King Charles Allegedly 'Sacrificed' Prince Harry to Repair His Image After The Camilla Controversy

King Charles III and Queen Camilla's romantic relationship began with a major scandal. As their relationship gained more attention, Camilla was accused of ruining Charles and Princess Diana's marriage. Things worsened further when Charles married Camilla following Diana's tragic death in a car accident. This decision completely ruined their reputation back then. A close friend of Camilla has now accused Charles of "sacrificing" his son, Prince Harry, to boost his reputation following the scandal. This was revealed in a new documentary titled Queen Camilla: The Wicked Stepmother.

Camilla enlisted PR maestro Mark Bolland to rebuild her public image and cast her relationship with Charles in a more favorable light. As reported by the Daily Express, his strategy involved Prince William and Harry. Harry has accused Bolland of using his teenage struggles with drugs to enhance Charles and Camilla's reputation. In 2002, News of the World reported that Harry was sent to a drug rehabilitation center for a day after admitting to smoking cannabis and consuming alcohol. This came up when Charles decided to give his son a serious wake-up call after he found that Harry had been using drugs at Highgrove and drinking excessively at a nearby pub.

However, royal journalist Charles Rae, shockingly claimed, "Any Royal involved in illegal activities is a great story, the only problem with this was, this was spin. 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." He added, "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 drugs rehabilitation unit to show him the evils of his ways.'" The documentary revealed that when News of the World handed their evidence to Bolland, he leaned on his close bond with editor Rebekah Brooks to tone down the story.

As reported by the Daily Record, Bolland allegedly gave editor Brooks more information regarding Harry's visit to a rehabilitation facility to present Charles in a favorable light. Another friend of Camilla, Petronella Wyatt believes this was a grave mistake, suggesting that Charles, likely preoccupied at the time, now regrets allowing such information to leak. She said, "It does look like a son being sacrificed to make his father look better." Harry also revealed in his memoir Spare that he and William had asked their father not to marry Camilla.

Harry once admitted he initially feared Camilla, thinking she might be just like the "wicked stepmother" stereotype. Amid swirling controversies and resistance from both Harry and William, Charles and Camilla wed in April 2005. Camilla then assumed the title of Duchess of Cornwall. As reported by People Magazine, Charles later took over the throne and made Camilla Queen Consort years after Queen Elizabeth's death. Their path to widespread acceptance was far from easy as it was filled with scandals, opposition, and a difficult fight to change public opinion.