All the rows have reached breaking point and it’s now beyond repair.
Kate and Wills have fled, Beatrice and Eugenie have been banished, and Meghan has been publicly slammed.
In an extraordinary exclusive interview with New Idea, Tom Bower – the author of an explosive tell-all about Prince Charles – has spilled the details.
‘There’s no doubt that William and Kate moved to Sandringham to get away from Charles and his friends,’ said Tom, whose book Rebel Prince: The Power Passion And Defiance Of Prince Charles is out now.
He claims William and his brother Harry have a ‘difficult’ relationship with the heir to the throne and they do not like their stepmother, Camilla.
‘In public, they are all smiles, but behind the scenes they do not like Camilla and see little of each other,’ Tom says.
‘This is partly because of what happened to their mother Diana, but also because Charles spent so little time with them when they were younger.
‘It’s ironic because Charles complains about the way he was brought up by his parents, but the same thing has happened with his own children.
‘They have drifted apart because he is so self-obsessed with his own emotions and problems,’ he explains.
‘I’m sure that Harry had a wild period because Charles was absent for much of the time.’
Although William and Harry have said of Camilla: ‘We love her to bits,’ and claimed she is ‘not the wicked stepmother’, revelations in the book won’t have helped their relationship.
‘He is very pleased Harry is getting married, despite his initial reservations.’
Camilla has called Meghan ‘a star’ and built up a close relationship with the American, who has turned to the Duchess of Cornwall for advice to help calm her pre-wedding nerves.
‘The younger royals have been told to up their game,’ explains Tom.
‘Charles felt that William was lazy and not doing enough, and there were some fraught conversations.
‘William resented being told what to do and was not keen, which deepened the rift with his father. But the Queen and Prince Philip also told him that he and Harry had to increase their royal duties, and so they have done – as we are seeing now.
‘Charles looks at William and knows he is popular, but unfortunately he himself has never been very popular.
‘When people meet Charles, they like him and warm to him, but he has an image problem and it’s very difficult to change it.
‘I know that he was shocked by all the negative publicity and backlash against him and
Camilla last year during the events for the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death.
‘He couldn’t believe how much their ratings had shrunk.
‘He knows he needs to improve his standing with the public, but so far he’s failing.
‘A lot of his problems are due to the fact that he surrounds himself with sycophants, and if anyone says something he doesn’t agree with, he gets rid of them.’
Tom believes Charles was ‘terrified’ of the bad publicity caused by some of the younger royals, and decided he was going to ‘cut them out’.
‘Prince Andrew was greatly upset that his daughters Bea and Eugenie lost their bodyguards and won’t have major royal roles, so that relationship is now permanently damaged.
‘He has, rightly in my opinion, slimmed down the monarchy and will keep it to just the main players.
‘His conclusion is that there will be trouble ahead when the Queen dies.
‘Charles is a meddler and wants to be a politician, not an impartial monarch,’ says Tom.
‘The Queen and Prince Philip have been the glue holding the whole thing together, and when they go, it could end in tragedy.
‘For that reason, I know they are determined to live for as long as possible so that Charles’ reign will be a short one.’
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea - out now!
