Queen Camille is ‘firmly on Team Kate’ amidst Prince Harry and the return of Meghan Markle and is urging the king to set “clear boundaries” with the Sussexes, royal expert Andrew Lownie said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex came in Birmingham this week for what is expected to be an ‘extended stay’ in Britain, where their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are enrolled in school.
Even though it is suggested the King only knew of their plans three days before the news broke, Mr Lownie backed the theory of an establishment “plot” to bring the Sussexes back home after Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals and moved to the United States in 2020.
“The King and Prince of Wales have long known of the Sussexes’ plan to return to Britain, but it suited them to keep their distance while public opinion is tested,” Mr Lownie told this newspaper.
He added that Waleses are “concerned” that Prince Harry and Meghan, who will live in a non-royal residence outside the city, Londonaiming for the ‘half-in, half-out’ roles they initially abandoned Royal family about.
While their arrival threatens the possibility of ‘two competing courts’, Lownie says there is little doubt about where the Queen’s loyalties lie.
‘The Queen, who is very close to Kate, has reinforced the King’s determination to set clear boundaries [Harry and Meghan]’ he claimed.
“There remains considerable disagreement within the family over the way the King has handled the Sussex problem, on top of the ‘too little, too late’ strategy for the disgraced former Prince Andrew and his family.”
Queen Camilla stands ‘firmly behind Team Kate’ amid Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return and urges the king to set ‘clear boundaries’, royal expert Andrew Lownie has said
The historian claimed that Camilla wants the king to ‘set clear boundaries’ with the Sussexes. They are pictured here at Royal Ascot in 2018
The Daily Mail has contacted Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace for comment.
Perhaps Camilla’s stance isn’t surprising, given Harry’s “very unflattering” portrayal of her in Spare and in subsequent interviews promoting his ghostwritten memoir, which was leaked in January 2023.
The crux of Harry’s allegations were that Camilla had embarked on a “dangerous” campaign to “rehabilitate her image” in the wake of her affair with the then Prince of Wales.
He described a “long-term strategy” to become Queen Consort, “swapping stories” with the press to boost her public image.
“Soon after our private meetings with her, she began to develop her long-term strategy, a campaign focused on marriage and, in time, the Crown (with our father’s blessing, we assumed),” the Duke wrote.
‘News reports appeared in all the newspapers about her conversations with Willy, stories in which many small details were told, and which of course did not come from my brother.’
When Anderson Cooper, host of Columbia Broadcasting System News’ 60 Minutes, criticized Harry over his “unflattering portrayal” of the Queen Consort, the Duke doubled down on claims that Camilla needed to “rehabilitate her image” after Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir.
Princess Diana’s interview with former BBC journalist Martin Bashir in 1995 was the first time she publicly addressed claims that Charles and Camilla had had an affair during her marriage to the then Prince of Wales.
At the time, she sensationally told Bashir, “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Prince Harry greets Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, during a thanksgiving service for his godfather Gerald Ward at St Mary’s Church, Chiltern Foliat on October 3, 2008 in Hungerford
When CBS News’ Anderson Cooper criticized Harry over his “unflattering portrayal” of the Queen Consort in Spare, the Duke doubled down on claims that Camilla was trying to “rehabilitate her image.”
Speaking to Cooper, Harry accused his stepmother of ‘exchanging information’ with the press in an attempt to get more positive stories written about himself, before sensationally suggesting her ‘connections’ with the media would end with ‘people or bodies being left on the streets’.
‘[Her need to rehabilitate her image] made her dangerous because of the connections she was forging within the British press,” he told Cooper.
‘And there was an open willingness on both sides to exchange information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on her way to becoming queen consort, that would leave people or bodies on the streets.”
When asked how his relationship with Camilla stands today, Harry admitted that they “haven’t spoken for a long time,” but added that he “loves every member of his family” and that when he and the Queen Consort “see each other, we are very nice.”
When they were finally reunited at Highgrove House last month, insiders told the Daily Mail the mood was ‘civil without recrimination’.
Queen Camilla joined Charles as they hosted the Sussexes, including their grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, for tea at the monarch’s Gloucestershire residence, while the Prince and Princess of Wales opted to skip the reunion in favor of a charity polo match.
But Harry should not yet mistake the Queen’s “steady smile” for forgiveness, Mr Lownie claimed.
The author suggested that Camilla has grown “very close to Kate” in the years since Megxit, while remaining wary of the king’s youngest son and his wife.
Mr Lownie suggested that Camilla has grown “very close to Kate” in the years since Megxit, as he remains wary of the king’s youngest son and his wife.
The pair put on a united front on Remembrance Sunday last year, with a body language expert telling the Daily Mail they shared a “warm conversation” while watching the service at the Cenotaph.
Speaking about Camilla and Kate’s heartwarming moment, communications coach Judi James told the Daily Mail how the pair supported each other during the solemn event.
“There was an exchange of what seemed like a warm conversation between the current and future queens here, with Camilla’s rather playful smile and side eye making Kate beam back at her,” she explained.
Camilla has not only grown closer to Kate in recent years, but also appears to share a warm relationship with the princess’s family – including her mother Carole Middleton.
They have been spotted together many times this summer – including watching the Cheltenham races when Carole, 71, threw her arms around Princess Anne as she chatted to Camilla in the Royal Box.
Commenting on Camilla’s affection for Kate amid drawing lines over Harry’s homecoming, Mr Lownie said: ‘Team Wales includes the Queen, who is very close to Kate and has strengthened the King’s determination to set clear boundaries for the Sussexes.
“There remains considerable disagreement within the family over the way the King has handled the Sussex problem, on top of the ‘too little, too late’ strategy towards the former Prince Andrew and his family.”
The historian, whose most recent book explored the ‘rise and fall of the House of York’ in the wake of the Epstein scandal, added that The Firm is currently adopting a ‘wait and see’ strategy when it comes to the Sussexes.
Kate leaned on Camilla as she returned to Royal Ascot this year after cancer treatment
They will try to gauge the “audience’s reaction, to see if you can trust the Sussexes not to betray confidences,” as they did with Spare, their incendiary Netflix docuseries and their interview with Oprah Winfrey.
It could explain why the Welsh have not commented on the latest twist to the Megxit saga, after Harry and Meghan landed at Birmingham airport earlier this week before being taken to their new home – which was widely speculated to be in the Cotswolds.
“The Waleses do not feel the need to respond at this time, but they are concerned that the strategy has given Harry what he originally wanted: ‘half in, half out’ and that there is a danger of two competing courts and scope for shame and domination,” Mr Lownie said.
‘It is a repeat of the behavior of the Duke of Windsor when he saw an opportunity to return to Britain after the war with George Vl’s ill health.’
