While Princes Harry and Williams invitation to their step mother Camilla to next weeks Princess Diana memorial service has raised a fierce controversy, the Duchess of Cornwall has defended her presence at the event in an extraordinary letter to a member of the public.
London, Aug. 25 : While Princes Harry and William's invitation to their step mother Camilla to next week's Princess Diana memorial service has raised a fierce controversy, the Duchess of Cornwall has defended her presence at the event in an extraordinary letter to a member of the public.
Camilla insists that the young royals' decision to invite her to Friday's service makes her inclusion in the royal party "appropriate". Her justification was written in a letter to a woman who contacted Clarence House to complain about her attendance.
"The Duchess asked me to explain to you that Prince William and Prince Harry have personally asked her to attend the Memorial Service in August. As such, Her Royal Highness feels it is appropriate that she should attend," the Daily Mail quoted Camilla's assistant private secretary, Amanda MacManus as writing on her behalf, in the letter to Margaret Funnell, from Brighton.
Funnell, a cofounder of the Diana Circle UK that campaigns to keep the memory of the princess alive, was "astonished" to receive such a candid reply from the palace.
"Normally the letters you receive from the palace are nothing more than polite acknowledgements of your correspondence. This shows quite clearly, therefore, how rattled Camilla and Clarence House were by the public response to the announcement that she would attend," she said.
She also termed the invitation to Cammilla from Harry and William "artificial", suspecting that the young princes had to invite her because the royal protocol dictated so.
"I find it reprehensible that Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman who caused Diana such pain and torment in her short, young life, should be present at her memorial service. I suspect that protocol dictated that William and Harry had to invite her but she is the last person that should be there. It will totally overshadow the day," Funnell said.
Meanwhile, William has reportedly told his friends that he does not blame Camilla for the breakdown of his parents' marriage. He believes that Charles and Diana's split was a result of fundamental differences between the couple combined with the 'unbearable' pressure put on their relationship by the media.
The Prince is also said to be happy that Camilla will attend his mother's memorial service on the one hand, and upset that the event has been overshadowed by rows over the guest list, on the other.
"It's quite an unusual situation for a child to grow up knowing the ins and outs of their parents' marriage but William has come through it remarkably unscathed, indeed he takes a very mature view of the situation," said a source.
"He has spoken at length about Camilla and says he doesn't believe she broke his parents' marriage up. He says it was solely down to them and the Press. He is angry at the way this issue has been allowed to overshadow the service that he and Harry have spent so long organising," the source added.
The source further said that William and Harry talk about their late mother in public because her death is still painful for the.
"They rarely speak about her in public because her death is still so painful for them both. It's not the way they wanted it at all," said the source.
ANI