The word “dangerous” has once again brought Prince Harry’s family feud into the spotlight. In January 2023, when his memoir Spare was released, Harry used that word to describe a woman within his own family. Almost four years later, the accusation is attracting renewed attention as Harry and Meghan return to Britain and questions emerge about whether old resentments have truly disappeared.
The controversy began during Harry’s television interviews with Tom Bradby and Anderson Cooper. When Cooper asked why a particular woman was dangerous, Harry explained that she needed to rebuild her public image. According to him, she was developing relationships with the British press, with both sides seemingly willing to exchange information. He also suggested that her ambitions could leave other people suffering as she moved towards the crown. These were serious allegations, especially because they involved someone inside his own family.
The timing has made the story even more intriguing. On Thursday, 15 October, Harry and Meghan appeared together in Nottingham for what was described as their first joint engagement since returning to Britain. Meanwhile, more than 100 miles away in Cardiff, King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the opening of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd. Their visit included a meeting with Gareth Jones, a survivor of the Aberfan disaster, where a coal waste tip buried a village school in 1966, killing 116 children.
Ads
The royal visit was emotionally charged. Some protesters greeted the King and Queen with chants of “Not my king,” while other members of the crowd expressed their affection for Charles. Inside the parliament, the King listened to the experiences of a survivor whose childhood had been forever changed by the tragedy. While Charles confronted a painful chapter in Welsh history, Harry and Meghan were making headlines elsewhere in Britain.
But who was the woman Harry described as dangerous? Four names deserve consideration: Meghan herself, Catherine, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and Camilla. Looking at Harry’s own words provides clues about which woman he meant.
Meghan might seem like an obvious possibility because critics have frequently described her influence on Harry as troubling. In January 2020, shortly after the couple announced their decision to step back from royal duties, Piers Morgan warned that Meghan appeared to be separating Harry from his family. He called the situation dangerous for the monarchy. Other commentators have since repeated similar criticisms.
However, Harry has consistently described Meghan in affectionate terms. In their Netflix documentary, released in December 2022, he compared her qualities to those of his late mother, Princess Diana, praising her compassion, empathy, confidence and warmth. More importantly, Harry’s first clue concerned a woman who needed to repair a damaged public image. Before joining the royal family, Meghan was not widely known among the British public, making her an unlikely match for that particular description. The evidence points elsewhere.
Ads
Catherine, Princess of Wales, is another possibility. When Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in November 2017, Harry praised Catherine during a BBC interview, describing her as wonderful and expressing appreciation for the support he received from her and Prince William.
Their relationship later became strained. In Spare, Harry described tensions between Meghan and Catherine, claiming that the two women struggled to develop a close relationship. Nevertheless, Harry never publicly identified Catherine as the woman he called dangerous. Furthermore, she was already widely respected by the British public and had little need to rebuild her reputation in the way Harry described. That makes Catherine another unlikely candidate.
The late Queen Elizabeth II also appears in Harry’s recollections of the royal family’s difficult January 2020 meeting at Sandringham. In the Netflix documentary, Harry recalled his brother shouting, his father making statements he considered untrue, and his grandmother remaining quiet throughout the confrontation.
Ads
The eventual agreement meant Harry and Meghan would stop performing official royal duties, using their HRH styles and receiving public funding for those duties. The late Queen publicly acknowledged that the family would have preferred them to remain working royals but respected their decision to pursue greater independence.
Harry later spoke affectionately about his grandmother, describing the importance of celebrating her life and mourning her death as a family. Her longstanding popularity also makes the rehabilitation clue unsuitable. The late Queen had enjoyed decades of public affection and did not need the kind of image transformation Harry described.
That leaves Camilla, now Queen Camilla, as the woman at the centre of the controversy.
In his 2023 interview, Harry explicitly connected the accusation to someone moving towards becoming queen consort. He alleged that Camilla had established relationships with members of the British press and suggested that private information about the royal family had been exchanged for favourable publicity.
In Spare, Harry also accused his stepmother of sacrificing him to improve her public image. He described newspaper stories containing precise details of a private conversation involving Prince William, arguing that the information could only have come from someone present. He implied that Camilla had leaked the conversation, although no publicly established evidence has confirmed his allegation.
Camilla's past explains why the subject of reputation remains important. Her relationship with Charles attracted intense criticism following the breakdown of his marriage to Diana. In 1995, Diana famously discussed the difficulties within her marriage during her BBC interview. Camilla subsequently faced years of negative public attention before marrying Charles in 2005. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth publicly expressed her wish that Camilla eventually be known as Queen Consort.
Ads
Harry's accusation, therefore, fits the first clue: Camilla had a difficult public image to overcome. Yet her supporters argue that she gradually earned greater acceptance through years of public service and consistent appearances alongside Charles.
Critics have also questioned Harry's apparent double standard. Piers Morgan pointed to Harry's own commercial relationships with media organisations, including Netflix, Spotify and major television networks. His argument was that if relationships with the press automatically made someone dangerous, Harry's own dealings with the media deserved similar scrutiny.
Royal commentator Tom Bower has offered another perspective, suggesting that Camilla benefited from experienced public relations advice and the passage of time. He contrasted her gradual rehabilitation with Meghan's more confrontational public interviews. These remain commentators' opinions, rather than definitive explanations of either woman's public standing.
The latest developments have revived the dispute. Journalist Charlotte Griffiths reportedly said Harry remained angry with several members of the royal family after returning to Britain in August, adding that Camilla appeared to be among those he resented. She did not believe Catherine was the principal target of that anger.
Lady Colin Campbell has speculated that Camilla's closeness to Charles may also contribute to Harry's frustration. As the King's wife, she occupies a central position in his daily life, making reconciliation between father and son potentially more complicated.
The timing of the Nottingham engagement has raised further questions. Harry and Meghan appeared publicly on the same day Charles and Camilla were in Cardiff. Some commentators suggested the Sussexes' appearance diverted media attention from the King's visit, while others questioned whether the dates were deliberately chosen. No confirmed evidence establishes that the scheduling was intended to overshadow the royal event.
Post a Comment