I learned my lesson the hard way: Queen Camilla’s son makes rare comment about Harry and William

Tom Parker Bowles has made a rare comment about his stepbrothers Prince William and Prince Harry.

In a recent interview with the UK’s The Telegraph, the son of King Charles’ wife Queen Camilla said he learned “a long time ago not to put my fat fingers into the world of William and Harry”.

The food critic and writer spoke sympathetically, recalling the media fanfare following the news his mother was having an affair with the then-Prince Charles.

The interview discussed Mr Parker-Bowles’ subsequent relationship with the British tabloids and the heckling his family has received from the paparazzi.

“My mother being screamed at to try to get a reaction. Pushing, jostling. It was horrific, and you are protective of your mother,” he said.

“Counting how many paps were at the gates, to see who was watching us and taking photographs: it was all as normal as bacon and eggs in the morning. You didn’t think of it in any other way… (but) it was barbaric.

“I learned a long time ago not to put my fat fingers into the world of William and Harry. But it was appalling what they went through. I’ve had a billionth of what they’ve had to go through but hell, I sympathise.”

The comments come as former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond claimed the Duke of Sussex was “damaged” after the loss of his mother Princess Diana as a child and subsequent media intrusion in his life.

Harry is stubborn, she said
And he is also understandably damaged by what happened to his mother.

“Who can blame him for being so protective about his wife and children?”

Harry himself has previously opened up about experiencing “bouts of depression” and agoraphobia in his memoir Spare and works as an advocate for mental health charities.

He also discussed his ongoing legal battle against press intrusion in the October ITV documentary Tabloids on Trial, which he described as a “central piece” in the breakdown of his relationship with the Royal Family.

Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it,” he said.
“But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.”

While not appearing to share the same degree of grievance as his brother, the Prince of Wales has spoken out against the press to support Diana and his wife Princess Catherine.

In 2021, William blasted the BBC for allowing unethical tactics to coerce his mother into her infamous 1995 Panorama interview.

The tell-all featured Diana giving a rare insight into her feelings about her ex-husband Charles’ affair with Camilla to journalist Martin Bashir.

She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions,” William said.
“…these failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down and my family down; they let the public down too.”

In 2007, a Kensington Palace spokesperson on behalf of William released a statement calling for the press to “stop” harassing his then-girlfriend Catherine.

“Prince William is very unhappy at the paparazzi harassment of his girlfriend,” it said.
“He wants, more than anything, for it to stop. Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual, be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion.

“The situation is proving unbearable for all those concerned.”