Camilla ‘hurt’ to be branded ‘villain’ by Prince Harry, friend claims

Prince Harry claimed that Camilla ‘leaked’ stories to the press

Queen Camilla was reportedly left “hurt” over being labelled “the villain” by Prince Harry in his memoir, a source has suggested.

In Spare, which was released in January, Prince Harry claimed that his stepmother leaked stories about the royal family to the media to bolster her image.

“I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar,” he wrote.

He says meeting Camilla – referred to as the “Other Woman” in his book – was like an “injection”, writing: “Close your eyes and you won’t even feel it.”

Harry continued: “I remember wondering... if she would be cruel to me; if she would be like all the evil stepmothers in the stories.”

Then, during ITV’s Harry: The Interview, the Duke of Sussex claimed stories began to be leaked after both he and his brother “begged” Charles not to marry Camilla.

In a new interview, sources close to the Queen have been reflecting on her journey ahead of her coronation.

“Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. But she doesn’t let it get to her,” Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, told The Sunday Times of Camilla’s reaction to the memoir.

Charles and Camilla married in 2005 but they have been linked since the Seventies (Getty Images)

Ms Petty-Fitzmaurice is one of the Queen’s six companions and is married to Charles, 9th Marquess of Lansdowne.

It comes as Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Harry will be attending the coronation on 6 May, without his wife Meghan Markle, who will stay at home with their children in California.

King Charles is reportedly using the coronation as an opportunity to “mend” family divisions, reports have claimed.

This includes bringing the disgraced Prince Andrew, the Duke of York in “from the cold” after reports claim that he was asked to leave his Windsor residence Royal Lodge.

A source told PageSix: “Relations between the King and his brother have never been this bad. It has turned into a real battle which he never expected and it’s left him tired and infuriated.”

Meanwhile, The Independent has learnt that the Duchess of York has not been invited to the coronation.

The Independent has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.