King Charles and Queen Camilla celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary on Tuesday.
In its earlier years, their relationship was met with great resistance, not only by royal fans but also by members of the royal family particularly, following Charles' separation from Princess Diana in 1992.
© Tim GrahamLast year, Prince Harry was exceptionally candid when he recalled how he felt about his father remarrying, dubbing their union 'unnecessary' in a candid interview with Anderson Cooper, following the release of his bombshell memoir Spare in January 2023.
"We didn't think [getting married] was necessary," he told the US host, referring to himself and his brother, Prince William. He added: "We thought that it was going to cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person, that — surely that’s enough?"
© Anwar Hussein Collection"Why go that far when you don’t necessarily need to? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her. So, at the time, it was, 'Ok'."
Quoting his mother, who previously coined Camilla as the 'third person' in her marriage during her famous 1995 Panorama interview, Harry said: "She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image," which he later explained made her "dangerous" due to her forging a relationship with the press.
Harry explained in Spare: "Willy and I promised Pa that we'd welcome Camilla into the family. The only thing we asked in return was that he not marry her. You don’t need to remarry, we pleaded.
"A wedding would cause controversy. It would incite the press. It would make the whole country, the whole world, talk about Mummy, compare Mummy and Camilla, and nobody wanted that. Least of all Camilla. We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. Just please don't marry her. Just be together, Pa."
He also wrote: "Camilla had played a pivotal role in the unravelling of our parent’s marriage, and yes, that meant she’d played a role in our mother’s disappearance, but we understood that she’d been trapped like everyone else in the riptide of events. We didn't blame her, and in fact, we'd gladly forgive her if she could make Pa happy. We could see that, like us, he wasn't."
Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in 1999, two years after Diana's death. They went on to marry in 2005 in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall followed by a service of blessing at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
