CAMILLA’S CRUEL PLOT TO BRING DOWN MEGHAN
The duchess is playing happy families, but behind closed doors she’s making her thoughts on Meghan known
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement last month after a year-and-a-half of dating, the Duchess of Cornwall said the news was “brilliant”.
“America’s loss is our gain,” the 70-year-old wife of Prince Charles told reporters. “We are absolutely delighted.”
But behind closed doors, insiders say Camilla is fuming. Now, a palace aide has revealed she’s secretly plotting to bring Meghan down, furious the US actress has been so readily welcomed into the royal clan.
“Camilla would be silly to say anything negative about Meghan in public because she knows a lot of people don’t like her and love Meghan,” our royal source says. “It’s just one of the things she finds incredibly infuriating about Harry’s bride-to-be.”
Camilla is said to be furious Meghan – an American, Catholic divorcee – hasn’t been subjected to the same disdain she faced when she and Charles, 69, finally went public with their romance.
After a long-running affair while Charles was still married to Prince Harry’s mother Princess Diana, and while she was still with her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla faced a huge backlash from the royal family and the British public alike.
“Unlike Camilla, Meghan wasn’t treated as second-rate when Harry proposed, despite the fact she’s a divorcee,” the insider adds. “Camilla thinks it’s incredibly unfair, especially as Meghan’s family aren’t exactly royal material.”
STRAINED RELATIONS
Adding to Camilla’s list of complaints is the fact Meghan has already become incredibly close to her future sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge.
While Kate, 35, has always done her best to appease Camilla and prove herself a worthy future queen, there’s no denying the pair have had a strained relationship ever since Kate married William in 2011. At the heart of Camilla’s dislike for Kate are the ongoing reports Queen Elizabeth would prefer Kate and William to bypass Charles and Camilla and take the throne sooner rather than later. Now, with Meghan and Kate already becoming close – and Meghan leaning on Kate for advice as she learns the ins and outs of being a princess – Camilla is seething. “They’ve only met a few times and it’s all been nice on the surface, but Camilla definitely has strong opinions about Meghan,” another insider confirms. Meghan, 36, and Harry, 33, have confirmed they’ll marry in May next year at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the prince was christened at three months old. Harry’s communications secretary Jason Knauf has also stated the Suits star will be “baptised and confirmed” into the Church of England ahead of the ceremony.
As a divorcee, Camilla couldn’t marry Charles in a church. The couple instead had a civil ceremony before being blessed in the chapel where Harry and Meghan will tie the knot.
A DIFFICULT REMINDER
“The fact it’s the same church will have got under Camilla’s skin, because it’s almost as if Meghan is rubbing her nose in it,” our source explains.
“Camilla sees herself and Meghan as pretty similar in the fact they are both divorced. But the way she sees it, Meghan has been welcomed with open arms, when she faced much criticism.”
It’s believed the engagement has also been a difficult reminder of the past for Camilla.
“Everyone is comparing Meghan to Diana right now and saying she’ll be the next ‘people’s princess’. It’s brought up a lot Camilla would rather forget,” another palace source says.
“There are whispers Camilla will trash-talk Meghan to anyone who’ll listen, but she must know there’s not much she can actually do about the situation she now finds herself in.”
It’s believed Camilla does however, have the support of Harry’s cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. They’ve taken her view that Meghan is not worthy of the huge praise she’s received since news of her engagement was made public.
The sisters have long resented Kate, insiders saying they believe they should be given more important roles in the family.
‘Camilla knows a lot of people don’t like her and love Meghan’