King Charles and Prince Harry have a complicated relationship. Growing up, it seemed the father and son had a close bond. However, as years passed, their relationship slowly deteriorated and eventually became strained. One source of contention for the two was Queen Camilla.
In 1993, Charles and Camilla created a royal scandal when the tabloids exposed their secret affair. The former Prince of Wales later admitted to being unfaithful to his estranged wife Princess Diana. In the aftermath of the scandal, future king’s reputation took a hit as the public supported Diana.
After Diana’s death in 1997, Camilla kept a low profile, yet remained in contact with her beau. By 1999, Charles had introduced Camilla to Harry and Prince William, and was ready to go public with their relationship.
The couple knew they’d have a hard time winning over the public, and sought help from PR expert Mark Bolland. According to Daily Express, Bolland was hired by the future Queen to “present her relationship with Charles in a positive light.”
Bolland quickly came up with plan, in which “William and Harry were included.”
However, the PR strategy of using Harry did more harm than good.
King Charles Exploited Prince Harry’s Drug Abuse For His Personal Gain
In 2002, a teenage Harry made headlines with his alleged drug abuse. British newspapers, including News of the World reported that a concerned Charles wanted to “shock” his son by sending him to rehab for a day.
However, royal journalist Charles Rae says the reports aren’t true. “Any royal involved in illegal activities is a great story, the only problem with this was, this was a spin,” he explained.
This had not happened as they said. What had happened was that Harry had gone to this drug rehabilitation place two or three weeks beforehand. It was spun then to try and show people that ‘don’t worry, dad’s taken care of it. He’s taken him to a drug rehabilitation unit to show him the evils of his ways.
The upcoming documentary Queen Camilla: The Wicked Stepmother? sheds light on the drug rehab story.
Many royal commentators agreed that Bolland spun and sold the story to the newspapers in an effort to “make Charles look good.”
Camilla’s friend, Petronella Wyatt believes it was a bad idea from the beginning.
I think Charles was slightly distracted at the time. I think he would probably feel now he shouldn’t have allowed that to appear. It does look like a son being sacrificed to make his father look better.
In recent years, Prince Harry has been outspoken about the tabloid press. The British media’s constant bullying of his wife Meghan Markle contributed to the couple’s 2020 royal exit.
The prince has also voiced his suspicions that some of his family members might be in cahoots with the press. If King Charles planting the rehab story is true, then there’s no telling what other stories are being spun.
