Brutal irony of Prince Harry’s rift with Camilla

When it comes to Harry’s attacks on his family, one person arguably came out as the biggest “villain” – and it’s proven his biggest blunder to date.

Prince Harry's war on Camilla, Queen Consort, has an ironic twist.

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In a cocktail of accusations which included Prince William’s physical violence, King Charles’ penchant for leaking stories and telling lies, and Kate Middleton’s icy, rude attitude, it’s hard to pick which royal was hit the worst by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s public onslaught.

But a strong argument could be made that it was Camilla, Queen Consort who emerged as the real (and in Harry’s own words) “villain” of the tale.

Yep, it’s been a wild ride witnessing Hurricane Sussex unleash its fury on the British monarchy in recent years, culminating in the shocking revelations released within Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docu-series in December and his jaw-droppingly candid memoir just weeks later.

But despite all Harry’s bombshell allegations against his stepmother, and demands for an apology from his father, we’re now just weeks away from witnessing the King and Queen Consort crowned with the world’s eyes on them, and barely a change in their public support.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Sussex is no closer to making amends with his family (royal sources have told the Daily Express there is “no appetite” for reconciliation during the historic event) – and while he’ll be at the actual ceremony, it seems by all accounts he’ll be treated as a third cousin, twice removed.

Harry is expected to make a fly-in-fly-out visit for the coronation. Picture: Belinda Jiao/Getty Images

Ironically, when it comes to Harry’s war on Camilla and public pleas to Charles, it was a fierce personality trait that he shares with his dad that’s ultimately seen his crusade fall flat: the deep protectiveness both men feel toward their partners.

And given how fervently that characteristic has driven Harry’s every move since the day he released an explosive statement in 2016 telling the press to back off from his then-girlfriend of just months – he really should have seen it coming.

But let’s rewind.

Even after Harry and Meghan’s abrupt statement announcing their intention to “step back” from royal duties in 2020, even after their no-holds-barred Oprah Winfrey interview a year later, and even after their Netflix series (in which Harry accused his dad of lying his way through their tense Sandringham Summit) dropped – it seemed Charles was willing to turn the other cheek.

On January 11, that abruptly changed.

Three years after they’d left the Crown Estate-owned Frogmore Cottage and moved to California, Harry and Meghan were swiftly given their eviction notice by the King.

It was the day after Spare had been released – the most damaging grenade Harry had lobbed at his family to date – and came amid a flurry of tell-all publicity interviews.

No royal was spared (sorry), but Camilla was firmly in the firing line.

Among the most brutal of Harry’s attacks on his stepmother was the claim that she had planted stories in the press to make herself look better after marrying Charles in 2005.

“Certain members have got in bed with the devil to rehabilitate their image, but that rehabilitation has come at the detriment of others,” Harry told ITV in January.

Shortly afterwards, he confessed to US program 60 Minutes that he wanted Camilla to be happy so she’d be “less dangerous”.

“She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image,” he told Anderson Cooper.

And, of course, the book itself was no more flattering.

“Shortly after our private meetings with her, she began to develop her long-term strategy, a campaign directed at marriage and … the Crown (with the blessing of our father, we supposed),” Harry wrote in Spare.

“Stories started appearing in all the newspapers about her conversations with Willy, stories which recounted lots of small details, none of which came from my brother.”

To summarise: Yikes.

Harry didn’t hold back about Camilla. Picture: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

And it was this volley of allegations against Camilla that reportedly saw Charles suddenly bite back.

“It was the last straw. Harry was well aware how Camilla would be a red line for his father and he crossed with flagrant disregard anyway,” a source told The Mirror at the time.

“The King felt without a doubt it crossed a line. It was the ultimate act of disrespect.”

Ironically, that precise moment is what should probably have finally seen Charles and Harry see eye-to-eye.

The Duke of Sussex’s explosive path in recent years has, by his own admission, been driven by a deep desire to protect his wife from those who would bring her emotional pain.

Did he ever wonder whether his father may feel exactly the same way about the woman he has been madly in love with for nearly half a century?

For that matter, did he wonder whether his own brother may also be spurred by an identical rush of fury at the person publicly attacking his wife?

Harry’s fiercely protective of his wife. Picture: Netflix

... just like Charles is of Camilla. Picture: Hugo Burnand/Pool/Getty Images

In an unfortunate twist, it seems this is one of the strongest threads binding the three Windsor men: and it will also probably be the final nail in the coffin of Harry’s relationship with his family.

Harry even bluntly outlined what was motivating his public criticisms in an interview with the UK’s Telegraph in January.

“What I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.”

Not since Harry used his interview with Tom Bradby promoting his tell-all royal memoir to demand his family keep their private conversations with him private have we been slapped with such irony.

In just a smattering of days, Camilla will be crowned alongside her devoted husband, King Charles, in a deeply historic ceremony at Westminster Abbey, watched on by millions.

Her son-in-law – once among the most popular members of the royals – will make an extremely brief appearance by himself, where he’ll be seated apart from the key players and hold no official role.

When they all take to Buckingham Palace after the coronation in a show of family unity, Harry – cut from the photo-op as a non-working royal – will likely be already on a plane back to California, almost certainly without his long-sought-after apology from his dad.

In this generation’s royal war, and in the eyes of her husband, Camilla appears to have come out on top … and for the very same reason which ignited all the drama in the first place.

Originally published as Brutal irony of Prince Harry’s rift with Camilla