King Charles' rift with Prince Harry deepens as Queen Camilla refuses to intervene: experts
Queen Camilla is not getting in the middle of a feud between her husband and his estranged son.
As King Charles III and Prince Harry’s relationship continues to be fractured, a source recently told People magazine that the 77-year-old "stays out of it." According to the outlet, Prince William also "remains distant" from his brother, who made his royal exit in 2020.
"Despite this hands-off approach to the feud, Camilla’s stabilizing support is felt in the background as she continues to support King Charles in private," British royals expert Hilary Fordwich claimed to Fox News Digital.
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"Their relationship is one of mutual reliance and comfort, especially as King Charles faces health challenges and endures the emotional toll of the highly publicized family rift," Fordwich shared. "Camilla’s presence reassures King Charles, ensuring he remains composed and confident."
According to the outlet, some royal observers believe the king, 76, should make the first move in reconnecting with his son. But there’s hesitation as many of the royal seniors reportedly don’t trust the 40-year-old and his wife, Meghan Markle.
"Camilla’s strategy of distance and composure in the situation has been received as both dignified and supportive of the monarchy," Fordwich explained.
"[However], her approach doesn’t heal the ongoing family divide. She’s made a rather deliberate choice to keep her distance from the ongoing and highly publicized feud between King Charles and Prince Harry. She’s neither intervened nor taken sides. She remains above the fray, particularly after tensions escalated following Prince Harry’s recent interviews, as well as his whingefest, ‘Spare.’"
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior members in 2020, citing the unbearable intrusions of the British press and a lack of support from the palace.
After their move to California, the couple began to air their grievances in interviews and documentaries. Harry’s 2023 memoir, which detailed embarrassing revelations about the House of Windsor, only worsened tensions with his family.
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In televised interviews to promote the book, Harry accused his stepmother of leaking private conversations to the media to burnish her own reputation. He accused members of the royal family of getting "into bed with the devil" to gain favorable tabloid coverage, singling out Camilla’s efforts to rehabilitate her image with the public after her longtime affair with his father.
"That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press," Harry told CBS. "There was open willingness on both sides to trade information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being queen consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street."
Harry’s rift with his family burst into the open once more with a raw interview he gave to the BBC in May after losing a court case over his security. In a lengthy and at times emotional conversation, Harry expressed his desire for reconciliation. He admitted that his father, who is battling an undisclosed form of cancer, won’t speak to him.
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The allegations about Camilla were particularly sensitive because of her role in the breakdown of Charles’ marriage to Princess Diana, Harry’s mother.
The late Princess of Wales once described Camilla, who had a long-term affair with Charles, as the third person in their marriage. While many members of the public initially shunned Camilla, she has won fans by taking on a wide range of charitable activities and has been credited with helping Charles appear less stuffy and more in tune with modern Britain.
Writing about his father’s 2005 wedding to Camilla, Harry says, "I had complex feelings about gaining a stepparent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar." Still, he says he wanted his father to be happy.
"In a funny way, I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy?"
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Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that Harry’s comments about Camilla were a major blow to the king and likely one of the reasons why he iced his son out.
"It is well known that King Charles can become very upset and hot under the collar," said Pelham Turner. "Certainly, Charles is upset about remarks made… about Camilla. She has used the code of silence on the subject, similar to her own experiences while there were three in the marriage, as stated by Princess Diana."
"Charles can be quite volatile at times when provoked," Pelham Turner claimed. He noted that William’s reported decision to turn his back on Harry is "another hot potato for Camilla."
"She’s wisely stepping back, allowing the in-fighting to proceed," Turner claimed.
Royal experts previously told Fox News Digital that Harry’s relationship with William is nonexistent.
In a 2023 interview with "Good Morning America," Harry said that he hadn’t spoken to Camilla in "a long time."
"I love every member of my family, despite the differences," he clarified. "So when I see her, we're perfectly pleasant with each other. She's my stepmother. I don't look at her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and done everything she can to improve her own reputation and her own image, for her own sake."
"She had a reputation or an image to rehabilitate, and whatever conversations happened, whatever deals or trading was made right at the beginning, she was led to believe that that would be the best way to doing it," he told the outlet.
Fordwich said that from the beginning Camilla "distanced herself emotionally" after the fallout of "Spare."
"Queen Camilla is supportive of King Charles, and these have been extremely difficult times for him as he battles cancer," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. "She won’t have appreciated Harry’s references to her in his memoir and his interviews promoting it. [The revelations] enraged the king to the extent that he evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage, their base in Britain."
"The problems relating to the royal rift weigh on the king as it involves his wayward son," Fitzwilliams claimed. "It has also been bad for the institution of the monarchy… Camilla will unquestionably be loyal but is highly unlikely to get involved in any peacemaking efforts with a couple she obviously cannot trust."
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told People magazine that there has been a desire to reconnect on Charles’s side, but "the underlying issue is trust."
"The king and William don’t trust Harry and Meghan with any kind of confidential conversation," she said.
Insiders told the outlet that William, in particular, "has shown no interest in extending an olive branch."
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard claimed to Fox News Digital that Camilla is continuing to keep her head down as the family rift deepens.
"Camilla is disappointed and sad about Prince Harry’s behavior towards her," Chard claimed. "However, she is a tough cookie, has a strong sense of self and doesn't dwell on negativity. After all, she has received far worse public abuse over the years. She rises above any problems and just gets on with the tasks in hand."
"She is more concerned with supporting her husband with his health challenges and demanding work schedule," Chard shared. "To move forward, Harry needs to… try and build up some trust and dialogue with his family in private. Until then, there are obvious consequences."
"The ball is firmly in Prince Harry’s court," Chard added.