The Daily Telegraph - Features
Andrew ‘plotted’ to stop Charles becoming King
The second extract from Angela Levin’s new biography of the Queen Consort reveals claims of royal infighting and Camilla’s struggles to be accepted
CAMILLA AND QUEEN ELIZABETH
One of the Queen Consort’s greatest challenges was getting Elizabeth II to accept her both as a member of the Royal family and her daughter-in-law. Her Majesty had found her eldest son rather irritating as a child, and his refusal to move on and abandon Camilla meant he was still not doing as he was told.
Queen Elizabeth was also influenced by her mother, who had wanted her grandson to marry Diana Spencer. Journalist and author Robert Jobson wrote: “It was a fact that Camilla’s name was not allowed to be spoken in the presence of the Queen Mother.”
Prince Charles’s 50th birthday in 1998 could have been a dignified opportunity for Queen Elizabeth to end her long-term snub of Camilla. Princes William and Harry sent handwritten invitations but at the time she turned down any event at which Camilla might also be present. Prince Philip also declined.
Camilla’s close friend Lucia Santa Cruz believes that Queen Elizabeth’s strong rebuff was less about Camilla as a person. “When Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, she used to go to Balmoral with him and join the Royal family. They got on marvellously well … But when the marriage failed and she was with Prince Charles, she was rejected and got all the blame, which was so unfair.”
By 1999, despite the feeling that the public might at last be softening towards her, Camilla continued to be ostracised by the Royal family. She wasn’t invited to the wedding of Prince Edward that June. But the following year, a historic meeting finally took place at the 60th birthday of the exiled King Constantine of Greece at Highgrove House. Although the two women did not sit at the same table, it was a highly significant public moment. Queen Elizabeth had finally agreed to end her long-running personal boycott of Camilla.
The future Queen Consort was always deferential to Elizabeth II, despite the monarch’s early efforts to block her relationship with Charles. Once Queen Elizabeth had softened towards her, she handed many patronages to Camilla.
Soon after the Duke of Edinburgh died, Camilla was chosen as one of the four women who would try to help the newly widowed Queen feel less alone. Bringing Camilla on board – a woman Queen Elizabeth had refused to see or speak to for years – was a sign that the late Queen had finally accepted her for who she was.
PRINCE ANDREW
It was obvious that other senior Royals, notably the Duke of York, did not want Camilla around either back then. Prince Charles and Andrew have rarely got on well, except for a short time when they were both married. Charles III and his brother have very different personalities, values and approaches to life.
Queen Elizabeth sought advice from several people on the matter of the then Prince of Wales marrying Camilla, including her second-eldest son. She had always had a soft spot for Andrew, who seems to have had a way of persuading her to do what he wanted. This time, a senior insider told me, he had a treacherous request. “He tried to persuade the Queen to block Charles marrying Camilla by being quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla.” His claims included that she was insufficiently aristocratic and that she was not to be trusted.
The same individual went on to say: “When Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew’s wife Sarah, [Duchess of York] she plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.
“They were dark and strange times, where paranoia became reality, and this was a worry. Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown.
“His behaviour was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant to [the late] Queen, who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare occasions he didn’t get his way.
“Nonetheless, he was apparently very angry he couldn’t rule the country in some way. He remained so hostile to Camilla’s emergence and acceptance that it’s doubtful it has ever been forgiven.”
PRINCESS ANNE
Princess Anne reportedly initially gave Camilla the cold shoulder. It was little consolation that the Princess Royal had also had a frosty relationship with Diana, for whom she had no time before she married Charles, and with Sarah, Duchess of York. Her relationship with Camilla was particularly awkward as they had both been involved with Andrew Parker Bowles.
Like many people who didn’t know Anne well, Camilla found her frosty demeanour difficult and somewhat unnerving to cope with [at first]. Anne was, for many years, opposed to the idea of Camilla being granted the title of Queen Consort. She once claimed: “Camilla will never be a true queen.”
For years the Princess Royal kept away from Camilla as much as possible. However, time has proven to be a healer and Anne has seen for herself how hard Camilla has worked for the monarchy and her sense of duty. Gradually, she became more amenable.
PRINCES WILLIAM AND HARRY
It took a long time to find an opportunity for Charles to introduce Camilla to his sons. He made sure that she was never at Highgrove House when the princes visited. He tried suggesting the boys meet her a couple of months before Princess Diana’s death in 1997, but both went very quiet.
Wisely he waited before once again approaching his objective of getting Camilla accepted by his sons. This time he invited Camilla’s children, Tom and Laura, to stay at Birkhall. He was enormously relieved that, despite Tom and Laura being older than his own sons, the four seemed to get on well.
When William and Harry decided to throw a surprise party for their father’s 50th birthday, they knew he would want Camilla to be invited and that it would be best all round for them to meet her privately first. William told his father he would be coming to London and asked him to arrange a meeting on June 12 1998.
William turned up unexpectedly early. Camilla offered to disappear, but her aide, Amanda MacManus, suggested it would be a good idea if they met earlier. William agreed. They talked for about half an hour and their meeting apparently went as well as could be hoped. The Prince was friendly and Camilla was sensitive enough to let the relationship progress at his pace and not ask difficult questions.
When the meeting was over Camilla announced: “I need a gin and tonic!”
She and William met again for lunch soon afterwards. She had tea with Harry a few weeks later, which also seemed to go well.
The princes went full-steam ahead for the party to be held at Highgrove House. Greek statues were placed in the walled garden and entertainment was a Blackadder-style comedy starring Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry. Charles was enormously touched by the trouble his sons had taken and particularly that they had invited Camilla and sat her in a prominent place.
Even so, it was a rather nervous Charles who told his sons early in 2005 that he wanted to marry Camilla. It wasn’t a surprise, but nor was it going to be easy for the princes to accept the woman their much-loved mother had blamed for the break-up of her marriage.
You could tell William was glad his father was happy just by looking at his face, while Harry
‘Prince Andrew was quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla’
was more effusive, quoted as saying: “William and I love her to bits.”
But after the wedding it became clear that the princes were less keen on their stepmother than it had appeared and were just being polite before and at the wedding. Instead, both had arguments with their father that I’ve been told were “hardly respectful”.
One insider felt that being Harry’s stepmother in particular wasn’t easy. “The Duchess [of Cornwall] always felt quite wary of Harry and used to see him out of the corner of her eye looking at her in a long and cold way. She found it rather unnerving. Otherwise, they got on quite well.”
Today, however, the Queen Consort gets on well with the Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales. An insider calls it “a very grown-up rapport” – their relationship works, but they are not in each other’s pockets. Her relationship with the Duke of Sussex, however, developed somewhat differently.
THE DUCHESS OF SUSSEX
Camilla greeted Meghan warmly when she came to London. Prince Charles enjoyed talking to her, especially about the theatre and arts. Camilla felt the experience she had from coping with public abuse, press insults and frostiness from the Royal family put her in a good place to help Meghan adjust to the restrictions of royal life and was equally keen to help Meghan find her feet.
They had lunches together and Camilla spent a lot of time offering advice on how to handle the pressure. She tried to be supportive, was happy to be her mentor and took her out for private lunches. A source at the time told me: “She doesn’t want to see anyone struggling and she is fond of Meghan.”
Meghan, however, seemed bored, was unresponsive and preferred to go her own way, with the result that the Queen Consort’s advice landed on stony ground.
It was a shock when, in January 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped away from their senior positions in the Royal family. The Queen Consort behaved as she did when she was verbally attacked in the 1990s. This was to avoid talking about it and concentrate on supporting her husband.
The only hint of a response came on January 19 when she visited Prospect Hospice in Wiltshire and a reporter asked whether she was missing Harry and Meghan. The Duchess of Cornwall looked as if she had been taken by surprise. She smiled enigmatically, said, “Hmmm”, followed by the word “course”, then walked smartly away.
A reliable source has told me that Prince Harry has recently been very negative about Camilla. “As I understand it, his father and stepmother have become hateful in his mind. I’ve also been told that Meghan has been horrible about her too.”
Another source added: “There have been a lot of hurt feelings all round, but like all families, you have to embrace it all and hope it will improve.”
THE FUTURE
Fortunately, time helped improve Camilla’s relationship with senior Royals, including Prince William, largely thanks to the Princess of Wales, who is a peacemaker. Camilla is also a conciliator and doesn’t nurse grievances. They both believe that supporting their husbands is a priority. Catherine has a love of the arts, which William doesn’t particularly share, and she often goes both privately and publicly with the Queen Consort and King Charles to see exhibitions.
Even Camilla’s relationship with Anne continues to improve. Royal expert Robert Hardman says: “Camilla and Anne see each other at horse racing events … Anne has her own circle, but I’m sure when they meet there is animated discussion about horses.”
As to the future relationship with the Sussexes, I was told that there are several options. One is to hope that “interest in what the couple say fades away”. My source said: “Indeed, it already looks as if they have written themselves out of the script.” Other options suggested were to “shrug off ” any harmful comments or “try to privately negotiate some kind of ceasefire. But that is unlikely to work if Meghan just wants to win.”
An important alternative is to keep America close. My source added: “The Sussexes are more liked in America than in the UK, which can damage not only Charles and Camilla but the whole monarchy. The American issue has to be dealt with. The Cambridges have to go to the US to show who the real stars are. As will the Queen Consort and King Charles.”
Abridged extract from ‘Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort’ by Angela Levin, which is out later this month (Simon & Schuster, £20); pre-order a copy at books.telegraph.co.uk