In the wake of King Charles and Queen Camilla's coronation, a new feud has erupted among royal siblings, as Tom, Camilla's son, defends his mother against scathing criticism from his stepbrothers, Prince William and Prince Harry.
A senior palace insider reveals to Globe, “The coronation exposed long-hidden family tensions. The stepbrothers have never seen eye to eye. Charles' sons grew up in the limelight, while Camilla's children, Tom and Laura, from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles, remained largely out of the public eye.”
The feud came to light after Tom, 48, publicly defended his mother against fresh attacks from his royal stepbrothers, who reportedly urged their father not to marry Camilla, dubbing her their "wicked stepmother."
In his controversial memoir, "Spare," and subsequent interviews, 38-year-old Harry, Duke of Sussex, branded Camilla "dangerous" and accused her of long plotting to marry the future monarch. Harry further depicted her as a "villain" who left "bodies in the street" as she schemed to change public opinion and "played the long game to become queen."
Harry, who has openly criticized the royal family since moving to America with his wife Meghan, claimed that Camilla "sacrificed" him by leaking stories about him and his family for her personal PR advantage. However, Tom fiercely defended his mother in a recent podcast, stating, "I don't care what anyone says, this [the coronation] wasn't any sort of end game. My mother married the person she loved, and this is what happened."
The royal brothers, currently estranged after Harry and Meghan, 41, stepped back from royal duties in 2020, have both long blamed Camilla for their parents' marriage ending in divorce in 1996. Despite their opposition to Charles' marriage to Camilla in 2005, she has become his unwavering support. "Camilla has gone from mistress to duchess to princess consort to queen consort and now queen, defying the public wishes of Charles' beloved mother, Queen Elizabeth, who expressed her views before passing away last September," says the palace insider.
As GLOBE reported, Camilla insisted on her grandchildren having roles in the coronation while Harry's children, Archie and Lilibet, now residing in California, were excluded.
Tom, a food writer and critic, has two children, Lola, 15, and Freddy, 13, while his sister, Laura Lopes, a former art curator, has 13-year-old twins Gus and Louis and daughter Eliza, 15. The palace insider speculates, "Royal titles could be next for Camilla's family. Charles seems unable to deny Camilla anything, which will only create more problems. With the bonds between Harry, William, and Charles at breaking point, another family feud is the last thing the royals need or want. But, it seems, here we go again!"