Camilla's REVENGE

The Duke of Sussex branded her a 'villain' and 'wicked stepmother', but will Camilla stand in the way of a proper reunion and have the last laugh

- By Duncan Larcombe

King Charles faced an enormous challenge when he finally met the son who publicly branded his wife Camilla a 'villain'.

As he geared up to meet Harry, for the first time in a year-and-a-half, the monarch had to decide whether to address the 'elephant in the room', as sources put it. Harry may have insisted in an interview promoting his book Spare that the ball is in his father's court, but in reality it was he who launched a tirade against the Queen, as well as other members of the Royal Family.

So far Charles - who is still undergoing treatment for cancer - has never uttered a public word in retaliation against his wayward second son, despite the hurt it's privately caused. In fact, he famously used his first speech as monarch to state his love for both Harry and Meghan, not once alluding to their attacks on the 'institution' he had inherited.

But that hides the fact that Charles was undoubtedly deeply hurt by some of the things Harry said and wrote about Camilla in his memoir. Some of those words would have upset the King at a time when he was trying his hardest to make a good start to his long-awaited reign. It paints his wife as one of the central villains in the story, even going as far as to reveal Harry and William pleaded with their father not to marry the woman who was largely blamed for destroying his marriage to their mother, Diana.

He wrote, 'Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead.'