King Charles III’s former butler, Grant Harrold, is offering a surprising new perspective on the monarch’s relationship with Queen Camilla—one that starkly contrasts with Prince Harry’s version in his memoir Spare.
A Different Side of Charles and Camilla’s Romance
In his forthcoming memoir The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, Harrold reflects on the seven years he spent working closely with Charles. He described the monarch as “a very gentle” man and recalled the early days of Charles’s relationship with Camilla.
According to Harrold, the couple were not yet living together when he joined the household, but they were deeply connected. “There was no police protection or anything. I remember one time turning up at [her house] at night—[Charles] asked me to take something to her,” Harrold wrote in an excerpt shared by The Telegraph. “She opened the window and said, ‘Who’s there?!’ I said, ‘It’s Grant!’ She laughed and said, ‘Grant, what the hell are you doing here at this time?’”
A Joyous Wedding Day
Harrold emphasized that the relationship between Charles, Camilla, and the young princes appeared warm and harmonious. He recalled that on the day of Charles and Camilla’s wedding in 2005, William and Harry even joined in decorating the couple’s car with “Just Married” signs.
“As they drove off through the arches to cheers, the boys raced after the car,” Harrold remembered, adding that Charles looked “the happiest” he had ever seen.
A Contrast to Prince Harry’s Spare
This account diverges from Harry’s version in Spare, where the Duke of Sussex revealed that he and Prince William urged their father not to marry Camilla, despite offering him their support.
“‘We support you,’ we said. ‘We endorse Camilla,’ we said. ‘Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa,’” Harry recalled in his memoir.
Harrold, however, maintains that Charles, Camilla, William, and Harry “got on so well,” leaving him puzzled by Harry’s portrayal of events.
A Memoir Full of Royal Insights
Harrold’s The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life of Royal Service is set to be released next month, promising more behind-the-scenes stories from his years in royal service. With his account differing so sharply from Harry’s, readers can expect the book to spark renewed debate about the dynamics within the royal family.
