Prince Harry opened up about his difficult relationship with Queen Camilla in his memoir Spare, revealing the complicated feelings he had about welcoming her into the Royal Family.
The Duke of Sussex suggested that he viewed his stepmother with suspicion, believing she had used him to improve her public image.
“I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar,” Harry wrote. “In a funny way I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy?”
Harry also revealed that he and Prince William supported their father’s desire for companionship, but did not want him to marry Camilla.
“Willy and I agreed that Pa deserved better. Apologies to Teddy [the King’s childhood teddy bear], Pa deserved a proper companion,” he wrote.
“That was why, when asked, Willy and I promised Pa that we’d welcome Camilla into the family. The only thing we asked in return was that he not marry her.”
King Charles and Camilla married in 2005, nearly eight years after the death of Harry and William’s mother, Princess Diana.
Harry stepped back from his role as a senior working royal in 2020 alongside his wife, Meghan Markle. The couple later spoke publicly about their strained relationship with the Royal Family and alleged that concerns had been raised about the skin color of their son, Prince Archie.
Harry and Meghan subsequently settled in California, where they welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet.
