Prince William and Queen Camilla spend a lot of time together thanks to the many, many, mannnny public engagements the royals do—and, on the surface, the vibes seem fine. Like, here they are smiling together last year:
But these two have some majorly tense lore—complete with shocking nicknames, overt snubs, and that one time Camilla broke up Wills and Kate. Check out a full timeline of their—some might say toxic!—relationship.
1998
Queen Camilla (though she was simply known as Camilla Parker Bowles back then) meets Prince William for the very first time. According to royal author Penny Juror (via The Express), she was "anxious" and after spending some alone time with him, and "came out saying, 'I need a gin and tonic!'"
April 9, 2005
Prince Charles and Camilla marry, and honestly everyone looks happy enough in the photos.
2007
Prince William and Kate Middleton briefly break up—and apparently Camilla was behind their split?!
Per royal author Christopher Andersen (via The Express), "I was in London when the breakup occurred. I was shocked, completely stunned. Everyone thought it was only a matter of time before William was going to ask Kate to marry him. And then people started telling me that Camilla was behind it."
Oh, and there's also this: "Camilla is a bit of a snob" and "did not look at Kate as someone who was worthy of joining the royal family. Kate is the first working-class woman to be accepted into the royal family. She is descended from coal miners and her mother was a flight attendant. So for all those reasons, Camilla never really felt that Kate Middleton as an individual and the Middleton family as a whole were going to be worthy of entering into the royal family."
June 12, 2010
William and Camilla take a public carriage ride together and it doesn't exactly take a body language expert to realize the vibes are awkward.
2016
Amazon Prime drops the documentary William & Kate: the Journey, and royal editor Ashley Pearson says "[There are] rumours that Charles and Camilla felt a bit slighted and would like to be more actively involved in the young family’s life."
July 17, 2017
Camilla turns 70, and Prince William and Prince Harry fail to wish her a public happy birthday. Which, turns out, is a bit of a scandal.
Per the Daily Mail, "It was expected that William and Harry would say something publicly about a stepmother to whom they had once been so welcoming. But they did not. In fact, far from drawing closer to the Duchess as they got older, the boys have moved farther away."
A friend adds, "They are not close to Camilla. The relationship has changed."
February 27, 2022
Author and royal expert Christopher Andersen tells Us Weekly that Camilla's Queen Consort title is "driving a wedge" in the royal family, and that "the boys were completely blindsided" by it.
"It’s just whether or not they can get over this bad feeling," he says. "Then, of course, Queen [Elizabeth II]‘s health and these other considerations are there. I don’t think it helped with the queen announcing that Duchess Camilla will be Queen Consort and that’s another issue."
January 10, 2023
Prince Harry publishes Spare, and has a lot to say about his and Prince William's relationship with Camilla. Harry even recalls them begging their dad not to marry. As he put it, "We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. 'Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa.' He didn’t answer. But she answered. Straight away. Shortly after our private summits with her, she began to play the long game, a campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the Crown (with Pa’s blessing, we presumed)."
February 7, 2023
Royal author Angela Levin drops her new book, Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort, and claims William doesn’t view his step-mom as a grandmother to his kids. "William has made it clear that Camilla is the wife of his father but not a step-grandmother to his children," she writes, adding that Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis know they have "two grandfathers but only one grandmother."
May 10, 2023
William is spotted breaking royal protocol by not bowing to Queen Camilla during the Coronation Concert.
July 24, 2024
News breaks that Prince William removed Queen Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, from the Duchy of Cornwall payroll (she was an "interior designer"). Per The Telegraph, "Sources confirmed that Prince William would no longer employ Ms. Elliot, although it was no reflection on her work."
August 21, 2024
Royal expert Christopher Andersen tells Us Weekly that William merely "tolerates" his step-mom, while a family friend adds that "there’s a lot to overcome. William and Harry had always distrusted Camilla and felt resentment toward her because of their devotion to their mother. They never felt comfortable opening up to her in any real way. William and Harry’s distrust grew when they found out Camilla was leaking stories to the press to make herself look better."
They also say "William and Kate don’t want any extra drama or tension in the family—they have enough of that with Meghan and Harry. It was really Kate who warmed William to Camilla. She’s never been dismissive of Camilla and always treated her with kindness."
Meanwhile, an insider adds that "William and Harry had always distrusted Camilla and felt resentment toward her because of their devotion to their mother. They never felt comfortable opening up to her in any real way. William and Harry’s distrust grew when they found out Camilla was leaking stories to the press to make herself look better."
November 25, 2024
A source tells Us Weekly that Camilla "loves her responsibilities" and "Her whole life, she has always wanted to be queen, so she doesn’t want to let it go so fast."
August 9, 2025
Former royal photographer Ian Pelham Turner tells The Mirror that he thinks Queen Camilla's "seeing William trying to create issues and she’s told Charles to stop it."
He adds, "I think the reality is, it's been rumored for a while, that William has been trying to push—whatever—in the monarchy, at the moment, that he’s the driving force behind the throne and I think, Charles should be."
October 28, 2025
Royal author Tom Quinn drops his book, Yes Ma'am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, and claims that Harry and William called Queen Camilla "Lady Macbeth," "Cruella de Vil" and the "Witch of the West" as teenagers.
Yikes to all of the above, and we'll keep you updated with the latest!
