Prince Harry and Prince William may have complicated feelings around the crowning of Queen Camilla beside their father, King Charles, at the upcoming coronation. Seeing Queen Camilla crowned alongside King Charles on coronation day may be fraught for Prince William and Prince Harry, whose mother Princess Diana had been destined for the role. “They are likely feeling a little wobbly about it,” royal author Ingrid Seward tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “I think a lot of people will feel the same.”
Palace sources always insisted that Prince William, 41, and Prince Harry, 38, who grew up with the knowledge of their father’s affair with Camilla, were welcoming to their stepmother. A family friend says “there wasn’t any animosity,” and Prince Harry voiced support for Camilla in 2005, saying that he and William “love her to bits” and that she was “not the wicked stepmother.” However, in his sweeping memoir Spare, released earlier this year, the Duke of Sussex wrote that he and Prince William were glad their father found happiness but didn’t want Charles to marry Camilla. Prince Harry also accused Camilla of leaking details of private conversations to the press.
“He was justified in his complaint that he and William were used in the early days to legitimize the partnership of Charles and [Camilla],” royal biographer and A Greater Love author Christopher Wilson tells PEOPLE. “Over time, she’s learned to roll with the punches. Harry’s feelings have been well-known to her over many years. Her reaction to Harry’s comments would be limited to a sad shake of the head.” Despite the controversy, some say Camilla, 75, has earned her place as Queen alongside King Charles, 74. “She has done a lot to show she is prepared for it and has a right to be in the modern world,” biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE. “And there has never been any doubt that Charles wants her there as Queen.” Seward adds, “William is quite calm about it. But it will stick in Harry’s throat a bit.”
Although it was announced when Charles and Camilla married in 2005 that she would be known as Princess Consort when Charles took the throne, Queen Elizabeth put an end to the title speculation in Feb. 2022 as she marked the 70th anniversary of her accession. The late monarch, who died in September at age 96, wrote, “When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”
Camilla spoke out for the first time about the title shortly after the announcement during a visit to the community kitchen Nourish Hub in London. “I feel very, very honored and very touched,” she said. As the crowning ceremony draws near, it remains unclear if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will travel to the U.K. for the historic service. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have resided in Meghan’s home state of California since 2020 after stepping back as senior members of the royal family, have been invited to the event at Westminster Abbey.
Come what may, “Queen Camilla” was not a title the one-time Camilla Parker Bowles ever imagined holding. But on May 6, she will be symbolically crowned alongside her husband at a historic coronation rich in tradition with modern touches. “Considering that for most of her life she’d never contemplated the idea of becoming Queen, she’s doing incredibly well,” Wilson tells PEOPLE. “It’s a hell of a challenge being permanently in the spotlight at this age, but she’s tough and can take it.”
