Prince Harry, Prince William Gave Camilla Scathing Literary Nicknames

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It’s no secret that insiders, staff, and so many people alike claim that estranged brothers Prince William and Prince Harry don’t get along with their stepmom, Queen Consort Camilla. In fact, Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants author Tom Quinn even alleged in his new book something that can illuminate their bond.

In the book, Quinn claimed that Harry and William both gave their stepmother Camilla rather scathing nicknames, all of which come from literary characters that aren’t looked upon too kindly. For instance, they allegedly gave her the nicknames of Lady Macbeth from Macbeth, Witch of the West from Wicked, and Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

The reason these names are so scathing is because Lady Macbeth was known as an awful social climber who was the driving force behind the murder of King Duncan. The Wicked Witch of the West, before the Broadway show, was linked to being evil, and so was Cruella de Vil, who was a villain who tried to steal the fur of dogs.

So, none of these alleged nicknames are too kind.

In addition to releasing his tell-all memoir Spare, saying “I even wanted Camilla to be happy, maybe she would be less dangerous if she was happy,” Harry claimed to Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes even more about that quote.

“She was the villain, she was the third person in the marriage,” Harry told Cooper, referencing Princess Diana‘s infamous Panorama interview where she said there “were three of us” in her marriage to King Charles III. Knowing her reputation, Camilla knew she had to “rehabilitate her image,” Harry said. “Because of the need for her to rehabilitate her image. That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press and there was open willingness on both sides to trade of information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street because of that.”

Along with that, back in Aug 2024, a palace insider told Us Weekly about the fraught relationship between the three. “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.”

And back in 2024, according to The Daily Beast, a palace insider even stated that William wants to keep “the entire Parker Bowles family at arm’s length.”

Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.