In the year before Prince Harry’s Spare came out, royal sources were often crying to the British tabloids about how then-Prince Charles was very, very worried that Harry would write horrible things about his stepmother Camilla. I remember thinking and writing “Harry’s not going to write some screed about that horrid woman.” Well, I was wrong. I admit that. Spare went harder on Camilla than I expected. Spare also went easier on Charles than I expected. Harry’s empathy and love for his father was palpable throughout the book, even though it was perfectly clear that Charles was always a profoundly neglectful father. On the other hand, Harry wrote that Camilla had “left bodies in the street” in her path to the crown, and Harry said outright that Camilla has always leaked sh-t about the Windsors in general, and that she’s cozied up to media figures to get better coverage for herself. Well, congrats to Buckingham Palace, because they’re also using THAT as a reason for why Charles is evicting the Sussexes from Frogmore.

King Charles decided to take Harry and Meghan’s UK home off them after learning of the Duke’s takedown of stepmother Camilla. The monarch is said to have believed his son had “crossed a line”.

Sources said the King was outraged by a string of Harry’s accusations such as his claim Camilla was responsible for leaking stories to the press. The Duke also referred to the Queen Consort as “the villain” in TV interviews promoting his memoir, Spare. Charles took decisive action immediately after being passed a dossier of findings by aides revealing details from the explosive book. He started the eviction process from five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate on January 11, the day after the memoir was published.

Royal insiders said the revelations have resulted in irreparable damage to Harry’s relationship with his father and brother Prince William. Harry told of his fears that Camilla would turn into a “wicked stepmother”. The Prince said he and William had begged their father not to marry her. The Duke of Sussex confessed he eventually only wanted Camilla to be happy so she could be less “dangerous”. In a TV interview, Harry added: “She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.”

Royal sources have said the King was affronted by an accusation that Camilla had plotted to marry him. Harry said in the book: “Shortly after our private meetings with her, she began to develop her long-term strategy, a campaign directed at marriage and… the Crown (with the blessing of our father, we supposed)… Stories started appearing in all the newspapers about her conversations with Willy, stories which recounted lots of small details, none of which came from my brother.”

An insider said: “It was the last straw. Harry was well aware how Camilla would be a red line for his father and he crossed with flagrant disregard anyway. The King felt without a doubt it crossed a line – it was the ultimate act of disrespect.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

Again with the story about how Charles hasn’t even bothered to read Spare. You would think – given how much outrage and agita has been focused on Harry “ripping his family to shreds” – one of them would just… read the book? Instead of depending on their aides to write Cliffs Notes. I think Charles would actually be surprised by how much Harry still loves him. In any case, while Harry did write his honest assessment of Camilla and her machinations, I’m sure Harry pulled his punches about a lot of what Camilla has done and said over the years. Charles should be grateful that Harry didn’t go harder on both of them. But instead, Charles just keeps… proving that everything Harry has said and written is the truth.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.