Snobby Cam

Her family has always moved in royal circles. It’s simply second nature to her. It took her a while to warm to Kate Middleton, her future stepdaughter-in-law, because she felt the Middletons were “too lowly to marry into the royal family”. After waiting more than 30 years to be openly accepted by the queen, a friend says, “She wasn’t going to have someone just march in and sort of drag the whole thing down. Like I said, Camilla is really an awful snob.”

Although Charles was clearly fond of Kate, her family was another matter. The jury was still out on whether they’d make suitable in-laws, and on that subject Camilla’s opinion carried considerable weight. “There was always a sense,” says a St James’ Palace staffer, “that she was ABOVE LEFT: Charles and Camilla had an affair in the ’80s. ABOVE RIGHT: In 2005 they announced their engagement. looking down her nose at the Middletons, and stirring up gossip about them.

“Maybe she felt threatened by Kate, or perhaps more by William and Kate as a team.”

Camilla took an instant dislike to Kate’s mother, Carole Middleton.

Based on reports Camilla was getting from mutual friends in Berkshire, Carole sounded gauche and pushy, lacking in background and breeding.

To top it off, Kate’s self-made mother was an unrepentant chain-smoker who chewed gum furiously whenever she wasn’t permitted to light up.

Since having to give up cigarettes cold turkey to please Charles and the queen, Camilla has come to view smoking as the nastiest of habits. “Like a lot of ex-smokers,” says a former Highgrove staffer, “she couldn’t stand to see anyone else smoke. She said the smell made her sick. It was rather funny since she blew smoke in other people’s faces for 50 years.”

Further complicating the issue was the fact that both William and Harry smoked whenever they were out of camera range. Camilla, unwilling to appear as if she were trying to take Diana’s place as a mother figure, refused Charles’ repeated request to talk to them about quitting.