Prince William has reportedly said to Camilla, the Queen Consort, that she is not a 'step-grandmother' to his three children. There has been a change in roles in the Royal Family following the Queen's death last month.
Prince William has now become the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall while Camilla is now the Queen Consort following King Charles III's accession to the throne. Camilla was once given a frosty reception from the public, especially after the death of Diana and the history of her relationship with Charles. However, this has now changed and she has been accepted both by the institution and public.
However, a new book claims that the former Dutchess of Cornwall's relationship with some of the members of the Royal Family are slightly reserved. According to The Express, royal biographer Angela Levin explores how Camilla has cultivated her relationships with her husband's children and grandchildren over the years, reported Coventry Live.
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Levin claims that William 'has made it clear that Camilla is the wife of his father, but not a step-grandmother to his children'. Levin also writes that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have 'two grandfathers but only one grandmother'.
The biographer examined how Camilla approached the now-Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, after tying the knot with Charles in 2005. Levin wrote: "William and Harry were 23 and 20 respectively when Camilla officially became their stepmother in 2005. She was more of a friendly grown-up they saw occasionally at royal gatherings.
"She tried to be encouraging rather than influential. Nor has she tried to take over any responsibility as a step-grandmother to the Cambridge children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, especially as Catherine's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are so close."
Camilla was not on the receiving end of a warm welcome from the British public following her arrival into the Royal Family, as sections of the public were not approving of her relationship with Charles. Another royal biographer, Tina Brown, wrote in her book 'The Palace Papers' that William and Harry 'tolerated' their stepmother, but never warmed to her.
Brown explained that Charles enlisted the help of PR executive Mark Bolland in 1996 in a bid to improve how he was perceived by the public. The book claims that Mr Bolland also helped Camilla 'win acceptance' from the public, thanks to his links with the newspaper industry.
Ms Brown wrote: "One carefully managed myth peddled by Bolland was that the boys had warmed to Camilla. But they tolerated her at best. In his early thirties, Harry was still complaining bitterly to friends that Camilla had converted his old bedroom at Highgrove, Charles's Gloucestershire estate, into an elaborate dressing room for herself."
Penny Junor quotes a royal source in her book, 'Prince William: Born to be King', who examined how William's opinion of his stepmother has changed over the years. They said: "I think the relationship between them all is warm now but if I'm honest, it wasn't then. I think they found it hard. To be fair to Camilla, she never tried to be mummy but she was the 'other woman' and she was there and taking daddy's time."
Meanwhile, a source told the Daily Mail: "There were huge family rows in the early stages of Charles and Camilla's marriage as everyone found their feet. William didn't have the best relationship with his father back then."
