Royals: Expert Tina Brown on Harry and William ahead of coronation

Laura Lopes, the only daughter of Queen Camilla and her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles, was 14 when her mother’s affair with King Charles III became public knowledge.

According to royal author Tina Brown, neither Laura nor her older brother Tom were handling the news well.

Ms Brown wrote in her bestselling book The Palace Papers: “Laura blamed Charles for the break-up of her parents’ marriage and feuded about it with Prince William.

“The Sunday Express reported that a family friend said: ‘William would blame Camilla for all the hurt she had caused his mother, which would send Laura into a rage.

“…Laura was not having any of it. She would take a hard line and fire back at William: ‘Your father has ruined my life’.”

Similarly, in her 2010 book William and Harry: Behind Palace Walls, royal author Katie Nicholl claimed William clashed with Laura on several occasions.

She wrote: “William and Laura used to have terrible fights over who was to blame for their broken homes.”

Ms Nicholl went on to say both Laura and Tom had been “teased mercilessly” at school as a result of their mother’s relationship with then-Prince Charles.

“She couldn’t care less that it was the Prince of Wales, she blamed him for breaking up her parents’ marriage and was not afraid to tell William so,” she wrote.

Although the breakdown of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s marriage dominated the headlines throughout the early Nineties, Laura and Tom led relatively low-profile lives.

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Not much is known about the siblings’ relationship with the royals, namely their step-siblings: Prince William and Prince Harry.

“Apart from at each other’s weddings, we have pretty much never seen them together in public and we are not aware, for example, that Camilla’s children have ever socialised with William and Harry,” said ABC News royal contributor Victoria Murphy.

All four children were at the wedding of their parents in April 2005. The royal brothers were present when Tom married Sara Buys that same year and were among the guests at Laura’s wedding to Harry Lopes the following year.

Similarly, both Laura and Tom made the guest list for William and Kate, Princess of Wales’s, royal wedding in 2011, and that of Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in 2018.

Ms Murphy said: “Camilla’s granddaughter Eliza Lopes was a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding, so that does signify an understanding of the significance of each other’s families, if not a specific closeness.”

And in her book Prince William: Born to be King, biographer Penny Junor recalled a Palace source telling her: “I think the relationship between them all is warm now but if I’m honest, it wasn’t then. I think they found it hard.”

Now, Charles and Camilla’s blended family will take pride of place at a major royal event — their Coronation at Westminster Abbey on Saturday.

All four of their children will attend the Coronation, along with many of their combined 10 grandchildren, some of whom have been given special roles to play during the ceremony.

William’s eldest son Prince George, nine, will serve as a Page of Honour for Charles, while Tom’s son, Master Freddy Parker Bowles, 13, will join his cousins, Master Gus Lopes and Master Louis Lopes, the twin sons of Laura, also 13, as Pages of Honour for Camilla.

“Camilla’s family are very much front and centre at this event, and that is interesting as this is a state occasion and they are usually totally private,” said Ms Murphy.

“Camilla’s family being so involved and visible does send, I think, a message about just how important she is to Charles’ reign and very much reminds us that this is their coronation, not just his.”

The Palace Papers was written by Tina Brown and published by Cornerstone in April 2022. It is available here.

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