Prince Harry has spoken candidly about his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, and his hurt when his father’s wife allegedly turned his bedroom into her dressing room.
The Duke of Sussex shared the claim in his forthcoming memoir Spare, which is slated for release on 10 January. He alleged that the Queen Consort changed over his room at Clarence House in London shortly after he moved out, according to Page Six, which saw an advanced copy of the book.
The duke said that although he “tried not to care,” he couldn’t help but be upset by the change.
“I tried not to care. But especially the first time I saw it, I cared,” he recalled.
Harry’s claim follows a similar one made by author Tina Brown in her recent book The Palace Papers. She alleged that the Queen Consort turned the duke’s bedroom in Highgrove House into her dressing room.
In that book, Brown also claimed that Harry “can’t stand” his father’s second wife and “resents” her, according to The Mirror.
The duke’s recollection about the changes Camilla made to his bedroom is one of numerous candid revelations he shares about his father’s second wife in his forthcoming memoir.
In the book, Harry claims that he and his older brother Prince William “begged” their father not to marry Camilla after the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.
Charles and Camilla famously engaged in an affair during the now-King’s marriage to Diana, which lasted from 1981 to 1996. Charles announced his engagement to Camilla in February 2005, with the pair tying the knot on 9 April 2005.
According to Harry, he was fearful Camilla would become his and William’s “wicked stepmother” if she were to marry Charles.
“I remember wondering... if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the evil stepmothers in the stories,” he writes, according to the DailyMail.
As for his first introduction to the Queen Consort, Harry reportedly likened the meeting to an “injection,” with the duke writing: “Close your eyes and you won’t even feel it.”
The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
