Queen Camilla’s personality is “completely different” from that of Princess Kate, according to royal author Valentine Low, who spoke exclusively to GB News.
The comparison comes as Mr Low recounts in his new book, Power and the Palace, how Queen Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, invited Boris Johnson to Clarence House shortly after he became Mayor of London in 2008.
He contrasted that with the Princess of Wales’s more restrained style. As she prepares to move into the more private Forest Lodge near Windsor, her public life remains carefully managed and controlled.
Mr Low told the People's Channel: “Kate is a completely different person to Camilla. She’s very controlled and cautious, and careful."
Queen Camilla and Princess Kate 'completely different' as contrasting personalities exposed
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He continued: “Camilla is much more outgoing. She says what she thinks, she’s incredibly engaging, Camilla, and funny.
“That’s not to say Kate can’t be funny in private, but you know, it’s much more obviously the case with Camilla.”
Camilla's invitation to the then-Mayor of London followed a strained first meeting between Mr Johnson and the then-Prince of Wales.
Queen Camilla and Princess Kate take differing approaches as royal spouses
| GETTYMr Johnson and his communications director, Guto Harri, had mistakenly taken the Jubilee line in the wrong direction, ending up at Canary Wharf instead of Green Park. By the time they corrected the error and ran across Green Park, they were late.
Mr Harri later recalled that Charles appeared unimpressed, and that “there was never a lot of love for Boris.”
By contrast, Camilla took a very different approach. Some months later, she told Charles: “He looks like such fun. Can we have him over for tea?”
Mr Johnson and Mr Harri cycled from City Hall to Clarence House, leaving their bikes in the shed at the back. Camilla appeared in person to greet them, reportedly saying: “Oh, I didn’t believe them when they said you had cycled!”
Queen Camilla and Boris Johnson were known to have a close friendship
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She then took Mr Johnson upstairs alone for an hour-long meeting. According to Mr Harri, the Mayor later described Camilla in glowing terms, saying they had got on “like a house on fire.”
Mr Low told GB News: “As you can just imagine, Camilla sees Boris, she thinks he looks like great fun, ‘Oh let’s have him over for some tea. Can we? Can we?’
“It’s absolutely in tune with Camilla. Just so absolutely not what Kate would do.”
The discussion included a serious moment in which Camilla revealed she fought off an attacker as a teenager when travelling to Paddington. She explained that she hit the man with her shoe before reporting him to the authorities.
Boris Johnson and King Charles were not as close, according to Mr Low
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The story connected directly with Mr Johnson’s policy at the time to open new rape crisis centres across London. Camilla went on to formally open two of them.
For Mr Low, the episode shows Camilla’s openness and instinct to engage with political leaders on a personal level.
The result, according to Mr Low, is a clear difference in approach: Queen Camilla’s frank, outgoing character versus the Princess of Wales’s cautious and deliberate persona.