King Charles III has been accused of "sacrificing" Prince Harry to improve his own image, according to a friend of Queen Camilla. Following the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a Paris car crash, both Charles and Camilla found themselves single, with their reputations at an all-time low.
The new documentary 'Queen Camilla: The Wicked Stepmother' alleges that PR expert Mark Bolland was enlisted by Camilla to help sell her relationship with Charles to the public, using William and Harry as part of his strategy. Prince Harry claims that Bolland exploited his teenage drug use to boost Charles and Camilla's image.
In 2002, it was reported that Prince Harry had been sent to a drug rehabilitation clinic for a day after admitting to smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol. It was suggested that Charles decided to "shock" his then 17 year old son after discovering he had taken drugs at his Highgrove home and drunk heavily at a local pub.
However, royal journalist Charles Rae, speaking in the documentary, said: "Any Royal involved in illegal activities is a great story, the only problem with this was, this was spin.
"This had not happened as they said. What had happened was that Harry had gone to this drugs rehabilitation place two or three weeks beforehand. It was spun then to try and show people that 'don't worry, dad's taken care of it. He's taken him to a drugs rehabilitation unit to show him the evils of his ways.'"
Royal historian Robert Jobson told the documentary that the News Of The World "did a deal" with the Palace, and then spun the story "to make Charles look as good as possible.", reports Aberdeen Live.
According to the documentary, when the News Of The World presented their evidence to Bolland, he used his close relationship with editor Rebekah Brooks, then Wade, to "soften the story".
Bolland reportedly supplied Wade with "extra details of Harry's Royal visit to the rehab centre to make Charles look good".
Petronella Wyatt, a friend of Queen Camilla's, told the documentary: "I think it was a very bad decision on Bolland's part. I think Charles was slightly distracted at the time. I think he would probably feel now he shouldn't have allowed that to appear. It does look like a son being sacrificed to make his father look better."
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Prince Harry has since accused members of the Royal Family of getting in "bed with the devil" over their links with the tabloid press. In an interview with ITV, he said: "Those certain members have decided to get in the bed with the devil, right? To rehabilitate their image.
"If you need to do that, or you want to do that, you choose to do that - well, that is a choice. That's up to you.
"But the moment that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others - me, other members of my family - then that's where I draw the line."
*'Queen Camilla: The Wicked Stepmother?' is set to air on Channel 4 on Sunday, November 24
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