Footage of Prince Harry describing Queen Camilla as the "third person" in King Charles III's marriage has gone viral days before the 26th anniversary of Princess Diana's death.
The Duke of Sussex also said he and brother Prince William felt Charles and Camilla's marriage would "cause more harm than good" in an interview with Anderson Cooper for "60 Minutes" in January 2023.
The comments, made during the publicity tour for his memoir Spare, triggered a furore at the time but have resurfaced as Diana fans prepare to mark the anniversary of her 1997 death in a Paris car crash on August 31.
A TikTok video comparing Harry's words in January to Princess Diana's own account of Charles' affair with Camilla and her love for her children went viral and has been liked almost 600,000 times and viewed 3.2 million times.
In the post, Harry can be seen saying: "She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image."
Cooper then asks Harry why he and his brother did not want their father and Camilla to marry.
Harry replied: "We didn't think it was necessary. We thought that it was gonna cause more harm than good and that if he was now with his person, that… surely that's enough.
"Why go that far when you don't necessarily need to? We wanted him to be happy. And we saw how happy he was with her."
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In the original interview, the prince went on to say "the need for her to rehabilitate her image" made Camilla "dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press.
"And there was open willingness on both sides to trade of 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."
The TikTok montage goes on to include clips from the audio tapes Diana secretly recorded for Andrew Morton for his biography Diana: Her True Story.
In one, Diana said: "I once heard him on the telephone saying whatever happens I'll always love you."
Morton published the transcript of the tapes in later editions of the book, after Diana had died, which show she continued: "I told him afterwards that I had listened at the door and we had a filthy row.
"When I arrived at Clarence House there was a letter on my bed from Camilla, dated two days previously, saying: 'Such exciting news about the engagement [to Charles]. Do let's have lunch soon when the Prince of Wales goes to Australia and New Zealand.'"
"That was 'Wow!'" Diana added.
The TikTok video also includes Diana describing Harry's 1984 birth: "Harry arrived, Harry had red hair, Harry was a boy. First comment was: 'Oh God, it's a boy,' second comment: 'and he's even got red hair.'
"Something inside me closed off. By then, I knew Charles had gone back to his lady."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
