The one thing King Charles could not ‘tolerate’ Prince William and Princess Kate doing

Prince Harry revealed his father’s biggest dislike in his memoir Spare, and hinted at why the two senior royals may do comparatively fewer royal engagements

here was one key thing that King Charles could not stand Prince William and Princess Kate doing, according to Prince Harry. The monarch’s younger son gave a revealing insight into the family dynamics in his memoir Spare, which was published to much fanfare in 2023.

At one point in the book, set in 2015, Harry said that the then-Prince Charles and his wife – who was known as Camilla Parker-Bowles at the time – were envious of the public attention his older brother William and wife Kate tended to receive. The Prince said: “Willy did everything he (Charles) wanted, and sometimes he didn’t want him to do much, because my dad and Camilla didn’t like Willy and Kate getting too much publicity.”

The Duke of Sussex, now 41, alleges that Charles’ staff ensured that Kate, who was the Duchess of Cambridge, was not photographed at any royal engagements holding a tennis racket. He explained this was because “that kind of photo would have pushed Dad and Camilla off every front page”.

King Charles, now 77, feared the spotlight being taken away from him continued, claimed Harry. A couple of years later in 2017, when he introduced now-wife Meghan Markle, to the family, Harry alleged his father feared the actress had the potential to “dominate the monarchy”.

© Getty Images
Harry claimed his father didn’t like the Prince and Princess of Wales taking the attention away from him

Harry said his father had “experienced that before and he had no interest in letting it happen to him again”, in reference to his late mother Princess Diana. He added: “What he really couldn’t stomach was someone new dominating the monarchy, grabbing the limelight, someone shiny and new coming in and overshadowing him.”

Back in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed they would be stepping back from royal duties. The couple relocated to Montecito, California, where they are raising their two children and take part in regular media appearances to promote projects including, most recently, an appearance on Oprah Daily.

© John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made regular media appearances since stepping back from royal duties

Last year, the King, who acceded the throne in 2022 after the passing of Queen Elizabeth, carried out the most public engagements of all the royals at 532 – despite still undergoing treatment for cancer. He was followed by younger sister Princess Anne at 478, the now-Duke of Edinburgh at 313 and his wife, the Duchess of Edinburgh at 235.

However, in 2025, Prince William carried out 202 engagements, the Princess of Wales undertook undertook 68 and the couple attending 46 engagements together. The year before that, the mother-of-three had been diagnosed with cancer and took time away from official duties for treatment.