Prince Harry ‘did not want to be in the same room’ as Queen Camilla when he spoke to the King about cancer diagnosis, sources claim

The Duke of Sussex is said to have not wanted to be in the same room as the Queen when speaking to his cancer-stricken father King Charles III.

Writing for The Telegraph, Camilla’s friend and British journalist Petronella Wyatt said: ‘Harry, I hear, preferred not to be in the same room with his stepmother when he spoke to the King about his cancer diagnosis.’

The father-of-two made a flying visit to London from California last week to see his father for 30 minutes following the monarch’s surprise cancer disclosure.

It’s no secret that Harry and Camilla share a troubled relationship after the Duke claimed in his memoir Spare last January that his stepmother was leaking stories about the Royal Family to the media to bolster her image.

He also labelled her ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ and claimed she had ‘sacrificed him’ to improve her reputation. 

The Duke of Sussex (pictured in 2022) is said to have not wanted to be in the same room as the Queen when speaking to his cancer-stricken father King Charles III

Prince Harry flew into the British capital on a ten-hour flight from Los Angeles on Tuesday and arrived at Clarence House at 2.42pm.

The Duke, who has been estranged from his father and brother Prince William since leaving royal life, then quickly jetted back to LA and was in Vegas the following day to make a speech at a NFL awards ceremony.

During their meeting, the King only saw Harry for half an hour to keep his stress levels down, according to royal expert Robert Jobson. 

He told The Sun: ‘You don’t want his blood pressure going up. The King’s not very well, whatever type of cancer it is, he’s undergoing treatment.

‘The best thing for him is calm. After the initial kiss and hug, love you dad, hope you get better soon, what issues are going to get raised? Things that will get your blood pressure rising.’ 

Charles is said to have been ‘disappointment’ at his son’s depiction of Queen Camilla in his book Spare, according to a report by The Telegraph in November. 

In the memoir, Harry wrote of Camilla: ‘I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.’

Harry also said that he and his brother Prince William had ‘begged’ their father King Charles III, then Prince Charles, not to marry Camilla because they feared she would become their ‘wicked stepmother’.

The father-of-two made a flying visit to London from California last week to see his father (pictured with Queen Camilla) for 30 minutes following the monarch’s surprise cancer disclosure 

In another blow, Harry described Camilla as ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ who left ‘bodies in the street’ in her desire to change the public’s perception of her.

In a TV interview to promote the book last January with Anderson Cooper on CBS News show 60 Minutes, Harry elaborated on his claims.

The Duke said: ‘She was a third person in their [my parents’] marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image. 

‘That made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press.

‘Because of the connections that she was forging… there was open willingness on both sides to trade information. 

‘And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.’

Three months after the book’s publication in April, an aide told The Sunday Times of Camilla’s response to Harry’s claims, saying: ‘It was not stamping of feet or gnashing of teeth – it was much more of an eye-roll response.’

Camilla’s close friend Fiona Shelburne, Lady Lansdowne also told the newspaper: ‘Of course it bothers her, of course it hurts. 

‘But she doesn’t let it get to her. Her philosophy is always, “Don’t make a thing of it and it will settle down – least said, soonest mended.”‘

Meanwhile, it has emerged that King Charles is still hoping to visit Australia with Queen Camilla in October, despite his recent cancer diagnosis. 

His ongoing treatment had thrown his appearance in the country this autumn in doubt, but a Palace source says the monarch still hopes to complete the visit as part of a long-haul trip. 

The visit is scheduled around the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa and was confirmed by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese in early January.

Camilla speaks to Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour in June 2015

Charles, Camilla and Harry watch a flypast from the Buckingham Palace balcony in July 2005 

Prince Harry speaks as Charles, Camilla and Meghan watch as they attend The Prince of Wales’s 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration held at Buckingham Palace in May 2018 

The source told the Telegraph: ‘We continue planning, but we’re not at any stage to confirm timing or dates because it’s the first week of the King’s treatment. It certainly remains the case that he’s hopeful it will go ahead.’ 

The visit will be the first by a ruling monarch since Elizabeth II in October 2011 and Charles’ first since his accession. 

The King announced he was postponing all public duties last week while he undergoes treatment for an unspecified cancer. 

His Majesty is well enough to hold a limited number of face-to-face meetings, sources say, but will be spending most of his time recovering at Sandringham or Highgrove.

Charles is continuing with behind-the-scenes work on his red boxes of state papers and is also expected to return to London more or less weekly in order to hold his audience with the Prime Minister and receive further treatment and medical advice.