People Magazine’s cover this week is all about the Princess of Wales’s big return, the first real sighting of Kate in nearly six months. Us Weekly’s cover story went in a different direction – King Charles and Prince Harry’s royal beef covers this week’s issue. Granted, this was probably written before Kate’s appearance… but still. It shows you that even when the story is supposed to be all about Kate’s canonization, the bigger story is still Prince Harry and Meghan. Us Weekly’s story is mostly about how Queen Camilla is trying to convince King Charles to never speak to Harry again. Which I believe, honestly. Some highlights:
Camilla is whispering in the king’s ear: Behind the scenes, she’s Charles’ fiercest ally — and a deeply influential one, especially when it comes to Charles’ strained relationship with his younger son, Prince Harry. According to sources, Camilla, 76, has been imploring Charles, 75, to keep his distance from Harry — and it’s putting the king in a difficult position. “Camilla dislikes Harry and doesn’t want Charles to get stressed while he’s undergoing treatment, so she tries to limit interaction,” says a source. Charles, meanwhile, “is holding out hope of salvaging their relationship but is hugely conflicted because Harry has hurt William and Camilla so much.” It’s not a one-sided situation, notes an insider: “Harry has also been hurt.”
Why Harry & William hate Camilla: Royal expert and The King: The Life of Charles III author Christopher Andersen tells Us both Harry and William “have always resented Camilla,” adding, “They pleaded with their father not to marry her and only grudgingly agreed to go along with the charade if Charles kept his promise not to make her queen. That title would have gone to Diana if Camilla hadn’t broken up their parents’ marriage. When Charles broke that promise, William and Harry felt betrayed.”
William is important too! Behind Camilla, William, 41 — who’s been preoccupied caring for his wife, Princess Kate, 42, as she battles cancer — is the second most important person in Charles’ life. “Camilla and William are the people he relies on most,” says Andersen. In May, Charles appeared to choose sides when Buckingham Palace announced that William would be made colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps — despite Harry serving with the unit in Afghanistan. According to the first source, “Even those close to Charles and Camilla felt it was very pointed that Charles did the military handover to Wills that Harry should have had.”
Sources say things between William and Harry are still fraught. “After the couple’s press interviews, William and Kate couldn’t believe or understand how Harry and Meghan expect to make up with them,” says the second source, noting that Kate’s been forced to take the high road. “She can’t respond — it’s a monarchy rule not to.”
The conversations about “how dark” Archie would be: “Kate was 100 percent not one of the people who discussed it; it was Charles and Camilla,” the second source previously told Us. “Kate was sad she got pulled into it because she had nothing to do with it.” William will never forgive Harry for airing the royals dirty laundry. “There’s no way back for Harry and Wills,” the first source says. “He’s angry with Harry after what he said about Kate.”
Camilla is behind Charles freezing out Harry in May: Andersen says he “sees the fine hand of Camilla” behind the freeze-out. “She’s focused on her husband’s health, and injecting Harry into the equation will only cause more turmoil,” he says, adding that Charles’ avoidance of Harry “does seem a little callous … the late Queen Elizabeth said she wanted Harry to be considered part of the family, always.”
Charles wants to see his grandkids: “It’s left a massive hole in his heart that he’s only spent a few fleeting days with them and then video calls on important days,” the third source says, noting that Charles is close with William’s three children (Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6). “He longs for the same relationship with his American grandkids.” The insider explains that the main reason Archie and Lilibet can’t spend time in the U.K. is because of security issues and due to Harry and Meghan not having a permanent residence there. Notes the insider, “If the king wanted to see them so badly, he could make it easier to do so.”
Charles is so weak: Things remain complicated, for now. “Charles harbors a lot of anger towards Harry. He’s always been very protective of Camilla,” the third source adds. “It’s not easy for him to forgive people who have scorned her.”
My take is that multiple things are true at once. Camilla is absolutely the driving force behind the more recent palace moves against Harry, but I think Charles is happy that Camilla is getting the blame here. Charles is weak, but he goes along willingly with Camilla’s plots and schemes. He’s not actually torn up about any of this – his open smearing and gaslighting of Harry showed us exactly who he is and how little he actually cares about his younger son. Anyway, I’m glad that everyone is agreement – Charles and Camilla don’t want anything to do with Harry, and Harry lives with his family in California because his father is awful.
Cover courtesy of Us Weekly, additional photos courtesy of Cover Images.