Prince Harry 'hurt' Camilla by branding her 'villain' in book, close pal …
While Queen Consort Camilla Parker-Bowles has always lived by the royal code of "never complain, never explain" she was privately very hurt by accusations levelled at her by her stepson Prince Harry, her close friend the Marchioness of Lansdowne has revealed. In his bombshell memoir, Spare, Harry claimed that Camilla had deliberately leaked stories about him and other members of the royal family to the media in order to rebuild her public image. "I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar," he wrote.
READ MORE: Prince Harry 'can expect frosty reception' from royals as he attends coronation alone He also revealed that that he and his brother Prince William had "begged" Charles not to marry Camilla, fearing she would become their "wicked stepmother".
Camilla's close friend Lady Lansdowne says the Queen Consort's 'resilience' has seen her through (Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
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While Harry's mother Princess Diana was alive, Camilla was despised be many members of the public who saw her as having come between Diana and Prince Charles - as he then was. In a TV interview promoting the book Harry described Camilla as "dangerous" and a "villain" who left "bodies in the street" as part of a campaign to rehabilitate her image.
Harry says he has 'complex feelings' about his stepmother (Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
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And the Marchioness, a close friend of Camilla's for many years, says those accusations were as puzzling as they were hurtful.
In 2018, according to biographer Angela Levin, Harry had said: "She's not a wicked stepmother. Look at the position she's coming into. Don't feel sorry for me and William, feel sorry for her.
William and I love her to bits. "She's a wonderful woman and she's made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing."
Camilla was moving in royal circles long before Diana came onto the scene (Image: Getty Images)
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Lady Lansdowne, professionally known as Fiona Shelburne, told the Sunday Times that the 1990s had been an "incredibly tough" period for Camilla, who came in for a lot of criticism as a result of her involvement with Charles. But Camilla is "resilient," says Lady Lansdowne. "She was brought up with this extraordinary sense of duty where you got on with it, don't whinge, put your best face on and keep going, and it has stood her in very good stead.
"It was horrible at times," she added, "but [Camilla's] sense of humour and knowing she had her girlfriends around her got her through."
Camilla has been accepted by most of the royal family (Image: Getty Images)
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Camilla and Harry are due to see each other for the first time next month since the book was released when The Duke of Sussex attends the King's Coronation on May 6. But it's unclear whether Camilla - or any other senior royals - will actually speak to him. Tom Quinn, author of Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family told the Daily Star: "It will be very awkward with Harry on his own - a very frosty atmosphere.
"There will be cursory nods to various people but there won't be any conversation before he disappears after the event".
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