King Charles and Queen Camilla were just spotted in public for the first time following the release of Prince Harry‘s buzzworthy and groundbreaking memoir, Spare.
The King, 74, and Queen Consort, 75, were photographed by paparazzi while driving together to Crathie Kirk near Balmoral Castle on January 15th, five days after Spare hit shelves.
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King Charles And Queen Camilla Spotted Driving Together After Spare Release
Craithe Kirk, as People reports, is the British royal family’s “go-to church” while in Scotland, and Charles was behind the wheel of an Audi vehicle while on the way there.
In Harry’s memoir Spare, he opens up about the panful grief and trauma he endured following his mother Princess Diana’s tragic death, the British press’ consistent attacks on his wife Meghan Markle, and also drops a few resentful bombshells when it comes to his stepmother, Camilla (who infamously engaged with Charles in an affair when he was married to Diana).
The King and Queen Consort’s relationship is a notablle theme in Spare. In the book, Harry also revealed that he and his brother Prince William begged their father not to marry Camilla (whom Charles had an on-again, off-again relationship with since the 1970s). The King is reportedly very upset that Harry included this in Spare.
#PrinceHarry’s autobiography caused so many headaches for his family! #KingCharles #QueenCamilla https://t.co/rO6koIDAZp
— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 17, 2023
Charles Reportedly ‘Distraught’ With Harry’s Memoir And Camilla Content
According to an anonymous source who spoke to US Weekly, Charles is “distraught” that Harry called his stepmother “dangerous” and insinuated that she planted stories about other members of the royal family to protect her own reputation (as she was known by many to be the former mistress of the future king).
“He’s angry and outraged that Harry’s aired so many embarrassing and damaging assertions, and it’s put him in a terrible position with Camilla, of course, now that she’s been dragged into the equation,” the insider said.
“That’s really crossed the line in more ways than one, but there are so many egregious comments and revelations from Harry that his father doesn’t know where to start. He has hope that, in time, the dust will settle and Harry will soften his heart toward his family—at least he hopes so. But he’s not going to push or apologize.”
NEW: In his new autobiography SPARE, Prince Harry claims that he and Prince William asked their father, King Charles III, not to marry Queen Camilla prior to their wedding in 2005. #SparebyPrinceHarry #PrinceHarry #Royal pic.twitter.com/qX0JRBNKyd
— Royal Circular (@Royal_Circular) January 5, 2023
Prince Harry Deems Camilla To Be ‘Dangerous’
In Spare, Harry writes, “I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she’d be less dangerous if she was happy.” Then, one week ago during his 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper, Harry explained that Camilla was “dangerous” because of the “need for her to rehabilitate her image.”
Harry added, “That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade off information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.”
Harry alleged in his book that a “gung ho” member of Charles’ team “devised and launched a new campaign of getting good press” for Charles and Camilla before their controversial 2005 wedding. According to Harry, this strategy came “at the expense of bad press” for him and Prince William.
Still, Harry was able to look back on some moments with Camilla, fondly. In Spare, he also details their first meeting, “I recall wondering, right before the tea, if she’d be mean to me. If she’d be like all the wicked stepmothers in the storybooks. But she wasn’t. Like Willy, I did feel a real gratitude for that,” Harry wrote.
He also recently dished to People Magazine more about his decision to tell his story, “I don’t want to tell anyone what to think of it and that includes my family.” He went on, telling the publication, “This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It’s a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between.”
“My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone’s life, well, I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that!” he added.
