Royal Sources Say Queen Camilla "Hasn't Forgotten" How "Deeply Unhelpful" Ex-Prince Andrew Was When She Dated King Charles
"Looking back to when there was little public sympathy for Charles and Camilla, if not open hostility, it was a case of Andrew playing politics."
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To say King Charles and Queen Camilla have been through their ups and downs over the years would be a significant understatement. In the wake of their affair in the 1990s, the now-Queen faced a deluge of negative headlines and a public backlash that has taken decades to overcome. But one member of the Royal Family is said to have been especially antagonistic to Camilla, and it's something she’s not “forgotten.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail's Richard Kay, multiple sources noted that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor wasn't a cheerleader for Charles and Camilla's relationship.
“Camilla has always felt Andrew could have done more,” an insider once told the columnist. “The [late] Queen listens to Andrew and he could have helped his brother at a time when he had few allies within the family.” The source added, “I would go so far as to say he was deeply unhelpful when support would have meant a huge amount to her and the prince.”
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Queen Camilla and King Charles are seen on their 2005 wedding day with members of the Royal Family.
Andrew is pictured with Queen Elizabeth, King Charles, Queen Camilla and Meghan Markle in 2018.
In her book Camilla: From Outcast To Queen Consort, biographer Angela Levin wrote that Andrew “became very, very negative and extremely unpleasant on not getting his way” when it came to Camilla—even trying to convince Queen Elizabeth to get Charles to cancel his April 2005 wedding.
Andrew allegedly felt that Camilla was “insufficiently aristocratic and that she was not to be trusted,” behaving in a “quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty” way. Levin wrote that the former Duke of York “remained so hostile about Camilla's acceptance that it's doubtful it has ever been forgiven.”
Fast forward to 2026, and Andrew has been stripped of his titles, evicted from Royal Lodge and arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. PR expert Luana Ribeira told the Mirror that for Camilla, Andrew's “snub” might not have made “any difference then, but it's likely to actually be helping her now.”
“People are not going to side with Andrew right now, and she is seen as somebody who really had to fight for her place, which people respect.”
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Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.
Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.
Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.