Prince William felt ‘USED’ by Prince Charles after first meeting with Camilla
PRINCE William felt “used” by Prince Charles when his first meeting with Camilla was leaked to the press, it has been claimed.
Prince William 'used' by Prince Charles over Camilla says expert
William, then aged 16, met Charles’s long-term love Camilla for the first time in 1998 at St James’s Palace. It came a year after the tragic death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash. But William was left feeling “used” by Charles’s team when the meeting was leaked to the newspapers, according to royal reporter Richard Kay.
Speaking on 2015 BBC documentary Reinventing the Royals, he said: “He didn’t like being used by anybody.
“He felt that he was being used by his father’s staff.”
Asked if he thought that William had been used, Mr Kay said: “Yes, I’m sure he was.
“I think it explained a lot about what happened in subsequent years about why he decided to break away from his father’s people.”
And the royal expert added that the deliberate leak to The Sun was to see what kind of reaction it would get.
At the time, much of the public blamed Camilla for the breakdown of Charles’s marriage to Diana.
Mr Kay said: “It was very interesting that it was delivered to the Sun.
“It was clearly a strategy testing the water to see what sort of reaction it would get.
“They wanted to see if pro-Diana papers kick up a fuss.”
Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in 1999, after years of secrecy.
The carefully-planned moment was masterminded by Charles’s spin doctor Mark Bolland.
The couple left London’s Ritz Hotel together shortly before midnight on January 28, 1999.
Hundreds of photographers were waiting to capture the milestone moment outside the hotel.
Until then, Camilla and Charles had avoided being seen or photographed together in public.
But Operation Ritz was a huge success as part of Mr Bolland’s campaign to persuade the public to accept Charles’s relationship with his former mistress.
In 2000, the Queen recognised their relationship by attending an event with Camilla present.
And the couple shared their first public kiss in 2001.
Charles and Camilla - who fell in love in the early 1970s - finally married in April 2005 at the Guildhall in Windsor, with Camilla becoming the Duchess of Cornwall.
Nearly 14 years on from their wedding, Camilla has established her place in the royal family at Charles’s side.
And she appears to have a good relationship with William, Prince Harry and their wives.
She will become Queen Consort when Charles takes to the throne unless there is a change in the law.