According to a newly published royal book, then-Prince Charles was not a "present" father when his sons, Princes William and Harry, were teenagers. Prince Charles became a single parent in 1997, after the death of his sons' mother, Princess Diana, when Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry was 12.

Because Prince Charles did not pay enough attention to his sons, they acted out and became rebellious, says Nicole's latest book, The New Royals: The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown, Nicole's latest book, was released earlier this month. According to the book, after Princess Diana's death, Prince Charles was "busy" with work and his then longtime girlfriend, Camilla Parker-Bowles, so the princes were often left to their own devices.

"With work so busy and Camilla so much a priority in his private diary, Charles came to place too much trust in William and Harry to take care of them," Nicole wrote, according to Insider.

As teenagers, William and Harry attended Eton College, an elite boarding school, but also spent time at Highgrove House, their father's home.

"Those boys were very independent, perhaps too independent. Often when they wanted to talk to their father, he wasn't around, and they were frustrated that they couldn't reach him because he didn't carry a cell phone." If they needed their father, they would call the protective services officer to talk to him, which was not ideal. They wanted to talk to their father, but Charles would not make ad hoc calls or texts.

Nicole also wrote that Charles relied on close family friends to help raise his sons, and that William and Harry spent ample time at the home of their former nanny, Tiggy Legge-Burke, and her friends, the Van Katzems, before his death in November 2020. According to Lady Elizabeth Anson, a cousin of the late Majesty, who spoke to Nicole, the princes caused problems when not supervised by these surrogate family members.

"On weekends at Highgrove, the boys would loose because Prince Charles was not always around," she told Nicole.

Parties were frequent, Highgrove became known as "Club H," and in 2001 (when Harry was only 17) he was drinking and smoking at an inn near the house, Nicole said.

"Those in the know turned a blind eye, but when an aide noticed the unmistakable smell of marijuana wafting from Club H, the young prince was arrested," Nicole wrote.

The first friction between William and Harry arose from this incident. William was there, too, but only because Harry was the one who caused the problem, Nicoll writes.