn't that interview but rather the relationship between
William's father and Camilla herself. For a lot of fans, William's comment was a little too much.
As one Twitter user pointed out, Diana herself was the one who implied Camilla was the problem.
"Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Still, even if he sees the reason for his parents' divorce differently than the public,
it's clear that Prince William has a strong bond with his stepmother, regardless of the past.
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles made things official in 2005 when they tied the knot.
And in 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton got married in a fairytale wedding.
As such, Camilla witnessed much of William's on-again, off-again relationship with Kate.
In fact, it turns out that there were plenty of rumors circulating
that indicated Camilla encouraged William to reconsider the marriage altogether.
As royal author Christopher Andersen wrote in "Game of Crowns," Camilla reportedly looked down
upon Kate Middleton's more humble beginnings. The author alleged that Camilla considered Kate
"too lowly" to become part of the family, and reportedly described her as "pretty,
but rather dim." Andersen went on to assert that one reason for the alleged discord might have been
because Camilla was jealous of the attention Kate and William received from the public.
However, by the time William and Kate were getting married, the past had been buried.
Camilla reportedly showed her support of Kate, and by extension William, by gifting her a
special piece of jewelry and treating her to a pre-wedding lunch. It's clear that, when things
got really serious, Camilla was more than happy to show William how much she liked Kate after all.
When it comes to Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, it seems like things were pretty
straight-forward and easy between her and Camilla Parker Bowles at first. As Vanity Fair pointed out
back in 2018, the two women have a lot in common. They both joined the royal family as outsiders,
which is said to have easily endeared them to one another, with a source telling the publication,
"Camilla goes out of her way to find time to spend with Meghan,
to get to know her and make her feel welcome. She's the ideal mother-in-law."
Having his then-future wife accepted into the family with ease likely also boosted Harry's
spirits. In fact, Meghan and Harry were set to attend an official royal engagement with
Camilla at their side in 2019, per Vanity Fair, until the Duchess of Cornwall sadly
had to pull out due to illness. Camilla was also said to have been a great source of wisdom
for both Harry and Meghan as they battled tabloid reports and rumors. As many recall,
Camilla had also been hounded by many of the same publications.
Unfortunately, things may have shifted between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle,
and Camilla Parker Bowles after Harry and Meghan's separation from the rest of the royal family.
The Mail on Sunday reported that, even though Camilla invited Meghan out to a private lunch
ahead of her 2018 wedding to Harry to talk about what it's like coming into the royal family,
the Duchess of Cornwall reportedly felt like the Sussexes decided not to listen to her advice.
Sources also alleged that Camilla was frustrated
with the pair over how she felt they had been treating Prince Charles.
A person close to the family revealed that the interviews Harry and Meghan conducted in 2021
may have permanently damaged the relationship they shared with Camilla, telling The Telegraph,
"I don't think the Duchess will ever
forgive Meghan for what she's done to the Prince of Wales."
It's certainly a tough spot for the family to be in, particularly as,
not so long ago, they were close enough to vacation together.
One can only hope that time will heal the wounds that might exist within the family.
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