>
A leading royal expert has questioned why Prince Harry was so opposed to his father King Charles’ marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Award-winning journalist and author Robert Jobson says the Duke of Sussex’s description of Camilla as an ‘evil stepmother’ seems ‘odd’ considering he was a grown man at the time, not a child.
Jobson told the Australian breakfast show Dawn that Harry’s feelings before the April 2005 ceremony were not befitting a “nearly 21-year-old” man.
A leading royal expert has questioned why Prince Harry was so opposed to his father King Charles’ marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles. (Charles, Camilla and Prince Harry are shown in July 2005, three months after the now King and Queen Consort were married.)
Harry was 20 years old when Charles married Camilla in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall in Berkshire, England. His first marriage, to the late Princess Diana, took place in July 1981 and ended in divorce in 1996.
In his next memoir, Spare, Harry says that he and his brother William, Prince of Wales, “begged” their father not to marry his long-time lover, fearing that she was his “wicked stepmother”.
Charles had tried to win over his children before asking the public to accept Camilla, the book claims. Harry then shockingly says that meeting the soon-to-be queen consort for the first time was like enduring a “shot.”
He later says that ultimately he and William approved of Camilla.
Award-winning journalist Robert Jobson says the Duke of Sussex’s description of Camilla as an “evil stepmother” seems “odd” considering he was a grown man at the time, not a child. (Harry appears on vacation in Switzerland in April 2005, a week before Charles married Camilla)
In his memoir, Spare, Harry says that he and his brother William, Prince of Wales, “begged” their father not to marry his long-time lover, fearing that she was his “wicked stepmother”. (The two princes appear at Carlos and Camila’s wedding on April 9, 2005)
Speaking to presenter Monique Wright, Jobson said last week: “Her attacks on Camilla where she says she didn’t want an evil stepmother – she was almost 21 when they got married.”
“So I think it’s kind of weird to start getting into these things.”
Harry’s account of his emotions before Charles and Camilla’s wedding seems to conflict with the quotes he gave to the press shortly after the wedding.
“She’s always been very close to William and me…She’s not the evil stepmother,” he said at the time, according to People.
She is a wonderful woman and she has made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing.
Jobson (pictured) said: “Her attacks on Camilla where she says she didn’t want an evil stepmother – she was almost 21 when they got married so I think that’s all a bit strange.”
Prince Harry will speak about his memoir in television interviews on Sunday after the book’s explosive revelations about royal breakups, sex and drugs cast doubt on his future in the British royal family.
The Spare book, written by the 38-year-old prince’s ghosts, was widely leaked after it mistakenly went on sale in Spain ahead of its official publication date on Tuesday.
The details include an allegation that his brother Prince William, the heir to the throne, attacked him during a dispute over his wife Meghan; an account of how he lost his virginity; an admission of drug use; and a claim that he killed 25 people while serving in Afghanistan.
According to various reports, the book has deeply hurt William and the children’s father, King Charles III, but the monarch wants to reconcile with his son. The palace has not officially reacted.
Harry’s account of his emotions before the wedding of Charles and Camilla (pictured) seems to conflict with the quotes he gave to the press after the nuptials. “She’s always been very close to William and me…She’s not the evil stepmother,” she said at the time, according to People.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declined to comment on the scandal in an interview with the BBC, stressing his “enormous respect for the royal family.”
TV networks have already released clips of interviews where Harry discusses his troubled relationship with William and accuses his family of publishing negative stories about him and Meghan in the media.
Harry: The Interview will first air in the UK at 9pm (GMT) on Sunday.
In the latest clip released by ITV, Harry revealed that he “cried once” after his mother Diana was killed and said he felt guilty for not being able to express his grief as he waved to the crowd of mourners whose hands were drenched in tears.
In earlier clips, he focused on his combative relationship with William, saying his older brother physically attacked him while they were discussing Meghan, and “I saw this red mist on him.”
“I want reconciliation, but first there has to be accountability,” Harry said.
Prince Harry will speak about his memoir in television interviews on Sunday after the book’s explosive revelations about royal breakups, sex and drugs cast doubt on his future in the British royal family.
Sources close to William and Charles commented to British newspapers on Sunday.
The Sunday Times quoted an unnamed friend of the brothers as saying William “won’t retaliate, he never would” but “is anxious and saddened.”
“He’s handling it very well on the outside, on the inside he’s on fire,” the source said.
Another anonymous friend told the newspaper that William “is staunchly protective of his own family, and he’s not going to back down.”
However, the Sunday Telegraph quoted sources close to Charles as saying the king saw a reconciliation with Harry as the “only way out of this mess”.
The author of a biography of Charles, Catherine Mayer, told The Guardian that royal disputes were not trivial and could undermine the institution.
Excerpts from Harry’s memoir Spare were published after it accidentally went on sale in Spain. A copy of the book is seen here in a shop in Barcelona
“It’s possible that it’s something that marks the beginning of the end for the monarchy,” Mayer said.
Harry told ITV that he still believes in the monarchy, although he doesn’t know if it will play a role in his future.
She will not have a formal role at Charles’s coronation this year, which she is reportedly expected to attend.
In “a major break with tradition, Charles has scrapped the act of royal dukes taking a knee to “pay homage” and “William will be the only royal to perform the tradition.”
US channel CBS will broadcast his interview with Harry on 60 Minutes on Sunday. Another US network, ABC, is scheduled to broadcast his interview on Monday.
The interviews were recorded before Harry’s book was widely leaked on Thursday, prompting backlash from the media, royal commentators, military veterans and even the Taliban.
British newspapers have criticized Harry’s claim to have killed 25 people while serving in the army in Afghanistan, after veterans criticized such claims as risky and inappropriate.
A Taliban official condemned Harry for saying the killings felt like removing chess pieces from a board.