How much we wanna bet that Prince Harry paid for peoples magazine to trash Camila? And didn’t Charles literally just tell Prince Harry and Megan to stop slandering the royal family if they ever want a chance back in?
Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla made for a powerful trio when the top royals attended a national commemorative event to mark the U.K.’s 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Portsmouth, England, on June 5. Camilla — wearing a pale pink Fiona Clare coat dress and matching Philip Treacy beret — got visibly emotional as a war veteran spoke to the crowd at Southsea Common and later stood next to her husband as he gave his first speech since announcing his cancer diagnosis in early February.
Camilla’s been stepping up to the plate in recent months, standing in for Charles at multiple events during the early stages of his health battle and making the rounds with him now that he’s back on his feet. Behind the scenes, she’s Charles’ fiercest ally — and a deeply influential one, especially when it comes to Charles’ strained relationship with his younger son, Prince Harry.
According to sources, Camilla has been imploring Charles to keep his distance from Harry — and it’s putting the king in a difficult position. “Camilla dislikes Harry and doesn’t want Charles to get stressed while he’s undergoing treatment, so she tries to limit interaction,” says a source. Charles, meanwhile, “is holding out hope of salvaging their relationship but is hugely conflicted because Harry has hurt William and Camilla so much.” It’s not a one-sided situation, notes an insider: “Harry has also been hurt.”
Harry and Charles have been estranged since Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle left the royal fold in early 2020. Since then, Harry has made no secret of his feelings for Camilla both in his 2023 memoir, Spare (in which he accused her team of leaking stories to the British press and labeled her “a villain”), and the couple’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan. “When the docuseries came out, Camilla was furious,” says a second source. “Then, when Spare [was released], Camilla was saddened by what was said about her. She was heartbroken and confused.”
Behind Camilla, William, — who’s been preoccupied caring for his wife, Princess Kate as she battles cancer — is the second most important person in Charles’ life. “Camilla and William are the people he relies on most,” says Andersen. In May, Charles appeared to choose sides when Buckingham Palace announced that William would be made colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps — despite Harry serving with the unit in Afghanistan. According to the first source, “Even those close to Charles and Camilla felt it was very pointed that Charles did the military handover to Wills that Harry should have had.”
While Harry and Meghan released a statement wishing Kate “health and healing” following her cancer diagnosis, sources say things between William and Harry are still fraught. “After the couple’s press interviews, William and Kate couldn’t believe or understand how Harry and Meghan expect to make up with them,” says the second source, noting that Kate’s been forced to take the high road. “She can’t respond — it’s a monarchy rule not to.”
Back in March 2021, Harry and Meghan said in a TV interview that there had been “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” their son Archie’s skin color was going to be; in November 2023, a Dutch journalist claimed that the Dutch version of Omid Scobie’s royal tell-all book, Endgame, had named Charles and Kate as the guilty parties. “Kate was 100 percent not one of the people who discussed it; it was Charles and Camilla,” the second source previously told Us. “Kate was sad she got pulled into it because she had nothing to do with it.”
William will never forgive Harry for airing the royals dirty laundry. “There’s no way back for Harry and Wills,” the first source says. “He’s angry with Harry after what he said about Kate.”
Cold Shoulder
With two of Charles’ closest confidants on the outs with Harry, it will be difficult to close the gap between father and son. Harry had offered royal watchers a glimmer of hope about their future during a February GMA interview, in which he talked about visiting his ailing dad in London after Charles’ diagnosis was made public. “I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could,” said Harry, adding that he was “grateful” to spend time with his father. “I think any illness, any sickness, brings families together,” he added. “I see it time and time again, and that makes me very happy.”
