Prince Harry once pleaded with his father, the now King Charles, not to marry his now wife Camilla. Prince Harry told how he and William perceived Camilla as having played a “pivotal role in the unravelling of our parents’ marriage” in his controversial memoir, Spare. But he also said he recognised how she brought happiness to their dad.
In five words, Harry details how he said to his father, “You don’t need to remarry”. He noted that he and William assured their dad they would accept Camilla into the Royal Family.
He writes in Spare: “The only thing we asked in return was that he not marry her. You don’t need to remarry, we pleaded. A wedding would cause controversy. It would incite the press. It would make the whole country, the whole world, talk about Mummy, compare Mummy and Camilla, and nobody wanted that. Least of all Camilla.”
When Prince Harry first met Camilla as a teenager, their meeting was reportedly uncomfortable and strained. He was merely 13, desperately missing his mother, as reported in the Mirror.
In the book Prince William: Born to be King, a palace insider reveals to royal biographer Penny Junor: “I think the relationship between them all is warm now, but if I’m honest, it wasn’t then. I think they found it hard. To be fair to Camilla, she never tried to be mummy, but she was the ‘other woman’, and she was there and taking daddy’s time.”
According to The Telegraph, the book quotes a courtier as saying: “When the younger boy was eventually prevailed upon to be in the presence of Mrs Parker Bowles, he unnerved her with long silences and smouldering, resentful stares.”
During a conversation marking his 21st birthday in 2005, Harry stated that he and his brother “loved her to bits” and he also openly acknowledged her for making their father “very, very happy”.
The day began with a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005, a departure from traditional royal weddings held in grand cathedrals.
Following the Civil Service, the couple proceeded to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for a Service of Prayer and Dedication. This religious blessing added a layer of solemnity and reconciliation, attended by members of the Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who had not been present at the earlier ceremony.