“I had complex feelings about gaining a step parent who, I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar,” Harry writes in Spare. “In a funny way I even wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she'd be less dangerous if she was happy?”
The book's title refers to a phrase that Charles is reported to have used to refer to Harry, his second son, as his “spare,” or back up heir, since he'd already secured an heir in Harry's older brother.
1970: Charles and Camilla meet
Camilla Shand was 23 when she met the eligible British heir, 22, at a polo match in 1970, just one year after Charles' investiture as the Prince of Wales.
The wedding of Prince Charles (later Charles III) and Camilla Parker Bowles took place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, on 9 April 2005.
Camilla wasn't considered a suitable match for the Prince of Wales. Prince Charles and Camilla at a polo match in 1975. Even if Charles had wanted to settle down, he would have encountered those with serious doubts about whether Camilla was an appropriate bride for the heir to the throne.
In his early 20s, like many other young men, Charles simply wasn't ready for marriage. Not long after he met Camilla, Charles went off to serve in the navy. Camilla probably thought she could wait around forever without ever getting a proposal from the prince.
Before Prince Charles married Princess Diana (then Diana Spencer) in 1981, he was apparently already smitten with his former girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles (then Camilla Shand).
It was generally known that Camilla was in love with Andrew Parker Bowles and wanted to marry him. But no one took the romance between Charles and Camilla seriously.
Camilla was some 14 years older than Diana, so it's unsurprising that the 19 year old looked to her for advice. In fact Camilla was a closer contemporary of Diana's older sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, who Charles also briefly dated.
Camilla Is Related to Both Diana and King Charles
Strangely, they are also both related to the late Princess Diana through shared ancestry dating back to King Charles II. Also note that Camilla's great-grandmother was a mistress to King Edward VII, the great-great-grandfather of King Charles.
Kate Middleton only became Princess Kate a few months ago, but she's already adding yet another royal title to her collection. King Charles named his daughter-in-law as the new honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards, a title previously held by her husband, Prince William.
“Spare” sold more than 1.43 million copies in all formats in the United States, Canada and Britain, including pre-orders, according to its publisher. The figure marked the largest first-day sales for any nonfiction book ever published by Penguin Random House, the world's largest publisher.
Analysts have suggested that 1.7 million print and e-book copies of “Spare” need to be sold for the publisher to break even on the $20-million advance it paid Harry for his story.
He is believed to have inherited his flaming ginger hair from Diana's side – the comparison can easily be made with redhead Lady Sarah, who coincidentally dated Prince Charles in her younger years before he moved on to court Diana.
In the early years of Charles' relationship with her, the queen reportedly regarded Camilla with caution. That grew to a total distancing following Diana's death, but the queen began warming up toward her in the later years of her life. "The queen always detested Camilla," Andersen said.
One of the rumours was that he snuck Camilla into the palace the night before he wedded Diana. Prince Charles insisted there was no truth to this, according to the biographer, who has reported on the royals for nearly three decades.
Public reaction in Britain to Camilla's decision not to attend today's service has been largely positive, if caustic at times. "I couldn't be happier if I'd won the lottery," Joan Berry, secretary of the Diana Appreciation Society told newspaper The Telegraph.
Charles and Camilla were both attendees at the event, marrying a day later. The Duke of Sussex also confirmed press speculation that the Queen hadn't wanted to give Charles and Camilla permission to marry, even though she did give the pair her blessing.
Did Princess Margaret oppose the marriage of Charles and Diana? In "The Crown": Princess Margaret tries to persuade Charlies not to marry Diana. In real life: There's no evidence that Margaret (or anyone else) was against the marriage of Diana and Charles.
But the biggest obstacle for Camilla and Charles' relationship was Camilla herself. Camilla did actually seem to love both Charles and Andrew. As Brown wrote, “My own view is that the love of Camilla's life was not Prince Charles but the man she married first—Andrew Parker Bowles …
“Camilla seems to have a very steady disposition and a healthy lack of ego. Having had a nurturing, loving family background, she is less emotionally needy than either Charles or Diana … So, she was able to give Charles the kind of love and care he needs,” Quora user Margaret Shannon wrote.
Penguin Random House announced Wednesday that first day sales for Harry's tell-all memoir topped 1.4 million copies, a record pace for non-fiction from a company that also publishes Barack and Michelle Obama, whose “Becoming” needed a week to reach 1.4 million when it was released in 2018.
The book's publisher said “Spare” sold 400,000 copies in the UK in all formats - hardback, e-book and audio - on its first day. “As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter),” Transworld Penguin Random House managing director Larry Finlay said.
Topline. Prince Harry's memoir Spare has sold over 1.4 million English-language copies in all formats in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, and is already in its second run, publisher Penguin Random House announced Wednesday, just one day after the controversial and explosive tell-all memoir was released.