Omid Scobie’s Endgame book: How Camilla went from royal mistress to queen

She’s the woman who “destroyed their family and tormented their mother”. Now a new book, Endgame, delves further into Harry and William’s complex relationship with Queen Camilla.

It took a lot of “backstage manoeuvring” and “PR gurus” to get Camilla from a vilified royal mistress to a queen — and her long game is finally over, says royal author.

In his explosive book Endgame, journalist Omid Scobie reveals exactly how the Queen of Consort went from being “the other woman” to the “woman who waited”.

Camilla was known to the British public as Charles’ mistress – the other woman Princess Diana was referring to when she famously said there were “three of us in this marriage” during her bombshell 1995 “Panorama” interview.

Scobie says despite Camilla facing harsh criticism when news of their affair first came to light, she learnt to “never complain, never explain.”

Queen Camilla arrives for a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace. Picture: AFP

Charles and Camilla on Coronation day. Picture: AFP

And while the Palace wasted no time in initiating an “image-rebuilding effort for Charles”, Camilla was left to manage on her own, despite becoming the most hated woman in Britain.

Scobie says Camilla proved her resilience when she privately withstood her mother’s death from crippling osteoporosis and Charles’s disastrous TV interview in 1994, where he publicly confirmed he cheated on Diana.

Her “stability and endurance” was recognised by those close to her in the orbit of the Palace, and she never rushed to air her grievances or correct the record, no matter how vicious the rumours were.

“The duchess is resilient … down to earth,” Camilla’s communications secretary Julian Payne, told Scobie previously.

Even when Camilla finally married Charles in 2005, Queen Elizabeth II announced that her new daughter-in-law would be known as “Princess Consort” when Charles ascended the throne.

Later, months before Elizabeth’s death in 2022, she announced that Camilla would be “Queen Consort” when the time came. However, for both William and Harry, the brothers struggled in the early years of their “family’s new norm”.

A source tells Scobie: “Here was a woman who had destroyed their family and tormented their mother, now having the time of her life. In those early days, they were angry with her.”

Her relationship with the boys is “more respectful and professional, rather than loving and familial,” a family friend says.

Both William and Harry struggled for a long time to reconcile with the fact their mother had died. Picture: AFP

However, it’s claimed Harry sees Camilla as just as much as the victim of the “inner workings of a cold institution” as any of his other family members.

“She had a reputation, or an image, to rehabilitate,” Harry has said previously.

Even today there is no animosity from Harry’s side, Scobie claims.

A source close to Harry, who has said he doesn’t consider Camilla an “evil stepmother”, called their relationship “respectful … and kept at a safe distance.”

Although Scobie says of Camilla, she doesn’t see it quite the same.

“To say she wasn’t hurt by what he wrote (in Spare) would not be the truth,” a royal source says. “But she won’t retaliate.”

But the “rehabilitation” of the mistress could be called a success, Scobie says – the prize charm is also how she won over the majority of the royal press pack.

Endgame is an explosive new book from Omid Scobie. Picture: Harper Collins

Author Omid Scobie. Picture: Supplied

“While most senior royals tend to largely ignore the gaggle of reporters and photographers at engagements, Camilla is always the first (and often the only) to say hello and give a wink,” Scobie says.

Camilla has also proven she’s passionate about charity works beyond ribbon cutting – including raising awareness on osteoporosis and highlighting domestic abuse.

And despite her age, she carries out more engagements than most royals, including Prince and Princess of Wales.

“To be around her you would never think she is Queen,” a royal source tells Scobie.

“She’s still the same as she was years ago, friendly with everyone, always up for a natter.”

Scobie says it was never Camilla’s wish to sit on the throne, contrary to public opinion. Sources he has spoken to over the years say she has simply accepted that the role comes with the territory of being with the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival by Omid Scobie, published by HQ, is on sale November 29. Available at Booktopia

Originally published as Omid Scobie’s Endgame book: How Camilla went from royal mistress to queen