‘A lot of people’ will ‘feel wobbly’ about seeing Queen Camilla crowned

It’s fascinating to watch as the royal/media machinery continues to churn out an entirely rewritten and reimagined narrative about Queen (Consort) Camilla ahead of her coronation. For all of the coronation-planning shambles, there is one constant thing: the palace is spending a lot of time and money emphasizing “Queen Camilla, crowned alongside her husband” and “Camilla’s victory lap, at long last.” It’s coming across as very smug, and I would assume it’s turning off more people than it’s winning over. It just shows you (again) Charles and Camilla’s inability to read the room, and their decades-long failure to understand that their support is a mile wide and an inch deep. People Magazine has now gotten into the business of embiggening Camilla, and they’re running some exclusives from Camilla biographers and Ingrid Seward. Some highlights:

How Harry & William feel about seeing Camilla crowned: “They are likely feeling a little wobbly about it,” royal author Ingrid Seward tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “I think a lot of people will feel the same.” Palace sources always insisted that Prince William, 41, and Prince Harry, 38, who grew up with the knowledge of their father’s affair with Camilla, were welcoming to their stepmother. A family friend says “there wasn’t any animosity,” and Prince Harry voiced support for Camilla in 2005, saying that he and William “love her to bits” and that she was “not the wicked stepmother.”

Harry’s complaints of Camilla leaking sh-t about him: “He was justified in his complaint that he and William were used in the early days to legitimize the partnership of Charles and [Camilla],” royal biographer and A Greater Love author Christopher Wilson tells PEOPLE. “Over time, she’s learned to roll with the punches. Harry’s feelings have been well-known to her over many years. Her reaction to Harry’s comments would be limited to a sad shake of the head.”

Camilla is “prepared”: “She has done a lot to show she is prepared for it and has a right to be in the modern world,” biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE. “And there has never been any doubt that Charles wants her there as Queen.” Seward adds, “William is quite calm about it. But it will stick in Harry’s throat a bit.”

Camilla’s “who me?” moment: “Considering that for most of her life she’d never contemplated the idea of becoming Queen, she’s doing incredibly well,” Wilson tells PEOPLE. “It’s a hell of a challenge being permanently in the spotlight at this age, but she’s tough and can take it.”

Steely Camilla: “She is quite steely,” a source close to the royal household tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “She went through a lot to be by his side.”

Teamwork: “They work well as a team. It’s impressive,” Wilson tells PEOPLE of Charles and Camilla. “Her presence reassures him. Despite all the trappings of majesty, it’s cold and lonely at the top, and it’s easy to see the comfort she provides him.”

[From People Magazine]

“William is quite calm about it. But it will stick in Harry’s throat a bit.” I have my doubts, obviously. Weeks ago, when Camilla’s “victory lap” coronation plans started getting a lot of attention, some sources indicated that William wasn’t pleased that the Chubbly was turning into such a heavily Parker-Bowles event. The optics of Charles making a point of not including all of his grandchildren but Camilla including all of her grandchildren… it’s bad, y’all. A lot of people over 40 will be thinking about Diana and what could have been, which is basically the story of Camilla’s life. But yes, she was quite “steely” in the way she got everything she wanted, regardless of how many bodies she walked over.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.