In defence of Camilla

This week, the Duke of Sussex, self-proclaimed feminist and Lochinvar of Montecito, launched an unprovoked attack on a 75-year-old woman. In an irony that will no doubt escape him, Harry accused his stepmother, Camilla of being ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’. The Queen Consort, he said, in a series of television interviews, began a ‘campaign aimed at marriage and eventually the crown’, and briefed journalist friends in an attempt to ‘rehabilitate her image’.

Harry has proved he does not possess a laser-like intelligence but even he might have thought twice before attacking a divorced woman for trying to marry a prince. Consider the howls if anyone accused Meghan of ‘campaigning’ to marry into the royal family. Moreover, considering that his beef is with the monarchy for being an outdated and oppressive closed shop, it seems counterproductive to pick on an outsider.

He might also consider that Camilla has endured violent mob hatred in a way Meghan never has. Perhaps that was only to be expected, given the affair and Diana’s media influence, but Camilla could not go about her daily business without being harangued and insulted. I remember her being pelted with stale bread. It’s perhaps true to say that at one point she was the most hated woman in Britain, but throughout that time her innate dignity ensured that she remained silent and uncomplaining.

Was she scheming behind closed doors? I have known Camilla since I was 18 and I can vouch for the fact that she is quite incapable of machinations of any kind and that this has sometimes been to her detriment. When her aide Amanda MacManus, for instance, repeated a harmless indiscretion about William that found its way into a tabloid, Camilla was quite clear that MacManus must accept her P45.