Prince Harry takes MORE swipes at Camilla in bombshell book

Prince Harry has opened up about his troubled relationship with his stepmother Camilla in his explosive new memoir Spare.

In the book, which hit shelves on Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, claims the Queen Consort dismissed his wife Meghan Markle when she went to her for advice with her public image – reminding her new daughter-in-law that she had been the ‘bad guy once’.

Elsewhere in the memoir, the father-of-two described how he told instructed his wife not to curtsey to Camilla during their first meeting before accusing Camilla of trying to ‘eavesdrop’ on a conversation between the Duchess of Sussex and his father. 

Meanwhile, Harry also claims his stepmother encouraged him to take on the role of Governor General of Bermuda – which would involve him and his wife moving thousands of miles away.

Harry told Meghan NOT to curtsy for Camilla

Prince Harry describes introducing his girlfriend Meghan Markle to his father and stepmother in late 2016 – shortly after her awkward meeting with Prince William.

Before going into Clarence House in London, Prince Harry says the couple had ‘rehearsed’ how Meghan should greet Charles and Camilla. 

Earlier on in the book, the Duke recounts how the Duchess of York taught the Suits actress to curtsy for The Queen at Windsor Lodge.

Prince Harry says he told Meghan not to curtsy for his stepmother when they first met at Clarence House in late 2016 as it wouldn’t be ‘appropriate’. The women pictured in May 2018

He instructed her to curtsy for Charles, address him as ‘Your Royal Highness’ and give him a kiss on each cheek if he leaned in – but if he didn’t, she should stick to a handshake instead.

However, Harry told Meghan to take a different approach with Camilla and said a curtsy was ‘not necessary’. Instead, he urged her to give his stepmother either a kiss on the cheek or another handshake.

Although Meghan queried his instruction about the lack of curtsy for Camilla, Prince Harry doubled down and insisted it ‘was not appropriate’. 

Camilla ‘eavesdropping’ on Charles and Meghan

He alleges Camilla ‘eavesdropped’ into a conversation between Meghan and Charles [pictured on March 2019] during their first meeting at Clarence House

During that same meeting over tea and salmon sandwiches at Clarence House, Prince Harry described how the conversation was ‘easy’ between the four of them at first.

After Camilla and Meghan bonded over their shared love of animals, the Duke says his father and girlfriend fell into a ‘quiet conversation’ over tea, which intrigued his stepmother. 

Describing how Camilla was ‘stuck’ with him, Harry recalls how she seemed ‘keener on eavesdropping’ on Meghan and Charles’ discussion. 

However, Harry says the two couples then ended the engagement by discussing Meghan’s career. 

Later on in the book, Prince Harry recounts how Prince William was left ‘seething with rage’ and accused his stepmother and father of ‘planting’ stories about his family.

Prince Harry says Camilla didn’t offer much in the way of support when Meghan went to her for advice about her image in 2016 – reminding her that she had been the ‘bad guy once’

Meghan’s turn to be the ‘bad guy’ 

Before before their engagement was announced in November 2017, Prince Harry says Meghan Markle become increasingly concerned about how she was being presented in the press.

Earlier in the year, the Duke references how The Sun had published a story about Meghan’s Suits sex scenes being uploaded onto porn websites.

Following her legal battle with the newspaper, the Duchess turned to her future mother-in-law for advice coping with the media spotlight.

However, Harry claims Camilla did not provide much in the way of reassurance. 

He wrote: ‘[Meghan] reached out to Camilla, who tried to counsel her by saying this was just what the press always did to newcomers, that it would all pass in due time, that Camilla had been the bad guy once. The implication being what? Now it was Meg’s turn? As if it were apples to apples.’

Camilla suggested Bermuda role

During this same meeting between the two wives, Prince Harry claims Camilla suggested that the Duke take on a new role which would involve a move away from London. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and King and Queen Consort pictured at The Queen’s funeral in September 2022

The Queen Consort allegedly told the Suits actress that Harry should consider becoming the Governor General of Bermuda. 

The then Duchess of Cornwall put forward this suggestion as it would take the couple out of the ‘red-hot center of the maelstrom’. 

However, he points out that this would conveniently ‘take them out of the picture’ too.

Camilla ‘wanted Kate to change her name’

Prince Harry also claims the King and Queen Consort suggested the Princess of Wales change her name to Katherine to avoid there being another name starting with ‘C’ in the family

Later on the book, Prince Harry claims that his father and stepmother wanted the Princess of Wales to change the spelling of her name to set her apart from them.

Instead, the Duke alleges that the royal couple suggested that the mother-of-three go by ‘Katherine’ instead of ‘Catherine’.

He wrote: ‘I remembered the time he and Camilla wanted Kate to change the spelling of her name, because there were already two royal cyphers with a C and a crown above: Charles and Camilla. It would be too confusing to have another.’

In his bombshell interview with Anderson Cooper, which aired on Sunday night, Prince Harry described Camilla as ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’. 

Prince Harry has taken aim at his father’s wife Camilla in a new TV interview to promote his explosive memoir Spare, with CBS’ 60 Minutes in the US

He said: ‘She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image. 

‘That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And 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 because of that.’ 

But hours later, Prince Harry told Good Morning America that he does not view the Queen Consort as an ‘evil stepmother’.

In his third television interview, he said: ‘I have a huge amount of compassion for her, you know, being the third person within my parents’ marriage. She had a reputation, or an image, to rehabilitate.

‘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 of doing it.’

Asked about what his relationship with Camilla is like now, Harry said: ‘We haven’t spoken for a long time. I love every member of my family, despite the differences, 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 has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image for her own sake.’

Read More:

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