Queen Camilla’s popularity among the public has gone from zero to 100. Years ago, she became the ‘evil’ person who many blamed for King Charles and Princess Diana’s failed marriage. As she and Charles began dating—and later married—after the princess’ tragic death in Paris in 1997, many had problems accepting her entrance into the royal family.
Prince William & Prince Harry’s relationship with Queen Camilla
The press mistreated Camilla. However, the bond between her and Charles conquered it all. On April 9, 2005, the couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall. It wasn’t only the press and members of the public who had a hard time accepting Camilla. Queen Elizabeth was also one of them, but perhaps foremost were the two young princes, William and Harry.
With Princess Diana’s passing, the brothers were left without a loving mother who had always made sure to raise them just like normal children. They got a stepmother in Camilla, though she and Harry clashed. Harry recalled his first meeting with Camilla as “awkward and tense.” In Spare, he wrote that William had “long harbored suspicions about the Other Woman.” In an interview with 60 Minutes, Harry revealed that he and his brother, Prince William, even had asked their father, King Charles, not to marry Camilla. But in the end, they changed their minds.
“We didn’t think it was necessary, we thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person. That – surely that’s enough,” Harry told 60 Minutes. “We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her.”
Camilla was “decidedly anxious” before first meeting with Prince William
Prince Harry’s first meeting with Camilla wasn’t a success, but things were different when she was introduced to Prince William.
At the time, William was at his Eton school and had informed Charles that he’d be heading back to York House in London for the weekend.
In her book Queen Consort: The Life of Queen Camilla, royal author Penny Junor claimed William’s sudden arrival caught his father off guard – and Camilla wasn’t feeling great about the meeting. She even offered to leave before the young prince’s arrival, but King Charles dismissed it as “ridiculous.”
Instead, he told his son that Camilla would be there when he arrived, and Camilla was “decidedly anxious.”
King Charles let Camilla know that William had arrived and suggested to “get on with it.” The former Parker Bowles and the young prince spent about 30 minutes getting to know each other, and afterward, Camilla created by saying, “I need a gin and tonic.”
Following their introduction, Camilla said, “I need a gin and tonic.” It was a successful first meeting, and Camilla described him as “friendly.”
“She never tried to be mummy”
Prince William and Prince Harry lived at Highgrove House with their mother all their childhood. When she passed away, Charles decided to move the family to York House, which, according to Penny Junor, sadly meant they had “no memories for them of their mother.”
It didn’t take long before the royal PR machinery was put in place for William, Harry, and Camilla, as the next step was for them to be seen publicly by who would become their stepmother. In Queen Consort: The Life of Queen Camilla, PR expert PR expert Mark Bolland told Junor that it was “something awkward” initially.
“It was difficult for them; it was a natural thing. You want your mum, you don’t want her, and she had her own family. To be fair to Camilla, she never tried to be mummy, but she was the ‘other woman,’ and she was there taking daddy’s time,” Bolland said.
Today, Prince William and Queen Camilla seem to have a great relationship, and the same goes for her and Kate Middleton.
Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton have been seen as great partners for many years. Before her wedding to William, the now-queen brought Kate to lunch, where Camilla is said to have given Kate some advice for what was to come.
“If I can give you one bit of advice,” a person dining next to them,” he overheard Queen Camilla saying.
“They were all getting on very well and they clearly hadn’t asked for an out-of-the-way table and nor did they attempt to lower their voices,” the person told the Daily Mail.
“There was one moment which was clearly meant to be amusing when Kate said, ‘What happens if William doesn’t turn up?’”
Queen Camilla told Kate Middleton “the secret of hanging on to a busy prince”
The person at the lunch added that there were several “hand-holding” occasions, a sign that Kate and Camilla were getting along very well.
Camilla is said to have given Kate Middleton a very personal gift for the wedding present: a bracelet with the engraved letters Cs on either side of the charm. It’s not a wild guess that they stand for “Catherine” and “Camilla.”
As per Yahoo, Kate has worn it for several years when appearing at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
While Camilla and Kate might have gotten – and are getting – along well, author Robert Lacey stated in his royal biography, Battle of Brothers, that the Princess of Wales struggled to take advice from her stepmother-in-law.
Camilla wanted to ensure that Kate knew what she had to do to make her marriage with William work. It was a subtle warning to Kate and a guide regarding how she’d make a successful royal career with her future husband, William.
“Camilla had confided to Kate the secret of hanging on to a busy prince: fit your timetable – well, basically your whole life – around his,” Lacey wrote in Battle of Brothers.
Even though Prince William and Kate Middleton are indeed the future king and queen, that’s not the case today. Queen Camilla is higher in the hierarchy than both the Prince and Princess of Wales, and therefore, they have to make sure to give her the respect she is entitled to.
Queen Camilla’s ‘subtle’ trick when William and Kate was ‘disrespectful’ to King Charles
Being a stepmother could mean Camilla has difficulty being strict with William, but it appears she has clarified that she won’t accept certain things.
In his new book Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography, author Robert Jobson claims that Queen Camilla often subdues William to remind him of the royal hierarchy when she feels he isn’t respecting his father. Once, she wasn’t content with just telling them, and she acted in quite a special way to remind both William and Kate who was in charge.
Jobson revealed the moment in his book when the Prince and Princess of Wales asked to join King Charles and Queen Camilla’s security convoy from Windsor Castle. However, William and Kate were late, leaving them waiting.
“When Charles was kept waiting several minutes for the couple, Camilla insisted they go without them. As William and Catherine emerged, all they could see were the blue flashing lights of the motorbikes disappearing in the distance,” Jobson wrote in Catherine, The Princess of Wales: The Biography.
While Camilla and William’s relationship has had its ups and downs, just like any other, today, they have put on a brave face and faced a difficult time together.
When King Charles and Kate Middleton earlier this year received their cancer diagnoses, Camilla and William found themselves in a very challenging situation.
Cancer diagnoses have brought Queen Camilla & Prince William “much closer,” expert claims
They stepped up as partners and working royal family members, and according to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, this has brought Camilla and William “much closer.”
“They have been left, almost literally, nursing the crown while the King and the Princess recover,” Bond told OK!, per the Mirror.
“When the late Queen died, William spoke of how she had been at his side at ‘the happiest moments’ and ‘saddest days of his life’. Now, Camilla is sharing some of those times with him and it must surely cement their relationship.”
Jennie Bond added, “There are so very few people that a senior royal can trust absolutely… and Camilla must now be one of that number for William. And I’m sure it is a two-way street with William offering moral support to Camilla as well.”
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