Prince Harry & Prince William Asked One Favor of King Charles III After They Were Introduced to Camilla

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Prince Harry is laying it all out there — every thought and every feeling — in his new memoir, Spare. He’s also giving royal watchers insight into what it was like for him and brother Prince William to incorporate King Charles III’s affair partner into the equation and how their one request to their father about Camilla Parker-Bowles was never honored. 

After the death of their mother, Princess Diana, the brothers were given the opportunity to get to know Camilla in a private setting, according to an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail. Harry wrote that he was worried she would be a “wicked stepmother” and he wondered if “she would be cruel” to him. Camilla was kind and gracious to William and Harry, but the siblings were hesitant about one aspect of their father’s relationship with her.

Since Camilla was the “other woman,” they “begged” their dad not to marry her out of respect to their late mother. As we now know, that request was not honored, and Charles and Camilla walked down the aisle in April 2005 and became the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. Not only did she become a duchess, but Queen Elizabeth II shared her wishes for Camilla to become Queen Consort after her reign was over. Royal expert Christopher Andersen has already gone on record that the title reportedly was “an unspoken implicit deal” hammered out by Charles with his mother — Prince Andrew is retired from public life and Camilla is given that huge vote of confidence as a senior royal family member. 

Buy: Spare $22.40

Harry’s book only confirms what many royal fans have whispered about over the years. There is wheeling and dealing going on every day, and the often-self-serving deals come at the expense of other family members.

Before you go, click here to see the best photos from Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage.