Prince William Seeks Queen Elizabeth II’s Help to Smooth Things Over Between Prince Charles and the Middletons

In a new unauthorized biography of Prince Charles, titled “Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles,” British investigative journalist Tom Bower claims that Prince William sought his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II's help to smooth things over between his father Prince Charles and his parents-in-law, Michael and Carol Middleton.

According to Bower, Prince Charles felt usurped by the Middletons and isolated from his grandchildren, Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, 2.

William and his wife Kate Middleton chose to spend Christmas with her parents rather than with the other royals and set up their home base miles away from Charles' residence to Norfolk where they could preserve their privacy.

Bower claims that several of the Queen's courtiers allegedly decided to ignore Carol Middleton on social occasions after picking up on Charles' alleged fears of being overshadowed.

William became infuriated and consulted with his grandmother, the Queen, who countered the hurtful snubs against Carol with an invitation to drive her around the Balmoral estate, and allegedly inviting a TV cameraman to film their outing.

Meanwhile, Charles attempted to bond with Kate by inviting her to her first opera in the Royal Wax at Covent Garden.

The night out was a bust.

Charles hoped to convert Kate to classical music lost because the production of Bellini's La Sanambula, The Sleepwalker, was awful, Bower claims.

Such instances led Charles to worry that the media attention was switching to William and Kate.

Charles saw Kate and William as the new stars and feared he'd be in trouble.

According to Bower, Charles' connection to his sons William and Prince Harry had been strained during his divorce from Princess Diana, with Charles allegedly believing Diana had poisoned the boys' minds towards their father.

After her death in 1997, the brothers had to cope with a continuing onslaught of public revelations about their parents' adulterous relationships, Bower writes.

Charles' eventual marriage to his mistress, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, didn't help, her presence a constant reminder of their mother's torment.

The brothers would even enter Clarence House through the servants' quarters in order to avoid both their father and Camilla, Bower claims.

While Charles may have worried about William and Kate taking the limelight, Camilla was unconcerned.

”She didn't give a damn,” Higdon told Bower.

She also allegedly dismissed the presumption that Kate would be the first commoner queen, saying with a laugh, ”It'll be me.”

Bower's book also details how Charles was disappointed when his son and daughter-in-law were invited by the Canadian government to tour the country in September 2016 before he was.

Charles saw this as evidence of William and Kate becoming the new stars and feared he'd be overshadowed.