Early in Prince Harry and Meghan’s relationship, the gossip was that Meghan liked Prince Charles a great deal, and that she also had a pleasant enough relationship with the Duchess of Cornwall. I seem to remember the Sussexes visiting Charles and Camilla shortly after Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding, and I also remember the Sussexes postponing their honeymoon so that they could appear at an event with Charles and Camilla. It all went to hell though. While the Charles-Harry fallout is the bigger story, I’ve come to wonder what role Camilla played in the larger campaign to drive Harry & Meghan out of the country and the larger campaign to smear Meghan. Because after the Sussexit, it became clear that Camilla was quite pleased to have seen off another “rival.” Meghan’s beauty, hard work and charisma must have been quite triggering for Camilla, and even her own biographer makes it sound like Camilla was jealous of Meghan from the start, and Camilla hated how much attention Meghan got. Well, now that we’re in the midst of Camilla’s big birthday “refocus the narrative” extravaganza, Emily Andrews is here to tell us that Camilla has a “good relationship” with both Kate and Meghan:
It is that relationship [with Prince Charles], that love and constancy that has sustained her – they share a sense of humour, laugh at each other’s jokes and like nothing better than to holiday at Birkhall (Charles’ Scottish estate) together.
A friend says: “He’s settled and happy, and they have an incredibly warm relationship. It’s instinctive and none of it is for show. She’s very protective of him. She sees the whole business of royalty as a team effort. She takes it very, very seriously but is not always serious.”
They have also revelled in becoming grandparents. Camilla is very close to her children Tom and Laura, and sees as much of her five grandchildren as she can – going to southern Europe every year for a ‘bucket and spade’ holiday with them.
She kept her house Ray Mill in Wiltshire, as an “escape” and will often be driven back there after a formal dinner at Charles’s Cotswolds house Highgrove, so she can kick off her shoes, put on a dressing gown, pour a glass of wine and watch TV (Strictly Come Dancing is a favourite) while Charles works into the small hours.
Always welcoming of other royal women, she extended the hand of friendship to both Kate and Meghan – and enjoys a good relationship with both.
O RLY? Because for the past year, royal commentators were definitely gleefully reporting consistently that Camilla hated Meghan on sight and thought Meghan was “scheming” and “too American” and too glamorous. They said Camilla hated Meghan for “what she did to Charles,” as in… Meghan was supposed to stay in the UK to be abused “for Charles.” Now Camilla wants credit for being friendly with both Kate and Meghan? Nope. And I’ll say this too – I think the fact that Camilla and Kate get along speaks unfavorably about both. Camilla sees Kate as a useful idiot, Kate sees Camilla as a manipulative a–hole, just like her own mother.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, WENN.
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- USA Rights Only – London, UK -20190608- The Royal family enjoy a day out as they participate in the Trooping the Colour ceremony, taking place at Horse Guards Parade, as they Queen celebrates her official birthday. -PICTURED: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge -PHOTO by: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images/INSTARimages.com -43392459.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, meets young women who have been supported by The Prince’s Trust, ahead of the charity’s ‘Brilliant Breakfast’ campaign, at Clarence House, London.,Image: 630371072, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: ©Eddie Mulholland / Avalon
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- Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, meets young women who have been supported by The Prince’s Trust, ahead of the charity’s ‘Brilliant Breakfast’ campaign, at Clarence House, London.,Image: 630371090, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: ©Eddie Mulholland / Avalon
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- (Strictly for editorial use only and available until December 12th 2018) In this handout image provided by Clarence House, HRH Prince Charles Prince of Wales poses for an official portrait to mark his 70th Birthday in the gardens of Clarence House, with Their Royal Highnesses Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Willliam Duke of Cambridge, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Harry Duke of Sussex and Meghan Duchess of Sussex, on September 5, 2018 in London, England.
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- The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall with the Duchess of Sussex (right) at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London which she is attending as her first royal engagement after being married. The event is part of the celebrations to mark the70th birthday of the Prince of Wales.
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- The Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Sussex, listen as the Duke of Sussex (not in view) speaks during a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London, which the newly weds are attending as their first royal engagement as a married couple. The event is part of the celebrations to mark the70th birthday of the Prince of Wales.
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- The Duchess of Cornwall (left) the Duchess of Sussex at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London which she is attending as her first royal engagement after being married. The event is part of the celebrations to mark the70th birthday of the Prince of Wales.
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- The Duchess of Cornwall (left) the Duchess of Sussex during a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London which she is attending as her first royal engagement after being married. The event is part of the celebrations to mark the70th birthday of the Prince of Wales.
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- Royal Ascot 2018 – Day 1 Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, meghan markle, Meghan Markle Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 18 Jun 2018 Credit: David Sims/WENN.com
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- The official birthday of the British Sovereign has been marked by The Trooping of the Colour for more than 260 years. The royal spectacle sees over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians take part in the annual event which is followed by an RAF fly-past over Buckingham Palace. Featuring: Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Camilla Parker Bowles, Kate Middleton Duchess of Cambridge Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 Jun 2019 Credit: Wheatley/WENN
I don’t think Camilla’s idea of a good relationship is the same as Meghan’s.
Right, the RF is all about means to an end, not about fostering love and care into relationships. That’s why Diana was seen as such an innovator, because she truly seeked to connect with people to the cost of getting nothing in return. The more I read about them, the more I pity them.
Looks like the campaign “Operation make them LOVE Camilla” is an EPIC failure
I hope it is, but they seem to have the DM on their side, especially since hiring one of that group to work at CH. I also get the impression that Charles is keen (there’s that word again) to get a “good guy” narrative in order before the queen dies, so that both he and Camilla will be beloved, or at least well-tolerated. He went out of his way to get public letter from the queen saying that Camilla would be known as a whatever-it-was when Charles became king. Then, lo and behold, millions were suddenly freed for Andrew’s sex abuse settlement. Then, Charles has been on the “I’m very much not a racist grandad” ever since, by going out of his way to announce that he and Camilla had also met with Harry prior to Invictus, and that he had met Lili.
@Debbie – I’m just waiting for The Crown Season 5 to come out, because that’s going to blow up in Charles’ face – again.
The photo of Camilla glaring jealously at Meghan is chilling. I can only imagine all that Meghan went through behind the scenes, trying to make it work, with the eyes of the world watching. The incredible grace with which Meghan endured a brood of vipers!
Oh right. Well, I think Camilla is a snake. I still remember when Charles and Diana became engaged. For some reason, Camila came into the picture and passed off as some kind of “mentor” for the young, inexperienced Diana. Can you imagine what that did to Diana! I remember seeing pictures of them together at the races or something, as if they were best friends. The bloody hide of her, but especially Charles. To bring his mistress in to pretend to be friends with his new fiancée and then young wife… my God. I think Kaiser’s assessment of Camila is spot on.
Something is shifting in Camp C&C
I don’t know but it seems like they want us to forget all the reporting (and leaking from their side) that happened before and after sussexit and make it seem that the relationship between them and the sussexes is all warm and fuzzy. From charles meeting lilibet to this. It’s getting a bit suspect.
It has been a switch over the past few months. Someone on here speculated that when Harry and Meghan met with Charles before Invictus (if they did in fact meet with them), that one of the things discussed was how they talked about each other in the press. From that we’ve seen Harry basically ignore questions about his father from Hoda (was that Hoda?), we’ve heard that Charles met Lilibet and it was wonderful, Charles is proud of Harry and Meghan, etc.
I’m not sure if that theory holds up, but its clear that over the past few months Charles at least appears to be establishing a truce of sorts in the press. My theory is that it has taken a few years, but Charles has circled back to what he knew at the time of their wedding – supporting Harry and Meghan is a bigger win for him, PR wise (on a global scale), than attacking them. I don’t know what that means for what happens behind closed doors, but its clear that Charles has taken a different tactic in the press when it comes to them.
William has not. So William is still the angry brother who can’t bear to attend a one year old’s birthday party (if he was invited but the point is how KP is portraying it in the press), Charles is the grandfather delighted to meet his granddaughter and to see his grandson again. William is the one who refuses to invite his brother to HIS birthday party, Charles is proud of his son and daughter in law for their financial independence. etc.
@becks1: i don’t know but i think Charles is ready to blame everything that went down with Harry and Meghan on William. It shouldn’t be too hard of a job since williams own pr has basically become ‘I hate my younger brother and his wife’.
I don’t know when it will happen tho.
The only problem for Charles is that harry isn’t willing to play nice in public. We saw it with the Invictus interview when he completely ignored the question about his father and brother.
I think the skip Chuck push scared Chuck and Cams. I think both underestimated how conniving the midds and 🥚 and bones really are. Seeing how absolute crap the lamebridges are at everything also threatens chucks reign bc they’re supposed to be the future. Cams and Chuck both know that Harry is the key to keeping their place in society. Harry is liked, Harry is smart, Harry knows how to do diplomacy. Harry also understands geopolitical concerns and topics. People respect Harry. No one has any real respect for Chuck or for Egg. Cams will always be the ugly mistress that hurt Diana and Kate is the stalker that caught her prey. Meghan is a self-made millionaire and philanthropist, with a stellar reputation who didn’t chase or scheme to marry Harry. She is needed to polish the turd of the BRF. Chuck isngoing to throw 🥚 under the bus, if for nothing else than to preserve the money.
Interesting theory about Chuck laying the blame on Will. I can imagine it being part of the strategy of “Who is more worthy to be King?” to kind of shut up those (KP?) who’ve been saying the monarchy should skip Charles and go straight to William.
Hate to go to the old scheming old hag/jealous old biddy trope, where she really is the Lady Macbeth puppet master of all and everyone since the very beginning…but if the fastener fits…
Remember when the Sussexit first came down and Camilla was asked about whether she would miss Meghan and she paused for a long minute, wryly smiled, then said “of course!” as she walked away? This is the “of course” she referred to.
So Camilla is going to trade on everyone’s popularity? Do we get to hear about how close she is to Will and Harry?
@equality I think you may be right. I’ve just checked the viewing figures for Camilla’s puff piece on itv; 2 million which ranked it seventh most viewed programme on the night. The Harry and Meghan interview was the third most watched programme in 2021. Same channel, same time and with similar amount of promotion beforehand and there is no comparison between the level of interest. As often is said on here the RF need M&H more than they need them.
I also agree with you about William and Harry. I wrote something similar below. Apologies I was reading the thread in work and hadn’t realised you’d already made the point. 🙂
I cant imagine being in your 70s and still being jealous or threatened by anything.Smh
Right? I turned 36 this year and since my birthday I have stumbled into self-assurance and confidence. Can’t nobody tell me nothing. I’m too busy living my best life to be jealous.
It comes from the royals NOT being gainfully employed. These people have the pettiness of elementary schoolchildren because they are being financially supported (fully) just as though they were children – even at their advanced ages.
seriously, who are these articles even for?
camilla (like her husband) will NEVER be popular. no amount of puff pieces will change that.
Agreed on all points, especially the conclusion.
I doubt Harry and Meghan have a “good” relationship with any of the royals, except for Eugenie.
Future queen Camilla has a good relationship with her daughter in law’s nothing to see here. *rollseyes*
Don’t worry her biographer is going to remind people how much she actually hates Meghan.
Hahahahaahahaha Operation FQ Camilla is Awesome is going g fantastic…absolutely fantastic.
Racism is a big part of it. Have a look at the “entranceway” in this recent puff piece about Ray Mill in Hello! https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/20220705144550/camilla-parker-bowles-ray-mill-house-photos/
I hate to defend Camilla, but those photos are from before she moved in nearly 30 years ago. I don’t think we can surmise anything about C from these photos.
OMG that lamp!! But yes, that’s the previous owners’ style/mindset, no idea about Camilla’s. That kitchen was pretty hideous! But–Camilla’s always been welcoming to new royal women? Since when?? And she & Chuckie lead separate lives, is that it? After some formal evening at Highgrove, she gets driven back to Ray Mill & Charles ‘works’ into the night? Presumably at Highgrove. Huh. There’s the Cambridge marriage model for ya.
That is one ugly ass home! Perhaps if you chuck out ALL of the furnishings and carpets, demo the kitchen, take down those pine walls in the bedrooms and change all the colors, it might be a lovely home, as the grounds/views are nice. But to live in, as is (in those pics), no thanks! Yuck!
Step daughters in law
One of the many bizarre things about the RF is just how grossly infantilized they are. The fact that the complaint most of them have about each other is due to attention one gets will never not be funny to me.
Camilla (along with Charles) are putting so much effort to garner good PR for Camilla b/c they know its a matter of time b4 she becomes Queen Consort. They know the Sussexes won’t try to counter the narrative that they have a good relationship with them hence why they’re doing it even if its a blatant lie.
I know a good portion on here still believe W&K will officially divorce any day now but it will never officially happen. Partly b/c it would mean a) more attention on W on his “work” and private life – the last thing he wants b) he has not aged well and as we’ve seen, no good women would ever want that life c) he can do what he wants now (K will literally put up w/anything unlike Diana) so why blow it up?
But the big reason why I think W won’t officially divorce K can be seen with Charles and Camilla. I don’t think W has genuinely been in love with anyone. Ever. Even the mistresses he’s had there’s never been photos or stories that show he has certain affection for them outside of physical attraction. In contrast, Charles and Camilla had a bond long before Diana was in the picture (and there were always rumors). Camilla wants to be accepted by the public but the person who wants that more than her is Charles b/c Charles loves her and wants her to be by her side and respected as Queen consort.
Charles never expressed regret over how he and Camilla treated Diana I never bought into the c and c great love story
You’re right to disbelieve it. The great C&C love story is actually that Camilla didn’t want to marry Charles – she wanted to marry Andrew Parker-Bowles and did. She rejected Charles the first time round. This is all part of the rewriting of history.
Hench
Camilla didn’t even want to marry Charles at all. She wanted to remain a mistress. Charles forced it by outing the affair among other moves. All Camilla could do was marry him.
Gosh, every photo of Megan during her Royal time just makes me sad. She tried so damn hard and was impeccable.
Maybe I’m naive but I do buy the previously positive relationship with Charles, that seemed genuine at the wedding to me. But I never saw any of that from Camilla, so I don’t buy this birthday keenery retcon at all.
(Shoutout to Kate’s old hair in the family pic, standing just along from her future hairstyle- it’s so obvious lol!)
I totally agree about the once positive relationship with Charles. I thought it was very moving and sweet how Charles stepped in to walk her halfway down the aisle after Messy AF Tom failed to show. I really got the impression that Charles was like “Hey, I know about messy families. No biggie, don’t cry, I’ll walk with you, and everyone can suck it. Problem solved.” It symbolized, to me, an acceptance that was like “welcome to the team.” Sad that it seems to have gone to pot.
Charles did the wall down the aisle with Meghan to help his own image imo
Meghan effected a rapprochement between Charles and Harry before the wedding. Up to that point the two of them had been pretty chilly and distant. Alas, like everything else, her kindness wasn’t reciprocated-at least not for long.
@SAS: I don’t believe that Charles and Meghan had a positive relationship. He “accepted” her because he knew that Harry would leave if he didn’t. He saw he could use Harry and Meghan’s popularity to boost his own image hence the antics at the wedding. But he thought Harry was going through a phase and that he would eventually leave Meghan. It’s clear that he couldn’t continue to pretend to be welcoming to Meghan because soon after the marriage the relationship broke down. He didn’t want Meghan having Harry’s children, he berated Harry because of Toxic Tom and was jealous of Harry and Meghan’s success in Australia. The first smears against Meghan came from CH.
AmyBee, Thank you, for pointing out that Charles was never as close to or fond of Meghan as many would like to believe. I never interpreted his decision to walk her down the aisle or his recommendation of a choir at their wedding, as anything other than resignation that Harry chose someone he deemed unsuitable, combined with naked opportunism, which prompted him to capitalize off of the good PR of appearing to graciously welcome his popular new biracial daughter-in-law into the family.
And, I agree about the smears sanctioned by CH, which signaled KP and William the Terrible that their own attacks against Meghan would go unchecked.
I started watching the BBC documentary about Camilla’s guest editor role of Country Life. In my opinion, in that documentary she comes across…. fine? Or to be more specific, she comes across like she can sit and chit chat and joke with people around her. But I think we already knew this…. generally speaking, Camilla is pretty social and chatty and it’s one of the reasons the Royal reporters like her.
As for her relationship with Meghan…I doubt she has one. When Meghan is in the country I am sure she’s pleasant(ish) and asks about the kids and how their trip was, etc. But I can’t imagine she goes much deeper than that. And they certainly aren’t face timing lol.
BTW, just because Camilla has personality and is good in social situations doesn’t mean she can’t be a mean girl behind the scenes. I’m sure Meghan has some stories.
Camilla is not a nice person imo how popular she is probably because of who she is married to i do not buy into the warm and lovable Camilla spin het behavior at Meghan and harry wedding was atrocious
Camilla is not a nice person full stop.
There was a post the other day about some transphobic “joke” of her.
She was too protective of Charles in a sense that she was imo interfering in his first marriage while looking out for her own agenda of
I really don’t think that Camiilla was triggered by Meghan’s popularity alone – Kate has always been more popular and glamorous than Camilla and while Kate is now seen as lazy and useless and boring by many (maybe that’s part of her popularity, IDK), that wasn’t the case when she first married into the royals, or when she had George, etc. She was THE future of the monarchy, everyone breathed a sigh of relief because she was going to be the future queen, and if anything Kate’s embiggening PR pushes over the past years pushed out Camilla and relegated her to the sidelines.
so I don’t think for Camilla it was that Meghan was glamourous and popular. I think there was something else behind the scenes that was the trigger (maybe H&M’s popularity was a bigger issue for CHARLES and Camilla knew that? Maybe just Harry and Meghan leaving was the trigger? I don’t know.) but I think if this was just about Camilla resenting Meghan for being more beautiful and popular than she is/was, we would have seen some similar moves against Kate and we never really did.
Maybe Camilla could always manipulate Kate and could never manipulate Meghan and that was the trigger; maybe Camilla resented that Meghan wasn’t as obsessed with tiaras as the rest of them, maybe she resented that Meghan encouraged Harry to be his own man (and not just a cog in the royal machine), I don’t know.
It’s clear though that something WAS the trigger behind the scenes, we saw that with the rather sudden onslaught of the Great Smear Campaign. The insane success of the Oceania tour? the pregnancy? Both? Whatever it was, it was clearly a problem for both Charles and Camilla and the Cambridges.
Kate was not that popular before Meghan joined the family and some still do not care for her
At the time of their wedding, 11 years ago? Kate was absolutely very popular. It doesn’t mean that everyone loved her or that everyone “cared for her.” It means just that – she was popular.
Which countries are you in?
Kate was never popular in Britain. For years before the wedding she’d been widely derided as lazy, workshy, dull and boring. She was seen as a manipulative stalker who’d played William like a violin. She was also known for her “crotch shots” because she’d exit cars with her legs wide open, showing her knickers.
At the time of the wedding, the British media started praising her upto the hilt because they wanted to make her into a new Diana. They wanted a new superstar to sell papers for them. So they constantly tried to big her up, but that never reflected the British publics view of her. She was super unpopular during the dating years, and remained so after they married.
Instead of marrying William making her a star, it made William less popular, because people thought he must be weak, and lacking in judgement, to be so easily manipulated by the Middletons.
Americans, who weren’t exposed, so to speak, to her during the waiting years, were introduced to her at the engagement and wedding as “Princess Kate” (she was never called that in the uk) and she seemed to be popular with them.
Brits on the internet were bemused and frustrated by Americans suddenly gushing over “Princess Kate” and claiming Brits who didn’t like her must be jealous.
Her unpopularity was never due to jealousy. Scathing comments about her were just as likely to be from men, as from women. And there wasn’t really anything to be jealous of other than her shiny glossy hair. (Which was the result of hours in a salon receiving keratin treatments, dying and straightening. Her natural hair doesn’t look like that. ) There was much more reason to be jealous of Diana and most people loved her.
I remember the negative comments about Kate not working all those years. I remember she said at the engagement interview she would work hard, then after the wedding she did not work much and excuses were made for her (like her having to research her charities first which took months.)The wedding of course was a great event and of course would take attention from C and C. And there was great hope for them. Too bad they had to treat Meghan and Harry so badly, they really messed things up.
Kate was more popular than Camilla which I think is the point becks1 was trying to make. Was kate as popular as Diana ? Never and the work shy thing was certainly mentioned a lot prior to Meghan arriving. But simply being the more popular and newer younger royal bride was not enough to bother Camilla when Kate first arrived and it’s unlikely that Meghan now being the newer younger and more popular royal bride was the only reason why Camilla wouldn’t like her. I agree with Becks that there was something more to trigger the smear campaign and my suspicions are the high levels of popularity during the Oceania tour, something I can see making W and k jealous but almost making Charles jealous.
Becks1 Spot on with your assessment
Megan talked about how people in the family would say they’ve all had press and it’s just something one has to go through. I wonder if Camilla resents the fact that Meghan refused to just accept it while that’s what she had to do for so many years. Not sure if that could be the trigger but feel like the press has mentioned something like that in past articles.
I said yesterday that I bet Camilla is the one who said that to her and that camilla probably didn’t understand why Meghan couldn’t just lay low for a year or two, like Camilla did. Camilla obviously was destroyed in the press and didn’t leave her house for a year and is doing okay now, so I can see her thinking that Meghan was overreacting and that if she just listened to them, she’d be fine in the end.
(of course the big difference is that Camilla was destroyed in the press for her own actions, Meghan was destroyed due to racism, but I can see the royals overlooking that very clear distinction.)
Camilla was triggered by Meghan because, personality and charisma-wise, Meghan is very similar to Diana. She has the same precocious energy, the same openness and warmth in person from the get-go, the same knee-jerk move to seek out and root for the underdog. That scares Camilla because she already gave up the fight over outer beauty years ago when she understood she could never match Diana, but what scared her about Diana (and Meghan) was the power they have to seemingly mesmerize so many people into loving and allying with them, something Camilla has only ever succeeded at with Charles.
Bing-fkn-go. Meghan is as charismatic, genuine and warm as Diana.
I’m wondering if part of this could be a sense on Camilla’s part (and in the views of others) that Meghan “did not know” what others viewed as being “her place”. Whether it was her supposed “place” as the American wife of “the spare”, her “place” as a woman of color amidst a bastion of white supremacy, her “place” outside of the hierarchies of British society: Meghan’s shine was not and could not be dimmed, even when she sedately walked the required number of paces behind.
If — BIG “if” — this is true, Meghan’s confidence itself might have been a “trigger” — particularly for Kate (whose sense of self seems wobbly, at best), but also for the conniving Camilla, as Charles seeks to create a positive identity for her in the public eye.
I agree with your assessment and I think the leaving was the trigger. Because that would have been when Charles really would have whined and complained and made himself out to be the victim. I suspect she lets a lot slide to avoid getting into Windsor drama (which would be when she takes off to spend time with her own family), but if Charles is majorly unhappy, it makes her homelife difficult having to deal with him.
Or it could be that Camilla is a shallow snob. She didn’t approve of Kate as a bride for William because she was a peasant, I can only imagine what she personally thought of Meghan. Camilla has been part of the royal court for a long time. They lie, cheat, scheme and plot against each other all the time. It’s what they do.
@Becks, ITA with everything you said (and all of the replies). As Kaiser said, Kate is seen as a “useful idiot” (I lol’d at that, btw) so she wouldn’t have been as threatening. And Camilla always knew William would get married and his much-younger wife would get the lion’s share of the attention, so she likely saw it as inevitable anyway.
And I could definitely believe that Camilla thinks she had it the worst in the press out of all of the royals, and was irritated that M wouldn’t just lay low and let it slide. Obvious difference is people had REASONS to dislike Camilla, ignoring the fact that much of the coverage of M was rooted in racism. Camilla deserved what she got due to her own actions and choices; Meghan did nothing but exist.
It’s also very different now than it was in the 80’s and 90’s; Camilla didn’t need to deal with the internet or social media where the hatred is amplified and is CONSTANT. 24/7, 365 days a year. There were hundreds of thousands of articles about Meghan, not to mention comment sections, etc. Camilla was spared all of that and she probably isn’t on Twitter, seeing just how horrific it is.
@Blithe, could not agree more that Camilla is 100% one of the people who thought Meghan didn’t “know her place.” She’s just as racist as the rest of them.
@MissMarie Rose, I totally agree that’s a big part of it, too…the entire saga with H&M has probably make Charles angry, self-pitying, and sullen for years now, and Camilla resents them so much for making her private life with him hell behind closed doors. Just as we always hear Kate is basically “the William Whisperer” and is the only one who can deal with William’s bullsh!t, it seems as though Camilla serves the same role for Charles and it must have been SO much worse than usual since Meghan arrived.
I go back & forth about how Charles felt about M at the time of the wedding. Back then, I believed he actually liked her and thought it was lovely that he offered to walk her down the aisle and that he was so kind to Doria. But now, I’m back to thinking it was all for his own PR, because that’s the only reason Charles ever does anything. For himself and for Camilla. I don’t think he truly loves anyone but himself and his vile wife.
Camilla was the only royal to say very complimentary things in public when the engagement was announced. Something along the lines of America’s loss is our gain.
Even W and K couldn’t say anything decent when they were asked.
So I don’t think Camilla had a serious dislike of Meghan early on.
It is ironic that Camilla accuses others of not knowing their place married mistresses were not supposed to talk badly about or disrespect a royal wife yet Camilla did and now is in line to be queen consort
@Nic919 – the pictures above of Camilla in green and Meghan in the blush (?) colored dress are from the garden party for Charles’ 70th birthday. The Sussexes delayed their honeymoon to attend the party, where Harry gave a speech. The documentary Charles at 70 shows them leaving the party for their trip. Camilla kisses Harry on the cheek, takes Meghan’s hand and kisses her cheek as well, and says very pleasantly, “See you soon.”
The same doc shows scenes from the wedding, and there’s a clip of Camilla talking about how so many people were moved by the fact that Charles took Doria’s arm to go in to sign the registry.
So yeah, I tend to agree Camilla didn’t have a serious dislike of Meghan early on.
I’m sure Angela Levin will tell us all what a good relationship Camilla has with Meghan in her official autobiography to celebrate Cam’s 75th birthday 🙃
Bet that lunatic Angela Levin will turn the biography for Camilla’s 75th birthday into an unhinged rant about the Sussexes. All Angela Levin roads lead back to Harry. AL acts like a woman scorned when it comes to Harry. Not a pretty sight!
Angela Levin is going to destroy any attempts that Camilla is making to seem conciliatory to Meghan. Levin is off her rocker and a conspiracy bigot at this point worse than any other RR. None of the others interact with the hateful trolls to the extent that Levin does.
Camilla should disavow that biography at this point because it won’t help her to have it be a diatribe against Meghan.
It can’t be Emily Andrew’s saying this. She had a whole piece in the DM which was briefed by Camilla or her staff talking about Meghan refusing to listen to her advice. I’m glad Kaiser included links to old stories about Camilla because it helped to remind me that Camilla was an active participant in the smear campaign against Meghan.
That’s what I don’t understand. Charles clearly liked Meg over Kate. But Meg wasn’t a threat to Camilla who’s husband clearly loves her. A jealousy Kate does have for Camilla. The queen liked Meg over Kate. The courtiers, the Cambridges clearly had a vendetta against Meg cause she was getting all the attention. The crowds were literally like Diana’s. She brought a modern fashion game to the UK. The storyline is BS. You have to remember when they visited undercover before Invictus. Camilla got seven minutes and when they was at the Thanksgiving service. Meghan clearly turned her head away from them when they first walked in. They met with Charles during the jubilee but the rota never mentioned Camilla. So why include her name unless you’re trying to get in more papers
I don’t think Charles liked Meghan over Kate. Why would his people tell her they didn’t have money for her and she should keep working as an actress while he happily writes the check for Kate’s wardrobe if he did? And from later conversations it sounds like he kind of forced Meghan to let him walk her down the aisle.
I thought that remark was by PHILIP (to keep working to pay for her clothes). No??
You know there were those initial stories about how Camilla was thought to be not good enough to marry the future king. Sophie and Kate faced similar scrutiny because of their “middle class back grounds” (horrors!) So here comes Meghan and it looks like she was embraced by everyone (on the surface at least). So I wonder if that is part of the jealousy from those three, along with Meghan getting a lot of attention. Harry just gets to fall in love and swoop up his bride while the three of them didn’t get that experience. So maybe that is part of it, combined of course that none of these women appear to be good, decent human beings. Camilla the gas lighting cheater, Kate the mean girl stalker and Sophie the two faced one.
I think Camilla supports Charles, and that’s it. Anything unpleasant that swirls around him gets batted away by her, if she can. All the rest of the royal family mean little to her–she has her own children, her own grandchildren. Charles’ family is none of her affair, in a manner of speaking.
@Merricat – Totally agree. 🙂
Anything-else is PR spin. Kate being filmed while photographing Camilla was good PR for both of them. They may have a polite relationship but, I doubt they’re besties! The only thing they appear to have in common is that they are both future QCs.
As for Meghan! Well, if I had a “good” relationship with someone, I would my utmost to ensure they’re seen a good light. I definitely wouldn’t fan the flames of spite and bile to the point where they’re on a brink of suicide.
What’s most interesting about the article is there’s nothing about her relationship with the two brothers and their children. Surely, they’re deserving of a mention? W&K visiting C&C wth the children would be much better PR. A story about face-timing with H&M with Archie charging around behind them and/or Lili screaming because she needs attention would be what I considered a “good” relationship.
I think Cam will do whatever is needed to stay in Will’s good graces. If she outlives Chuck, Wm as king will control the pursestrings and thus Cam’s “widow’s pension” from the RF.
I completely agree, Merricat.
I am not so happy with the Kate as photographer spin. Since she really did not do any serious training or was ever a professional. I know though that the purpose probably was to show they “all get along.”
Kate’s photos show her lack of skill. Only the sycophants in the British media pretend that those photos would be considered acceptable for the publication of a book. Camilla knows this and was looking to snow she gets along with everyone.
I really don’t understand this whole “Camilla gets along with everyone” press her camp is trying to feed the public all of a sudden. For the longest time, it seemed Camilla didn’t care about the any other members of the BRF (apart from Charles) outside of keeping a cordial relationship with the Queen (her boss essentially). We always knew she was more into her own family and hanging out with her kids and grandkids. Now we’re supposed to believe she is a super friendly gal who gets along with everyone? I am starting to suspect she is the one who made a crack about Archie’s skin color… it fits.
IIRC, Camilla was against Will and Waity’s marriage because she dreaded being compared to a younger woman.
Uh, who did she expect him to marry, Kate’s mother instead of Kate? William was always going to marry a younger woman, Camilla must have been delusional to think otherwise. If Camilla had a lick of sense she would be glad that the press would have someone else to focus on instead of her. Instead its “Yes, I know I’m a gas lighting homewrecker but don’t I have an amazing garden?!”
Weren’t we told that Charles was furious about Harry’s memoir because he was going to trash Camilla? That doesn’t jibe with Camilla and Meghan having a good relationship. That’s in addition to what we heard specifically about Camilla disliking Meg.
I wonder if William or Kate was making up stuff about Camilla vs Harry/Meghan to distract from their own issues and also make it seem like everyone hates Meg like they do. And maybe after talking with Harry, Charles agreed to put his foot down and stop those stories.
IDK if Cam likes Meg but I don’t see her directly causing drama.
I think this is an attempt by someone at Clarence house to even out the “Camilla and Kate are BFF” thing that has been happening in the wake of Kate stepping in to take Camilla’s portrait and further stories about how very close those two are. I think Camilla is shrewd enough to try to keep a foot in both camps, so to speak.
What’s interesting is the push behind the Kate and Camilla are besties thing, because William is careful to be civil to Camilla, but I don’t ever remember him doing more than was necessary to be friendly to Cam. Is this more keen peacemaking at work, Kate the great working hard to take the credit for Camilla and William’s eventual rapprochement? Charles for one would not appreciate Keen swooping in and grabbing credit for his decade of PR efforts. Maybe this is a way of throwing cold water on yet another failed royal lynchpin move. You hate to see it.
Kaiser I agree with you 💯 on one thing the only close relationship in the Royal family Harry and Meghan have are with Eugenie and her husband and son, everyone else (except for the Queen) is pretty much non existent
The whole bull crap story of how close Camilla is with Meghan and they are best friends I think is just wishful thinking! Why would they be close with certain family members who betrayed them
Camilla is very VERY shrewd. Lest we forget, when she was first introduced to Charles she famously quipped “My great-grandmother and your great-great-grandfather were lovers. So how about it?” When her girlfriends started marrying wealthy, titled men she was asked why she hadn’t found herself one. Her answer? “I’m waiting for a king”. From the get-go her focus was landing a big fish, and despite her relationship with Andrew Parker-Bowles, there was much cheating on both sides so when she was introduced to Charles and they hit it off, she started an affair with him as AP-B was off shagging Princess Anne.
The embiggening and embellishment of her over the years is so galling. She’s a scheming, manipulative, cunning old slapper who did everything she could to keep Charles in her life. I remember when Diana said “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” That says it all.
I’m sure she thinks she has a nice relationship because people are cordial to her. On a side note, has Camilla had a stroke. Her mouth looks odd in the last few photos I have seen of her
I think when Meghan came into the family, she was a mirror that they could see themselves in. It wasn’t a pretty picture, compared to someone who is intelligent, confident, beautiful, compassionate, already a success financially and was a humanitarian with the deets to prove it.
Can you imagine how this made them feel? Add all of the above to being a POC and an American and you can see how there was an explosion–I’m just surprised that it wasn’t heard around the world. Perhaps it was with the smear campaign.
What just really put them over the top was the fact that she “outed” Harry. The spare who they had worked hard at being known as the dim one and who kept doing things that garnered negative publicity. As anyone who had been paying attention knew, Harry is intelligent, great at diplomacy, a humanitarian and compassionate. He was the one who was building programs/projects to help others. Programs/projects that will outlive him.
IMO, Cam was as much affected by all of this as the others were. I don’t think she had a good relationship with Meghan. It’s possible she was polite. That’s all I’ve got–that doesn’t equate to a good relationship. If anyone thinks that Cam and KHate are friendly? No, No and No. I think KHate at this point is cautious with Cam. She pushed the let’s skip over Chuck and crown Wont one time too many, and she knows it. I think Cam won’t get any push back by Willi when Chuck becomes King, so she can keep KHate in her place very effectively. Willi doesn’t care what KHate thinks–she sure isn’t keeping him calmed down. I suspect that she would only p!ss him off if she tries to manipulate him at this point.
The Sussexes and Eugenie excepted, they all seem like a bunch of miserable morons.
End of day so I will slip in this possibly unpopular comment. For as bright as Meghan is, and a well travelled woman who knows a lot of people and has contacts all over, she was surprisingly naive and unquestioning about marrying into the most toxic family in earth. Red flags were all over the place. She had a lap top, she can Google and read up on many years of petty, out of touch behavior. I get it ; she was blinded by love & wanted Harry and a famliy,, but friends tried to tell her what could happen. She either didn’t believe they could try to destroy her or she just didn’t pay attention to the warning signs, naively and somewhat innocently thinking she could deal with the attention. She was a working actress, after all, accustomed to flash bulbs and paparazzi. She underestimated the pettiness and narcissism and jealousy and racism headed her way. The warning signs were all there.
The problem with pulling out a laptop to Google members of BRF is painfully obvious by all the stories on this blog. Royal stories tend to be works of fiction, possibly with elements of truth; sometimes authored by one of the palaces, possibly by the principals; are unverifiable with no named, accountable ‘sources’ and NEVER BEFORE included a woman of color. There was also precious little written about the true ‘role’ of the ‘spare,’ especially as it had evolved with a work-shy heir (who should have shouldered more responsibility rather than dump it on his brother) and his equally lazy wife. Princess Margaret was not equivalent comparison because her sister worked! Recall how Harry was the one doing tours (2014 S. America (Brazil, Chile); 2014 Estonia, Italy; 2014 Oman, Abu Dhabi; 2015 Australia, New Zealand; 2016 Caribbean 7 countries.) Meghan discussed how Harry had tried to help her understand the role, but “nothing” could have prepared her for what actually happened – she said this during both her engagement and Oprah interviews. I think external observers of H-and-M are the ones being naive if they think a superficial Google search of however many decades of royal reporting would have been sufficient to uncover how much nastiness, vitriol, lies, innuendo and hatred was actually directed at them, not to mention all the people trying to brazenly profit off their high profile.
I don’t think Meghan was naive not in the least. I can’t imagine how she would be prepared for the negativity in the press, the way William behaved (which was abominable), and Kate letting a false story in the media about Meghan stay. Even baby Archie was not spared by the media. I don’t see how anybody could be prepared for such horrors.
To be fair if meghan google about how the press and royals threat married in such as kate.
The issues they had for kate is kate is lazy. That’s it.
If i was meghan, i would think: hey, i’m bright and hardworking, i know how to handle medias because i had never had problem with them.
She is not naive. She was ready to be a princess along harry. What she is not ready is for the family to attack her out of jealousy.
Hard disagree. Meghan was like most Americans; she knew a little bit about Diana’s life, knew she had two sons, maybe saw clips/photos of the bigger royal weddings, but that’s about it. That’s not naivety at all. I think royal watchers (even those of us who only watch for the drama and dislike royals) vastly overestimate how much people pay attention to the RF in the UK, let alone the world. You have people in Britain not even knowing that Elizabeth has four children or that Louis exists (well, they certainly know now after the Jubbly). And I can see why Meghan wouldn’t want to Google Harry after being set up on a date with him because she already knew that headlines and stories don’t always paint the full picture of the person. Even being friends with Eugenie beforehand wouldn’t mean much in terms of knowledge because it’s doubtful they’d spend time discussing Eugenie’s family.
From seeing them on British TV I thought Camilla and Charles got on much better with Harry and Meghan than they did William and Kate. I never used to see W and K communicate with them even when together and Kate used to stand on the best places on balconies and thunder past C and C to get off balconies after the Queen. Diana said Harry was the son closest to Charles when he was growing up.
I have seen Camilla shut Kate and a foreign royal up for talking at an event and Charles was certainly welcoming to Meghan.
I cannot see that Camilla would not be welcoming to Meghan.
Camilla started mocking meghan at the wedding. She also mocked her while m was pregnant in public for all to see. This was while m had suicidal ideation and she would have known that. So camilla’s only friend is Camilla. This is a bs article
Charles favors will and Kate imo gave will free rein to drive out harry
@Julia K, Meghan said that she thought things would be tough but fair. She’s a confident, intelligent, ambitious and successful young woman. In her experience, she saw how applying herself with determination and hard work yielded positive results. How could she ever have fathomed what was in store for her behind palace walls on Salty Isle?
Meghan is comfortable with both sides of her heritage. While she knew what discriminatory reactions were like from ignorant people, and she had witnessed first hand her mother being called the ‘N’ word, at the same time Meghan had received a level of white cache and acceptance due to her fair skin. However, none of these outside reactions detracted from her strong sense of self and her grounded understanding of both sides of her heritage.
The kicker is just that Meghan most likely had never directly felt the full-on brutal racism that she was bombarded with for being herself, falling in love with, and marrying a coveted British royal prince. How could anyone be prepared for the levels of ongoing depraved hatred and jealousy against Meghan, that show no signs of abating any time soon?
^^ At the same time, let’s not forget that Meghan was lied to by Knauf (Knife) and by other palace operatives, who falsely told her that she would be protected! Even as they told Meghan this lie, they were making plans to undermine her.
The plans to smear and barrage Meghan via the media ratcheted up after she became pregnant, and especially post M&H’s resounding success during the South Pacific tour. Upon M&H’s return to the U.K. in November 2018, the rota and tabloids were given carte blanche to attack Meghan, no-holds-barred!
why not those are two shrewd women who used all tactics to be in the royal fold and go rid of ANYONE who tried to challenge them, old haggard women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope Meghan and Harry choose to present in their daily lives.
In my humble opinion, I hope they embrace the option of joy, and not wait until things out of their control are ‘normal’ .
Choose love, joy, peace and grace even if you are in the middle of the storm, you cannot control the storm but you can control your reactions to it.
Self awareness leads to understanding the spaces you occupy and beyond.
Edit.
I hope that Meghan and Harry are present on a daily basis.
Camilla cares for no one in the royal family but Charles. On that I am crystal clear.
I think you are right. There is certainly no suggestion that any of the RF but Prince Charles are going to be at the dinner he is hosting for her at Highgrove tonight. Only her “own” family. She is very close to her son and daughter and to her sister. “Adored” her late brother. She also has her own home.