Though Camilla Parker Bowles has officially been a member of the British royal family since 2005, many people still think of the Duchess of Cornwall in a negative light due to her infamous love triangle with Prince Charles and Princess Diana

But, in a newly unearthed interview, Camilla’s stepson Prince Harry candidly defended Prince Charles’ wife and assured royal fans she’s far from a “wicked stepmother.”

“To be honest, she’s always been very close to me and [Prince William]. She’s not a wicked stepmother. Look at the position she’s coming into. Don’t feel sorry for me and William, feel sorry for her,” Harry, 33, said years ago, according to the UK’s Express

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“She’s a wonderful woman and she’s made our father very, very happy which is the most important thing. William and I love her to bits,” he continued. 

Camilla, 71, and Charles, 69, first met through a mutual friend in 1971 when the Prince of Wales was in his early 20s. Though the couple began dating soon after, the royal family allegedly did not approve of Charles and Camilla’s relationship and the pair later broke up in 1973. 

Camilla went on to marry Andrew Parker Bowles in July 1973 and Charles famously tied the knot with Princess Diana in July 1981. Despite being married to others, Charles and Camilla continued their romance and their affair went public in 1992. Following their respective divorces and Diana’s tragic death in August 1997, Charles and Camilla announced their royal engagement in February 2005 and married in August 2005. 

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“It couldn’t have been easy for Prince Charles to tell his sons that the woman blamed for the break-up of his marriage to their mother was going to become their stepmother, but in the autumn of 2004 that’s what he did,” journalist Angela Levin wrote in Harry: Conversations with the Prince, according to The Express

“Harry accepted that Camilla had been in his father’s life for a very long time and had grown to like her,” Levin continued. “Since he was a small child he has been able to see things from other people’s points of view.”

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