Why Prince William Felt ‘Used’ By Prince Charles And Camilla Parker Bowles

Following Princess Diana’s death, Prince William reportedly struggled to except Prince Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. However, when the young Prince finally opened up to the idea of giving his father’s then-girlfriend a chance, he was left feeling betrayed.

In the book “Prince William: Born to be King,” Penny Junor discussed the Duke of Cambridge’s desire to meet Camilla after realizing he needed to form his own opinion about his father’s lover.

Junor claimed William often heard terrible things from Princess Diana about both Camilla and his father. About 10 months after her death, he began to realize “not everything he’d heard was entirely true.”

According to the royal biographer, William told his father he wanted to meet with Camilla. The two were introduced to one another at St. James Palace. However, when details about their meeting were published in the press, the young Prince felt “used.”

“He was justifiably and understandably really upset because it was really private,” Prince Charles’ former press aide Sandy Henney shared during the BBC documentary “Reinventing the Royals.”

Meanwhile, reporter Steve Hewlett suggested Prince William’s meeting with Camilla was significant in shaping the public’s opinion about the controversial couple.

“It was an important moment for a young man from a family divided by divorce and traumatized by loss. It was a sign that Prince William had accepted his father’s mistress as a permanent fixture. It was a major milestone.”

The amount of attention from the press the meeting received left William feeling like a pawn in a publicity stunt. “He didn’t like being used by anybody. He felt that he was being used by his father’s staff,” Richard Kay revealed.

Nowadays Prince William and Camilla can be seen exchanging friendly banter while in front of the cameras, however, it appears building that positive bond took some time.