A royal author has claimed that Prince William used to have ‘terrible fights’ with stepsister Laura and that she used a brutal six-word remark against him when they were younger
These days, King Charles and Queen Camilla’sblended family come together regularly – but in the earlier days of their relationship things were not such smooth sailing amongst their children, a royal author has claimed.
Prince William and Prince Harry gained two step-siblings when Charles remarried – Tom Parker Bowles, 50, and Laura Lopes, 47. Queen Camilla’s children from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles are both a bit older than William and Harry so the four step-siblings never really grew up together as children, but that reportedly didn’t stop William and Laura from having blazing rows in their younger years.
Royal author Katie Nicholls claimed in her book Harry and William, which was released in 2010, that the pair used to have “terrible fights”, which saw them go head-to-head and even bring their parents into it, which led to Laura allegedly making a pretty brutal six-word remark to William.
“William and Laura used to have terrible fights over who was to blame for their broken homes,” the author wrote. “William would blame Camilla for all the hurt she had caused his mother [Princess Diana], which would send Laura into a rage. Laura was not having any of it. She would take a hard line and fire back at William, ‘Your father has ruined my life’.”
Those six words might have been how Laura felt at the time, but relations seemed to have improved vastly between the step-siblings over the years, at least in some ways. Laura’s daughter Eliza acted as a bridesmaid in William and Kate’s royal wedding back in 2011, with Charles lifting her up to wave at the crowds gathered below when the royals appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but even many years before, the pair were spotted sharing warmer moments.
At the 2005 wedding of Charles and Camilla, Tom, Laura, William and Harry were all photographed laughing and smiling together, and despite any tension that comes with blending a family all four seemed pleased for their parents that they were finally making it official.
William admitted that Christmas at Sandringham, which Laura has been invited to two years running since Charles took the throne is a pretty “noisy” affair with 45 guests in attendance, saying at an engagement before the festive season: “We’ll be in Norfolk, at Sandringham. We’ll be 45 for Christmas. It won’t be quiet, it will be noisy.
With both sides of the family celebrating the festive season, it’s clear that any earlier alleged tensions have likely eased. Princess Kate may have played a part in this, as she shares a lot of common ground with Laura including a shared passion for art. Both women studied History of Art at university, and Laura later founded an art gallery.
Laura’s sons, Gus and Louis also played a high-profile role in Charles and Camilla’s coronation ceremony, acting as pages of honour for their grandmother in the historic service, that saw her officially crowned as Queen Consort. The regular appearance of Laura and Tom’s children at major royal events indicates that over time the step-siblings have all warmed up to one another.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Tom Parker Bowles – a food writer – opened up about the “appalling” and “barbaric” experiences that his step brothers had gone through whilst growing up in the public eye, expressing a lot of empathy for them and the bright spotlight they live under, noting that whilst he had only endured a taste of it, it made him realise how tough things had been for King Charles’s sons.
“I remember being chased at 100mph by paps trying to get a shot. My mother being screamed at to try to get a reaction. Pushing, jostling. It was horrific, and you are protective of your mother. Counting how many paps were at the gates, to see who was watching us and taking photographs: it was all as normal as bacon and eggs in the morning. You didn’t think of it in any other way … [But] it was barbaric.”
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