In his memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex has provided fans with a new perspective on his relationship with his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla.
In the book, Prince Harry is open and honest about the first time he met Camilla in person after she and his father, King Charles, made their relationship known after Princess Diana’s tragic passing in 1997. In reference to Charles and Camilla’s affair while he was married to Diana, he referred to the Queen Consort as “the Other Woman,” but he added that she wasn’t “like all the wicked stepmothers in storybooks.”
The Duke claimed that before Harry’s turn, William had been called from Eton for a “high stakes private meeting.” So what did he think at first? No big deal, I reassured myself. similar to receiving an injection. Keep your eyes closed; the time will pass quickly.
I vaguely remember Camilla being equally relaxed (or bored) as I was. Neither of us worried too much about what the other thought. I wasn’t her biggest challenge, and she wasn’t my mother. I wasn’t the Heir, to put it another way. This interaction with me was merely formal, he claimed.
He continued, saying he couldn’t remember their conversation but assumed it was probably about their shared love of horses. Overall, he was “truly grateful” for her kindness because he wanted his father to be content.
“Yes, Camilla had been crucial in the breakdown of our parents’ marriage, and yes, that meant she had been involved in our mother’s disappearance, but we knew that she had been caught up in the riptide of events like everyone else. We didn’t hold her responsible, and in fact, if it meant that Pa would be happy, we’d be happy to forgive her,” Harry said.
The Duke also expressed his opinion that Camilla was “dangerous” in her efforts to improve her reputation and said he didn’t think Charles and Camilla’s wedding on April 9, 2005, was necessary given the resurgence of interest in their romance it sparked.
The couple was first seen together in a photograph in 1999, and in February 2005 they announced their engagement. A blessing service was held at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle two months after their civil wedding took place at Windsor’s Guildhall.
