Royal Butler Counters Prince Harry’s Claims He Hated His ‘Wicked Stepmother’ Queen Camilla
Prince Harry and Queen Camilla’s relationship was far from warm after her affair with then Prince Charles became tabloid fodder during his marriage to the late Princess Diana. In his memoir, the Duke of Sussex spared no jabs, branding his stepmother as 'evil' and 'wicked' for breaking up his happy family. Commenting on the same, former royal butler Grant Harrold has pushed back against Harry’s account, insisting his harsh criticism was far from the truth. Harrold recalled several occasions where Harry appeared comfortable and warm toward Camilla.
Harrold wrote in his upcoming biography, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, that Prince William and Harry seemed genuinely happy when Charles married Camilla in April 2005. As reported by Marie Claire, he penned, "Charles and Camilla were catching a flight to head straight to Birkhall. We all went outside to wave them off and laughed as we saw William and Harry had decorated their car with ‘Just Married.’" The former butler added that William and Harry "raced after the car" as the King and Queen Consort "drove off through the arches to cheers."
Harrold further claimed that he witnessed 'no animosity' between the Duke and the Queen Consort. He continued, "The four of them, I promise you, got on so well. And that’s why I don’t understand what Harry’s said, I really don’t understand....I saw them having dinners together, I saw them having drinks together, I saw them going to parties together." Speaking highly about the King, he recalled, "He works hard and he doesn’t suffer fools....He does get perceived as out of touch, and he’s not." The royal butler added that Charles was always 'very calm' and 'didn’t once raise his voice' in his presence.
A royal insider also echoed Harold's claims and revealed that Harry and William were in high spirits when their father finally married the love of his life. According to GB News, the source shared, "My abiding memory about the wedding was how happy and excited Harry seemed." The Duke reportedly took a special interest in decorating the groom’s car. The insider added, "He and William came up with the idea of decorating their father’s Aston Martin as a send-off.... I am sure there were mixed emotions over the years, but all I can tell you is how he seemed at the time."
Harry has openly criticized his stepmother in his memoir, Spare, revealing the depth of his animosity toward her. As per Time magazine, he recalled the day his father shared his intention to marry Camilla, writing, "Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings." In the memoir, the Duke accused Camilla’s spokesperson of throwing him 'under the bus' to improve her public image. He claimed she was 'dangerous,' and alleged that she leaked his 2002 drug use to deflect attention and protect Charles’s reputation. Harry even admitted he once wondered if the Queen Consort would be "like all the wicked stepmothers in storybooks."