Queen Camilla Reportedly 'Stays Out' Of Prince Harry And King Charles' Rift After Duke Labeled Her A 'Villain'
Queen Camilla is reportedly distancing herself amid escalating tensions between King Charles and Prince Harry, intensified by the duke's bombshell BBC interview and memoir "Spare."
Sources also recently shared that Charles lacks trusted advisers who can encourage reconciliation, while Prince William reportedly opposes mending ties.
Prince Harry has since been urged by royal commentators to keep a "dignified silence," warning his public comments damage trust.
Queen Camilla is avoiding the growing tensions between King Charles and his estranged son, Prince Harry.
According to palace insiders who spoke to People Magazine, the 77-year-old queen "stays out of" the ongoing family feud, especially after coming under heavy criticism in Harry's explosive memoir "Spare."
In the book, the Duke of Sussex described his stepmother as "dangerous" and "the villain," accusing her of leaking stories to the media to protect her public image.
Additionally, sources suggest the rift between Harry and his family recently intensified following a BBC interview in which Harry's remarks were seen as damaging to any remaining trust between him and his ailing father.
Although the interview may not have been intended as a direct attack, royal commentator Valentine Low noted, "it would be seen as one." She added that "It makes Charles reaching out even harder."
Royal expert Sally Bedell Smith also noted that both Charles and Prince William "don't trust Harry and Meghan with any kind of confidential conversation."
Catherine Mayer, author of "Charles: The Heart of a King," echoed this sentiment, warning that "If you have that level of breach in a family, and you are estranged, you run that risk every day of having something unfathomable to deal with."
According to People, Charles isn't expected to make the first move to reconcile with Harry largely because he's not surrounded by advisers pushing for reconciliation.
Royal commentator Valentine Low shared that the monarch lacks a "good angel in his ear to say, 'Be a good dad and make the first move.'"
Further complicating the situation is William, who, after being heavily criticized in Harry's memoir "Spare," reportedly has no interest in repairing their relationship.
Sources suggest that the Prince of Wales is firmly against any efforts to reconnect.
Meanwhile, royal commentator Joe Little believes Harry's chances of mending his fractured relationship with the royal family may be slipping away, and suggests the Duke of Sussex would be better served by keeping a "dignified silence."
Speaking to the PA news agency via the Mirror, Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, described Harry's remarks about Charles' health in the BBC interview as "quite alarming," especially given Harry's admission that he hasn't spoken to his father in some time.
"From what Harry is saying, despite admitting that he has not spoken to his father for some time, I thought it sent out a bit of a mixed message, really," Little said. "Is Harry suggesting that the King isn't as well as we are led to believe?"
Joe Little further criticized Harry's continued tendency to air grievances publicly rather than resolve them privately.
"I think for somebody who is seeking reconciliation with his father, his brother, and his family, his royal family as a whole, I think the very last thing that he should have been doing was talking publicly," Little argued.
He added that Harry's repeated public disclosures have made it difficult for the royal family to place their trust in him again.
"There is a great deal to be gained by maintaining a dignified silence — sadly, as we know from past events, this isn't Harry's way of doing things," he noted.
Little concluded by suggesting that "Maybe lessons just haven't been learned from previous occasions where also silence would have been the very best thing to maintain."
Meanwhile, Harry is reportedly exploring the possibility of legally changing his surname to "Spencer," his late mother Princess Diana's family name, in a dramatic symbolic gesture to further distance himself from the royal family.
According to the Daily Mail, the Duke of Sussex is believed to have consulted his maternal uncle, Earl Spencer, about the idea during a recent visit to the UK. While the conversation was said to be amicable, sources claim the Earl ultimately advised Harry against "such a step."
The change would have meant abandoning the royal surname Mountbatten-Windsor, the name currently used by both of Harry's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Though Buckingham Palace has remained publicly silent on the matter, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Express that the idea "deeply hurt" Charles. Quoting Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," Fitzwilliams emphasized that "someone's family name is a pivotal and public link to the other family members."
"This news will be deeply hurtful to King Charles, especially as it would have been a very public renunciation of the Royal Family only a relatively short time after he (Charles) had become king," Fitzwilliams explained.
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