New royals book reveals bond between King Charles and Queen Elizabeth II
A royal expert has shed new light on the health of King Charles as well as his strained relationship with son Prince Harry. WATCH VIDEO
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For decades she has been a royal insider, privy to the secrets and gossip of the goings-on within the walls of Buckingham Palace.
Now, as King Charles continues his battle against cancer, prominent royal author Ingrid Seward has shed new light on the monarch’s approach to his health as well as his strained relationship with son Prince Harry.
In her revealing new book My Mother and I, the editor-in-chief of royal magazine Majesty examines the extraordinary bond between Charles and late Queen Elizabeth II, as well as how the King’s at-times difficult and lonely childhood influenced his own parenting style.
Speaking from London, Seward said she believes the monarch will open up about his health battle and reveal to the public what type of cancer he was diagnosed with when he felt the time was right.
King Charles, she said, would be bravely battling his illness with his signature no-nonsense approach, an attitude that stemmed from a childhood marred by sickness.
As she reveals in My Mother and I, which was written before the King’s cancer diagnosis, Charles was “constantly unwell” as a boy at boarding school and “has no sympathy for “trivial ailments”.
Raised mostly by nannies and prone to catching colds as a sickly child, he suffered from sinus problems, later sleeping in an oxygen tent to combat his painful condition.
“He doesn’t really allow for illness in his world because that’s the way he was brought up,” Seward said.
“Because the minute that he was unwell, he was removed from his parents so he wouldn’t infect them.
During his childhood illnesses, Seward said, Charles was shuttled off to a separate part of Buckingham Palace, away from his parents.
“So I think he always thought that an illness was something not to be dealt with – something just to pretend it’s not happening.
“And I feel that he’s probably being very brave about his cancer diagnosis, because that would be the only way he could tackle it.”
Seward said King Charles’ willingness to be open about his diagnosis and prostate operation, which has helped raised awareness of men’s health issues, was a bold and unprecedented move towards transparency that would not have happened in previous years.
“I think it’s very positive that Charles is doing things differently from his mother because you have two very different generations,” she said.
Seward said the King’s daughter-in-law Princess Catherine, who has been suffering her own undisclosed health issues, would also most likely soon reveal more about her own struggles.
Like King Charles, Princess Catherine’s potential openness about her health could help others battling similar issues, she said.
“I think she will eventually come out and say what’s happening,” Seward said.
“But I think it’s so personal … she wants to be private about this until she’s better and she wants to talk about it.”
Seward said Princess Catherine’s health problem was “obviously something pretty serious”. “She had three very difficult pregnancies – and I think she was very brave to have three children. Having constant sickness throughout all three must have been horrible,” she said.
“I think she will come out and speak about (her abdominal surgery) because I think, again, it will really help people to know what she’s been through.”
Seward’s longheld fascination with “how royal children were brought up” inspired her to explore the bond between King Charles and his late mother.
She paints a vivid portrait of a “glass half full” monarch with an “appalling” memory who writes down his thoughts on notelets and tears strips off staff members over trivial matters.
Although Charles was raised mostly by nannies and was deprived of physical affection from his parents, the late Queen Elizabeth did her best, Seward said.
In My Mother and I, Seward describes how aristocratic parents in the era when Charles was being brought up saw little of their children.
She noted that the young Elizabeth faced the double challenge of being thrust onto the throne unexpectedly at the age of 26 and “the joys of being a mother were completely removed from her”.
“We have this image of this wonderful lady in bright colours and a matching hat and we don’t think of this sort of vibrant, beautiful young girl,” Seward said.
“But she was, she was very, very young, to take on the responsibilities that she did.”
King Charles’ relationship with son Prince Harry, described by Seward as a “victim” who was spoiled by his father as a child, has again come under the spotlight after the exiled royal made a frantic 24-hour dash to London to see the monarch after his cancer diagnosis.
Sadly, despite the numerous “truth bombs” Prince Harry has hurled at his father in recent years, father and son were once close, she said.
“Harry got on really well with his father. William was more of a mummy’s boy and Harry got along really well with his father because he loved plants and animals,” Seward said.
“He loved the military and he loved horses – he was a real little outdoor boy.
“Charles used to explain to him that plants have feelings too and they did gardening together.”
Despite speculation that Prince Harry is seeking a “hybrid role” that would see him return to royal duties, Seward has ruled out a return to the fold for the King’s controversial youngest son.
During the fallout of Megxit, the Duke of Sussex was firmly told by the late Queen Elizabeth that he couldn’t be “half in and half out”, Seward said, and this edict would remain in force.
“I don’t think we want him to come back and be a working member of the royal family,” the royal author said.
“He turned his back on them and he said some pretty unpleasant things about some of them.
“I also don’t think Harry wants to come back – I think Harry is really happy living his life in California.”
My Mother and I, published by Simon & Schuster UK, is out on March 6
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