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Prince Harry discussed his relationships within the royal family while promoting his book, Spare. One person he spoke about was Camilla Parker Bowles, the queen consort. A body language expert says some of the gestures Harry made while interacting with Camilla show his politeness toward her was a way to show “affection” for King Charles.

Prince Harry says Queen Camilla ‘needed to rehabilitate her image’

King Charles, Queen Camilla, and Prince Harry stand on the balcony.
King Charles, Queen Camilla, and Prince Harry | Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Harry says Camilla was on a campaign to “rehabilitate her image.” According to him, she wanted the public and the media would stop perceiving her as “the villain.”

“She was the villain,” says Harry during his 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. “She was the third person in the marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.”

Harry spoke about how he and Prince William asked their father, King Charles, not to marry Camilla. “We didn’t think it was necessary,” says Harry. “We thought that it was going to cause more harm than good. And that if he was now with his person that surely that’s enough. Why go that far when you don’t necessarily need to?”

Harry says he wanted his father to be happy, so he tried to accept Camilla. He noticed how happy Camilla made Charles. “We wanted him to be happy and we saw how happy he was with her, so at the time it was OK,” he says.

Prince Harry was polite to Camilla so he could show ‘affection for his father’ says an expert

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Body Language Expert Says King Charles Showed ‘Disloyalty’ to Queen Camilla During a ‘Very Public Scene’

Prince Harry remained cordial to Camilla to demonstrate “affection for his father,” says body language expert Judi James. “There’s always been an air of politeness about Harry’s body language with Camilla,” James tells Express. “But never the kind of signals of any deeper affection that we did actually get to glimpse between Camilla and Meghan, who were seen performing some warm, prolonged hand-clasping during their greeting rituals in public. Given Harry’s profound loyalty to his mother and her memory, this decision of polite attentiveness should suggest some very strong bonds of affection for his father, too.”

Prince Harry doesn’t see Camilla as ‘an evil stepmother’

Prince Harry says he loves his father and brother. He also says he doesn’t want to hurt them. Harry’s “polite” behavior toward Camilla showed he wanted the best for King Charles. However, he says he had issues with the connections Camilla formed with the British press. “There was open willingness on both sides to trade information,” says Harry during his 60 Minutes interview.

Harry says things changed once negative stories were “leaked” and planted” in the media. He believes Camilla was behind some of the negative stories that circulated throughout the years. He believed her goal was to look better in the public eye so she could make a smooth transition toward becoming queen. Although they haven’t spoken in a while, Harry says when he sees Camilla, they’re cordial.

“I love every member of my family, despite the differences, so when I see her, we’re perfectly pleasant with each other,” says Harry during his Good Morning America interview with Michael Strahan. “She’s my stepmother. I don’t look at her as an evil stepmother. I see someone who married into this institution and has done everything that she can to improve her own reputation and her own image, for her own sake.”

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