Did Meghan Markle and Camilla Parker Bowles Ever Have a Good Relationship?
With so much focus on the relationship between Prince Harry and Camilla, Queen Consort (formerly known as Camilla Parker Bowles), and what the duke was going to write about his stepmother in his memoir, there isn’t much talk about Meghan Markle‘s relationship with her.
At one time it was thought that the two women would really bond. Many even believed that Camilla would show the former Suits star the royal ropes and teach her how to deal with the negative press, which is something King Charles III‘s second wife knows all about. But now royal watchers are wondering if the ladies ever got along.
Camilla offered Meghan advice but she didn’t take it
Perhaps no one knows better than Camilla just how brutal the press can be. She was scrutinized for the major role she had in Princess Diana and Charles’ marriage ending and became public enemy No. 1 after Diana’s death. “I couldn’t really go anywhere,” she once told The Daily Mail’s You Magazine. “It was horrid. It was a deeply unpleasant time and I wouldn’t want to put my worst enemy through it.”
So who better for Meghan to get advice from than Camilla when it came to dealing with the press and other pressures of royal life? However, according to reports, the Duchess of Sussex didn’t take the advice.
“Meg was really grateful to Camilla who was very supportive and invited her out for private lunches, particularly around the time of her marriage,” a friend of Meghan’s told the Daily Mail. “She listened to her and understood that it’s really difficult joining the royal family from an otherwise ‘normal’ life. She was very sensitive to Meghan and provided her with support, advising her to ride out the storm and that it would all pass — but ultimately Meghan didn’t listen.”
The duchess reportedly refusing to take advice from Camilla when she tried to help couldn’t have sat well with the new queen consort.
The queen consort was not happy after Meghan’s interview with Oprah
Something else that reportedly upset Camilla is Meghan’s comments during her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
In addition to not being pleased with the remarks Prince Harry made about King Charles, Camilla was said to be angry with Meghan for claiming she did not receive any help or guidance on how to prepare for royal life.
“There were certain things that you couldn’t do,” the Duchess of Sussex told the former talk show host. “But, you know, unlike what you see in the movies, there’s no class on how to speak, how to cross your legs, how to be royal. There’s none of that training. That might exist for other members of the family. That was not something that was offered to me.”
Camilla reportedly had a not-so-nice nickname for her stepdaughter-in-law
Investigative journalist and author Tom Bower, who wrote the blistering biography titled Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors, claims that Camilla had reservations about Meghan even before she and Harry tied the knot but decided not to voice her opinion to her stepson or anyone else at that time.
“From the outset, Camilla was suspicious about the adventuress from Los Angeles. She found it hard to believe that Meghan would sacrifice her career and independence to serve silently as a team player devoted to the monarchy,” Bower told The Sun.
Bower added that after Harry and Meghan stepped down, Camilla and Charles had conversations in which the now-queen consort would refer to her stepdaughter-in-law as ‘that minx’– the self-seeking trouble-maker whose antics will always end in tears.”
As for Meghan, her former best friend, Ninaki Priddy, said the duchess had been a fan of Princess Diana long before she met Harry so his stepmother wasn’t her favorite person. Bower agreed and further claimed that Meghan “never liked Camilla” and is certain that the “feelings are reciprocated.”
