Past the point of no return? Stony-faced Charles emerges as Harry crosses King’s ‘red line’ with attack on Camilla in his memoir
- King Charles is seen for the first time since excerpts of ‘Spare’ were leaked
- Harry’s autobiography says he and William begged Charles not to marry Camilla
- Charles pleaded with sons not to make his ‘final years a misery,’ book also says
A pensive-looking King Charles has been seen in public for the first time after bombshell allegations made by Prince Harry in his memoir ‘Spare’ were leaked.
The King was pictured leaving Sandringham House in Norfolk this afternoon, where he has been staying for the festive period.
His appearance came hours after revelations in Harry’s book were reported – including claims he and William begged their father not to marry Camilla after Diana’s death.
Other revelations in the book include King Charles allegedly pleading with his warring sons William and Harry not to make his ‘final years a misery’.
A copy of Spare – due to be published on January 10 – was obtained by the Guardian, before copies accidentally went on sale in Spain.
King Charles seen leaving Sandringham for the first time since excerpts from ‘Spare’ were leaked
Harry pictured yesterday with his dog Pula hours before revelations from his book were leaked
King Charles pleaded with his warring sons William and Harry not to make his ‘final years a misery’, the Duke of Sussex ‘s bombshell book has revealed
The Duke of Sussex alleges in the autobiography that he and his brother would not stand in the way of the then-Prince of Wales’s relationship but had asked him not to walk down the aisle for the second time, calling Camilla the ‘Other Woman’.
Charles had tried to win his sons over before asking the public to accept Camilla, the book claims. Harry says that meeting her for the first time was like an ‘injection’.
Charles had tried to win his sons over before asking the public to accept Camilla, according to a translation of the book obtained by MailOnline.
In another passage from Harry’s highly anticipated autobiography, leaked to The Guardian newspaper, the duke recounts a meeting with his father and brother after Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
In the tell-all memoir, he recalls Charles standing between himself and the heir ‘looking up at our flushed faces’.
Harry then quotes his father as saying: ‘Please boys, don’t make my final years a misery.’
Harry also claimed his brother William grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor during a heated argument over his wife, the Duchess of Sussex
Princes William, Harry and King Charles III pictured at the Queen’s funeral in September 2022
Prince Charles and his sons William and Harry as children at Kensington Palace
The young royals with their father at Kensington Palace in June 1989
The then-Prince of Wales with Harry and William at Balmoral, Scotland, in August 1997
Prince Harry has previously given insights into the relationship with his father, including in 2017, when he guest edited the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
During an interview with his father, Prince Harry revealed the two would talk for ‘hours and hours’ about Charles’ passion for the environment and affectionately referred to him a ‘Pa’.
He also revealed how he valued his father’s opinion saying: ‘I do end up picking your brains more now than I ever have done.’
That same year, the two princes paid tribute to their father for being ‘there for us’ following the death of Princess Diana, during a BBC documentary to mark the 12th anniversary of her death.
Both princes were staying at Balmoral with their father in 1997, when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, and it was up to Prince Charles to break the news to his sons.
Harry said of his father: ‘One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died.
‘How you deal with that, I don’t know. But, you know, he was there for us. He was the one of the two left.
‘He tried to do his best and to make sure that we were protected and looked after but he was going through the same grieving process as well.’
In 2018, Prince Harry married Meghan at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, during which Prince Charles walked the Duchess of Sussex down the aisle.
Speaking of the moment his father stepped in, he told a BBC documentary: ‘I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming, and he immediately said “yes, of course, I’ll do whatever Meghan needs and I’m here to support you.”
‘For him, that’s a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know he’s our father so of course he’s going to be there for us.’
Prince Charles, William and Harry, attend the commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge in Lille, France in 2017
A royal Christmas tradition: Members of the royal family seen walking to church at Sandringham in 2001
Princes William and Harry with their father on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in August 2000 for the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday celebrations
The wedding took place just weeks before the Prince of Wales celebrated his 70th birthday at a special Buckingham Palace garden party.
During the celebrations, the Duke made a touching speech paying tribute to his father.
He said: ‘It is your selfless drive to affect change, whether that is to improve the lives of those who are on the wrong path, to save an important piece of our national heritage or to protect a particular species under threat, which William and I draw inspiration from every day.
‘So, Pa, while I know that you’ve asked that today not be about you, you must forgive me if I don’t listen to you – much like when I was younger – and instead, I ask everyone here to say a huge thank you to you, for your incredible work over nearly 50 years.’
Princes Harry and Charles skiing in Canada in 1998
Princess Diana with Harry, William and Prince Charles on the deck of the Royal Yacht Britannia in May 1985
The royals enjoying a skiing break in Switzerland in 1995
Ten years later: Princes Harry (left), William (right) with father the then Prince Charles (centre) during a ski break in Switzerland in 2005
Prince Charles with his sons Harry and William viewing floral tributes to Princess Diana outside Kensington Palace following her death in 1997
But by the end of 2019, there were signs that their relationship was beginning to fray.
In the 2020 biography Finding Freedom, about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, co-author Omid Scobie said both William and Harry have ‘in the past, run hot and cold with their father’.
The book explained: ‘He’s not just their father, he’s also the future king and their boss – he’s the purse-keeper.
‘There are many political things here which can feed into a very up-and-down relationship, and it was felt by those at Clarence House that it was a headache to put together.’
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview revealed further signs of a rocky relationship between the pair, with the Duke revealing that his father had stopped taking his calls as the couple prepared to step back as senior royals.
The royal family gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the RAF flypast in 2018
Prince William, Charles and Harry attend the Invictus Games in London in 2014
During the tell-all chat with Oprah, Harry also said his family ‘literally cut me off financially’, adding that he felt ‘really let down’ by his father.
‘Of course I will always love him but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that,’ he said.
Despite putting on a united front for Prince Philip’s funeral, their relationship continued to appear strained.
In a podcast on parenting, Harry hinted at a turbulent childhood, saying that he wanted to ‘break the cycle’ of the ‘pain and suffering’ of his upbringing with his own children.
The prince, who at that time in May 2021 was expecting his second child with wife Meghan, likened his life to being ‘a mixture between The Truman Show and being in a zoo’.
Princes Harry and William with their father Charles in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1993
The family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2002
Princes Harry and William with their father Charles at a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday in June 2006
Speaking on the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, he said: ‘I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically.
‘It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say “you know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you”.’
He continued: ‘I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it together and go “OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he’s treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?”
‘And here I am, I moved my whole family to the US, that wasn’t the plan but sometimes you’ve got make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first.’
Prince Charles with his sons Harry and William at a service of thanksgiving for the life of Diana, Princess of wales in August 2007
Prince Charles with sons William and Harry pictured in the Swiss village of Klosters at the start of their annual skiing holiday in March 2002
The family seen enjoying a bike ride together at the Sandringham estate in NorfolK
When Harry and Meghan flew back to London to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June last year, they did not join other royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the trooping the colour – as they had previously done in 2018.
The Queen had decided that only working royals would gather on the balcony for the traditional fly-past, however they did join other family members for other parts of the celebrations including a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Hinting at hopes of reconciliation, Prince Harry last week admitted he would ‘like to have my father and brother back’ as he launched a publicity blitz for his memoir.
Fifteen things to expect from Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’
While Buckingham Palace is refusing to comment or get caught up in a ‘pointless tit for tat’ public row with the Sussexes, there is a degree of ‘apprehension’ about what Harry’s memoir will include.
A source with knowledge of the book told The Sunday Times they believed it would cause irrevocable damage to the brothers’ relationship.
The source told the newspaper: ‘Generally, I think the book [will be] worse for them than the Royal Family is expecting.
‘Everything is laid bare. Charles comes out of it better than I had expected, but it’s tough on William, in particular, and even Kate gets a bit of a broadside.
‘There are these minute details, and a description of the fight between the brothers. I personally can’t see how Harry and William will be able to reconcile after this.’
In the Harry & Meghan Netflix series, Harry, 38, accused his father of lying to him as the family attempted to negotiate a ‘Megxit’ deal for the couple at a crisis summit in Sandringham in January 2020.
He said it was ‘terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in’.
He also claimed senior royals were jealous of Meghan’s popularity and attempted to tear her down by planting negative stories against her in the media.
The Sunday Times source said the book – due to be published on January 10 – explored Harry’s grief over the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
They told the newspaper: ‘The overall impression is that this is a man who has never recovered from the trauma of his mother dying so young, and then along comes Meghan and he projects on to her a parallel with Diana.’
Harry and William ‘will NEVER reconcile after his book’: Insider says tell-all ‘lets King Charles off lightly but is tough on William – and even throws a broadside at Kate’
Spare is written by JR Moehringer, a Pulitzer prize-winning former journalist who was also the ghost-writer for Andre Agassi’s best-selling autobiography.
The book’s publisher Penguin Random House claims it will be a ‘landmark publication’, telling his story with ‘raw, unflinching honesty’.
He has already recorded an ITV interview in California with its News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby, a former royal correspondent who has known both William and Harry for decades.
In an extraordinary excerpt from his upcoming book, Harry has also claimed he was physically attacked by his brother over his marriage to Meghan.
He alleged the confrontation took place at his London home in 2019 and left him with a visible injury to his back after the Prince of Wales grabbed him by the collar, ripped his necklace and knocked him to the floor.
Harry also claimed William had called the US actress ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’ – comments which the younger brother said parroted ‘the Press narrative’ about his wife.
The ‘extraordinary scene’ is ‘one of many in Spare’, according to The Guardian newspaper which said it was able to obtain a copy of the book despite ‘stringent pre-launch security around the book’.
Its article goes on to say that Harry claimed his elder brother had wanted to discuss ‘the whole rolling catastrophe’ of their relationship and struggles with the Press.
Royal sources have said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to join the family this Christmas. Pictured: King Charles and his wife Camilla lead the Royal Family on a walkabout at Sandringham on Christmas Day
But when William arrived at Nottingham Cottage – where Harry was then living – in the grounds of Kensington Palace, the Prince of Wales was already ‘piping hot’.
Insults were then exchanged between the two men, before William claimed he was trying to help. Harry writes he found the comments incredulous and informed his brother of such, angering William.
So much so, Harry writes, that the Prince of Wales swore and stepped forwards.
Duke of Sussex needs to decide ‘what he wants’ amid reports Harry and William will struggle to ‘reconcile after his tell-all memoir’, royal expert warns
Harry writes that William urged him to hit back but he refused. Shortly afterwards though, his elder brother apologised.
He also claims that following the argument he called his therapist instead of his wife.
It comes as Prince Harry’s suggestions that his family have shown no desire to reconcile with him were tossed aside by royal sources who say his father invited him to visit over Christmas.
The Duke of Sussex claimed a potential reunion with his relatives in the UK did not seem on the cards, saying his father and brother had ‘absolutely no willingness to reconcile’.
He made the claim in a trailer for an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, part of the publicity blitz for his memoir.
But insiders at Buckingham Palace have branded the claims ‘nonsense’ and said Harry and his wife Meghan had an open invitation to join the rest of the Firm this Christmas.
That is despite the release of their bombshell Netflix programme last month, which saw them launch a series of attacks on the monarchy.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, one source said the latest claim by Harry was ‘complete and unadulterated nonsense’.
There are fears there will be no chance of reconciliation after the publication of Harry’s memoir. Pictured: William, Harry, Meghan and Kate at Westminster Abbey in 2018
They said: ‘It takes some audacity to say that when his father invited him to stay at his house when in the UK, invited him to spend Christmas with the rest of the family and continued to make public statements of support.’
Royal experts say Harry and Meghan need to learn ‘silence is common sense’ after prince claims he wants reconciliation during publicity blitz for new book
They also told the publication: ‘[The King] has been saddened that he hasn’t had the opportunity to spend time with his grandchildren. He has always left the door open for his son and will continue to do so.’
Representatives of Prince Harry have been contacted for comment.
Before ‘Spare’ is published in the UK next week, two interviews with Harry by Mr Bradby and CBS’s Anderson Cooper, both conducted at a hired ranch in Montecito, will be released.
In a trailer for the sit-down with Mr Bradby, the Duke of Sussex said he would ‘like to have my father and brother back’, adding his family ‘have shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile’.
Harry says ‘it never needed to be this way’ and refers to ‘the leaking and the planting’ before adding ‘I want a family, not an institution’.
He also says, in an apparent reference to the royals, ‘they feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains’ – something not likely to help the frayed relationship between the Sussexes and the rest of the Firm which sources say is already ‘hanging by a thread’.
But one royal expert said Harry and Meghan need to learn ‘silence is common sense’ and that airing dirty laundry in public is not likely to help bring about the reconciliation the duke claims he wants.
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