It’s no secret that Queen Camilla has had a hard time shaking off the cartoon villain image which had been created for her.

There were genuine moments which showed her in a bad light, such as her extra-marital affair with King Charles, as well as a string of rumours such as her stockpiling cigarettes and having a gin habit.

But behind many of the cruel nicknames were two young boys who were grieving the loss of their mother – and feared a fairytale evil stepmother.

Prince Harry and Prince William were just 12 and 15 years old when their mother, Princess Diana died.

Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare made some shocking accusations against the Royal Family, including Camilla’s role in his father’s life.

He wrote: ‘I had complex feelings about gaining a stepparent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.

‘In a funny way, I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy?’

He further elaborated during an interview with CBS, claiming members of the Firm were ‘getting into bed with the devil’ to earn positive media coverage.

+6
View gallery

Pictured: Charles and Camilla on the steps of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor following the church blessing of their civil wedding ceremony in April 2005

+6
View gallery

Harry and William – pictured at Charles and Camilla’s wedding – were just 12 and 15 years old when their mother died

+6
View gallery

Harry is pictured with his beloved mother, Princess Diana, who died on August 31, 1997

Harry said: ‘That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging with the British press.

‘There was open willingness on both sides to trade information.

‘And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to becoming queen consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street.’

A year after Diana passed in 1997, Charles and Camilla appeared publicly as a couple.

But their relationship had been bubbling under the surface for many years prior and the two divorced their partners after a flurry of scandal, including the ‘Tampongate’ recordings.

Tom Quinn wrote in his book, Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, that as teenagers, Harry and William had a slew of nicknames for Camilla, including Lady Macbeth, Cruella de Vil and the Witch of the West.

One of Harry’s servants spoke about the prince’s ‘out of proportion anger’ as Quinn wrote: ‘When most people think of Harry they perhaps think of that sad-looking boy following his mother’s coffin after her death in 1997.

‘Many of Harry’s problems do stem from that disaster in his early life, but people forget he is also his father’s son.

‘Harry was probably one of the most muddled of all the royals of his generation.’

+6
View gallery

Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare made some shocking accusations against the Royal Family, including Camilla’s role in his father’s life

+6
View gallery

The Daily Mail front page on July 9 1998. The main story refers to the time William met Camilla for the first time in June 1998

It appears time may not be the greatest healer as Harry’s resentment towards Camilla does not seem to have mellowed.

In his bombshell book Harry claimed that he and William ‘begged’ their father not to marry Camilla.

Charles had tried to win over his sons before asking the public to accept Camilla, the book claims.

Harry then says meeting the future Queen Consort for the first time was like enduring an ‘injection’.

But award-winning journalist and author Robert Jobson has since questioned Harry’s claims, saying the Duke of Sussex’s description of Camilla as a ‘wicked stepmother’ seems ‘weird’ considering he was a grown man at the time, not a child.

Charles and Camilla married in April 2005 when Harry was nearly 21.

But Harry has regularly showed himself to be an unreliable narrator.

He admitted to suffering from a ‘spotty memory’ when writing his memoir but insisted his version of events has ‘just as much truth’ as ‘so-called objective facts’.

His retelling of his emotions before Charles and Camilla’s wedding appears to conflict with quotes he gave to the press shortly after the nuptials.

‘She’s always been very close to me and William… She’s not the wicked stepmother,’ he said at the time, according to People.

‘She’s a wonderful woman and she’s made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing.’

Three months after the book’s publication an aide told The Sunday Times of Camilla’s response to Harry’s claims, saying: ‘It was not stamping of feet or gnashing of teeth – it was much more of an eye-roll response.’

Camilla’s close friend Fiona Shelburne, Lady Lansdowne also told the newspaper: ‘Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts.

‘But she doesn’t let it get to her. Her philosophy is always, “Don’t make a thing of it and it will settle down – least said, soonest mended.” ‘

+6
View gallery

Harry’s retelling of his emotions before Charles and Camilla’s wedding appears to conflict with quotes he gave to the press shortly after the nuptials

As recently as 2023 MailOnline reported Queen Camilla had no relationship with the Sussexes.

According to Omid Scobie’s book Endgame, while the queen has ‘great sympathy’ for what Meghan went through, a royal source told the author that she has ‘no respect for the way they handled themselves’.

The book points out that while Camilla is a rock for Charles, while William and Harry accepted that, it took some time for them to develop any kind of relationship.

But like the public (which, the book says, ‘finally…tolerated, then later accepted’ the Duchess of Cornwall) William has become closer to his stepmother.

In fact, according to author Omid Scobie: ‘In the early days it would have been unimaginable to think that one day William and Kate would meet Charles and Camilla for laugh-filled lunches but the two couples have grown increasingly closer over the years, especially since the Sussexes’ departure.’

Harry’s relationship with both William and Charles have been notoriously strained.

Last week it was reported that Harry promised his father he could be trusted to stay quiet about their private discussions before they met for the first time in more than 18 months.

The Duke of Sussex spent 54 minutes having a cup of tea with King Charles at Clarence House in London yesterday as part of ‘rebuilding their father-and-son relationship‘.

When they met in February 2024 after the monarch was diagnosed with cancer, Harry’s audience was limited to just over 15 minutes.

A royal source has said that Harry is determined to ‘reset’ his relationship with his family, and the British people, after years of turmoil caused by Megxit – starting first with his father.

‘This is an important first step towards rebuilding their father-and-son relationship’, a royal insider told the Daily Mail today.

‘He has told his father he won’t be giving any interviews about it and his team have been instructed not to brief journalists about what was said.

‘There’s a long way to go before Harry can earn his family’s trust but he’s given some assurances.’

William did not attend the Clarence House meeting but will have been aware it was going to take place, it is understood.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were out at royal events all week – and on one occasion were only three miles away from Harry but chose not to meet.

‘William would have known that this was going to happen. It’s not clear how happy he is about it but, you know, sooner or later most families reach some sort of accommodation after a family rift’, a source told the Daily Mail.