Once the golden boy of the Royal Family, more popular than the heir to the throne William, Prince Harry has become an outsider, sniping at the rest of the family from his California home. Since Harry and his wife Meghan quit the Royal Family in their heavily publicized split, Harry’s claims to the press and in his memoir Spare cast his family into almost Disney villain-level roles.
Pushed to the outside of the family, his own father no longer takes his calls. Harry’s life after stepping down from his senior royalty duties h asn’t gone well, as his and Meghan’s joint brand has withered on the vine. His memoir Spare provides opportunities for critics to attack the embattled prince, as sources close to the family hit back at the outcast royal over his claims.
Spare includes many anecdotes and stories from Harry’s life, but not all of these were well received by his supporting cast, the Royal Family. From allegations of negative comments about Meghan to Harry’s assertion that Camilla was “dangerous,” casting her in the role of the evil queen and wondering whether she’d be a “wicked stepmother,” it’s easy to see why the Royal Family took offense.
Especially since it’s been suggested by other inside royal sources that some of the material just isn’t true. Royal biographer Robert Hardman’s new book, King Charles III, offers unprecedented insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Royal Family, drawing from interviews with friends, family, and hangers-on to tell a different — albeit heavily curated — side of the story.
As with all royal drama, it’s worth remembering that everyone involved has a PR team working on carefully crafted statements, “leaks” of inside information, and an expertly designed narrative to push that often comes at the expense of someone else’s reputation. Even William and Charles’s recent breaks with royal tradition to be more emotionally available should be seen in this light. But speaking in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary, Queen Camilla: The Wicked Stepmother?, one of Queen Camilla’s closest friends and confidantes, Petronella Wyatt, weighs in on Harry’s “incendiary” claims.
Stating that she doesn’t think Harry “realized how incendiary” his memoir was, Wyatt casts the Duke of Sussex as an unwitting blunderer who reacts emotionally, and never “thinks things through.” Describing Camilla as a “once hated outcast,” Wyatt suggests that the tables have turned completely and that it’s now Harry who’s the outcast — in a role of his own making.
It’s hard to disagree with the description, as it’s Harry and Meghan who aren’t invited to the traditional Windsor Christmas, while Camilla enjoys a major upswing in her popularity, but it seems unlikely that Harry’s words come completely out of nowhere.
Blended families are often difficult to manage, and the Royal Family is a particularly difficult one. Given the nature of Diana’s death, the failure of her marriage with King Charles, and the infamous letters between Charles and Camilla, it stands to reason there’s some lingering resentment on Harry’s behalf. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors.
And that’s without being forced by PR considerations, messaging, and a unified public stance to say one thing in public despite what he feels. But when Wyatt says Harry “has to move on from casting Camilla as the wicked stepmother,” perhaps she’s right. It certainly isn’t doing his profile and brand any favors.
