When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived at Highgrove House on July 10 for a private reunion with King Charles, Queen Camilla was also there. Royal biographer Robert Jobson described her attendance as “very significant” — given the Duke had previously called her “dangerous” and a “villain”. Jobson told The Sun’s Royal Exclusive podcast: “She was there to support the King … to witness what was said … it would have been better with Camilla there and more difficult for them to almost push the King into a corner.”
The meeting came as a friend of the Queen, Gyles Brandreth, revealed how she really feels about her public role. Speaking to Hello!, the former MP said that while many her age might slow down, Camilla and the King have to “wind up” — but he never gets the impression she is doing it “reluctantly”. Author Catherine Mayer, who also knows the Queen, told the publication: “This is a woman who really was very happy not having a career, and who liked to potter and do things that interested her, and now suddenly she has this huge role.”
“Queen Camilla's friend says she was 'very happy' without a career but now has a 'huge' role, as she joins Prince Harry's family meeting.”
Camilla recently turned 79 on July 17. Brandreth said birthdays are a family affair for her, and when reminded the next is a big one, she pulls a face and says, “Thank you for reminding me.” He added: “When you say to her, ‘Well done, it’s going so well,’ she shrugs and says, ‘Well, on we go.’”
The Highgrove gathering was the first time Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie and Lilibet, had seen their grandfather since the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. No photographs were released. The meeting followed a war of words between Harry’s team and Buckingham Palace over accommodation and security — it was Meghan’s first trip to the UK in four years, and she had intended to accompany Harry at Invictus Games engagements. A source close to the Duke and Duchess told The Times: “This is not the first time it has not been plain sailing with correspondence or trying to make things work. It all comes back to security. If that was resolved, there would be so much more certainty every time he comes — or they come.”
Jobson said Camilla’s presence made it “more difficult for them to push the King, who was a very kind man, a gentle man, into a corner.”
