--- title: Tina Brown on Harry & Meghan, Queen Camilla, and the Monarchy description: As all eyes turn to King Charles III, journalist Tina Brown offers some insights on what kind of monarch the longtime heir apparent is likely to be. canonical: https://time.com/6213386/tina-brown-king-charles-iii-camilla/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-09-15T22:32:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:45:07.279Z article:section: World og:title: Tina Brown on Harry & Meghan, Queen Camilla, and the Future of the Monarchy og:description: Charles has been acclaimed with enormous love and affection by the British nation in the last few days, says the journalist and famed royals watcher. og:url: https://time.com/6213386/tina-brown-king-charles-iii-camilla/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48512faa1bc74deb/698a356d096a9433656acf1f/king-charles.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: BRITAIN-ROYALS-QUEEN-DEATH og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tina Brown on Harry & Meghan, Queen Camilla, and the Future of the Monarchy twitter:description: Charles has been acclaimed with enormous love and affection by the British nation in the last few days, says the journalist and famed royals watcher. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48512faa1bc74deb/698a356d096a9433656acf1f/king-charles.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tina Brown on Why King Charles III Will Be Alright  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 15, 2022 10:32 PM CUT  Britain's King Charles III inside Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, where the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, will lie in State on a Catafalque, in London on September 14, 2022. Britain's King Charles III inside Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, where the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, will lie in State on a Catafalque, in London on September 14, 2022.Phil Noble/pool/AFP— Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 15, 2022 10:32 PM CUT As all eyes turn to [King Charles III](https://time.com/6212122/king-charles-iii-coronation-updates/ "undefined"), journalist and famed royal watcher Tina Brown offers some insights on what kind of monarch the longtime heir apparent is likely to be. Brown’s latest book, [_The Palace Papers_](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624639/the-palace-papers-by-tina-brown/ "undefined"), pulls back the curtains on some of the inner workings of the royal family. **How would you rate King Charles III’s response to his ascension to the throne, and his mother’s death?** _His royal training has completely kicked in—both his naval training as an officer, and his years and decades of attending big royal ceremonial occasions, has just schooled him in this impeccable conduct. Each one of his different speeches has been both potent and also human. Charles has been acclaimed with enormous love and affection by the British nation in the last few days. In a sense, this is the first time that Charles has really been able to experience that._ **Read more:** [_The Story Behind TIME’s Queen Elizabeth II cover_](https://time.com/6211810/time-queen-elizabeth-ii-cover/ "undefined") **Is King Charles III likely to run into trouble given his advocacy on the climate, and his history of** [**trying to intervene in policy**](https://time.com/6212008/king-charles-iii-controversy-past/ "undefined")**?** _Charles knows that the days of speaking out vocally on those things are done. He actually said in an interview,_ [_“I’m not that stupid.”_](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/08/prince-charles-me-meddle-as-a-king-im-not-that-stupid "undefined") _And I don’t think he will. He doesn’t need to. The truth is, we know what he thinks about climate change. The other thing that will be very helpful for Charles: he becomes King at a point when we have a very inexperienced and_ [_divisive Prime Minister_](https://time.com/6211068/british-prime-minister-liz-truss-crises-economy-ukraine/ "undefined") _\[Liz Truss\], who hasn’t done this job before and who has not been elected by the whole country. So he actually will appear to be the more statesman-like figure._ **How will the King respond to the very public controversy over** [**Prince Harry and Meghan Markle**](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096108/prince-harry-meghan/ "undefined")**, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, distancing themselves from the royal family?** _Charles is going to be reaching out to_ [_Harry_](https://time.com/5284344/royal-wedding-meghan-markle-prince-harry-time-cover/ "undefined") _a lot. And I think he wants very much to heal that rift. Whether or not the rift can be healed will be more down to whether or not the Duchess feels that she would ever want to return to the family fold._ **Has** [**Camilla**](https://time.com/5910567/diana-charles-camilla-the-crown/ "undefined") **successfully rehabbed her image as Queen consort now?** _I absolutely do think so. She’s now been married to Charles longer than Diana was and is enormously supportive of him. I think she has an air of somebody who’s a little dazed by the enormity of what she’s now in. But she has natural charm. She’s going to be a queen mother figure to the nation who now regard her with some affection._ _The two women in Charles’s life who are going to be the most important are Camilla and his sister Anne who he’s very close to and who will play a role like_ [_Valerie Biden plays to Joe_](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/apr/24/valerie-biden-owens-book-growing-up-biden "undefined") _—a backstage consigliere to Charles._ **We just passed the 25th anniversary of** [**Diana’s death**](https://time.com/6205449/the-princess-hbo-documentary-diana/ "undefined")**. How do you see the accession of Charles in the context of that anniversary?** _The country’s always going to love_ [_Diana_](https://time.com/6209937/princess-diana-legacy-royal-family/ "undefined") _and her memory. You’re going to see more and more memorializing of_ [_Diana_](https://time.com/6209559/princess-diana-death-history-25-years-anniversary/ "undefined") _during the reign of William, for instance, when he takes over. But time moved on. \[Diana’s death\] was 25 years ago. Camilla has been accepted. This is a human family, and what family hasn’t been riven by divorce in today’s age? Very few._ **There are already rumblings that** [**some nations will cut ties**](https://time.com/6212004/queen-elizabeth-republicanism-anti-monarchy/ "undefined") **with the monarchy. What will that mean for the crown?** _Charles fully expects that to happen. He’s actually quite accepting of it. He knows that by the time we get to \[new heir to the throne\] Prince William, the sovereign realms will be gone. One of Charles’ thorniest challenges is to address the lasting damage of colonialism, for which there is rising vocal demand._ **Read more:** [The British Monarchy Helped Mortgage Our Collective Future](https://time.com/6212672/queen-elizabeth-death-empire-climate-change/ "undefined") **Is there a chance that the British monarchy could be** [**abolished**](https://time.com/6212370/british-monarchy-future-king-charles-iii/ "undefined") **in the foreseeable future?** _No, not in the foreseeable future. It’s been 1,200 years and going strong. The answer is in the 5-mile lines to see the Queen lying in state. The monarchy stands above partisan politics. It’s a symbol of unity that unites the country at moments of grief and moments of joy._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6213386/tina-brown-king-charles-iii-camilla/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6213386/tina-brown-king-charles-iii-camilla/"},"headline":"Tina Brown on Why King Charles III Will Be Alright","datePublished":"2022-09-15T22:32:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:45:07.279Z","description":"Charles has been acclaimed with enormous love and affection by the British nation in the last few days, says the journalist and famed royals watcher","url":"https://time.com/6213386/tina-brown-king-charles-iii-camilla/","keywords":["royals","Magazine","nationpod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48512faa1bc74deb/698a356d096a9433656acf1f/king-charles.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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