While the conversation around King Charles and Queen Camilla’s relationship has never truly died, when the criticism was at an all-time high, Prince William and Prince Harry begged their father not to marry Camilla, per Newsweek. Harry wrote in his memoir, “Willy and I promised Pa that we’d welcome Camilla into the family. The only thing we asked in return was that he not marry her.” William and Harry already faced so much media attention from the affair they didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Harry revealed he and William told Charles, “You don’t need to remarry, we pleaded. A wedding would cause controversy. It would incite the press. It would make the whole country, the whole world, talk about Mummy, compare Mummy and Camilla, and nobody wanted that. Least of all Camilla.” To Harry and William, having their father marry Camilla wasn’t worth all the criticism the family would receive.
Despite William and Harry’s plea, Charles did marry Camilla. In February 2005, the couple announced their engagement, and ironically, what played out in public was the opposite of what was happening behind the scenes. Harry and William released a joint statement regarding their father’s engagement, expressing their excitement for the nuptials. They said, “We are both very happy for our father and Camilla, and we wish them all the luck in the future.” Two months later, the couple wed in a low-key ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
