A German cousin of King Charles has told how he saw Queen Camilla smoking pot in her free and single days as a high society debutant.

The shocking claim came as Prince Eduard von Anhalt, 81, opened up on his links to the British Royal Family.

The prince – full name Eduard Julius Ernst August Erdmann – says he grew up around the British royals and knew a young Charles on the polo circuit.

And he confessed that he found free and single Camilla very “lovable and sexy”.

Though he added: “But I was immediately warned to keep my hands off her.”

The prince says he was told: “She’s Charles’ girlfriend.”

In a shockingly indiscreet interview with Italian magazine Gente Prince Eduard goes on to state that young Camilla smoked pot.

He refused, however, to share details saying only: “Camilla smoked cannabis.”

And he also claims to know that Prince Harry’s real father isn’t King Charles.

Harry has long suffered from painful rumours that copper-haired cavalry officer James Hewitt fathered him during his affair with his mum Princess Diana.

Prince Eduard claimed: “Just look at the hair – it’s pretty obvious that Diana had an affair with James Hewitt and he is Harry’s father.”

And he also took a swipe at Harry’s wife, the Duchess of Sussex saying: “She’s mentally ill, completely crazy.”

Many may scorn the prince’s revelations but in 2010 he was the first to say that Prince William and Kate Middleton were to marry.

Buckingham Palace denied it but just months later officially announced the wedding plans.

Eduard told royal fans that William and Kate never really called it quits in 2007, and added: “In reality, Kate was secretly practicing palace life to see if she wants to take on the role of future queen.”

Prince Eduard is currently head of the royal House of Ascania, whose family ruled the Duchy of Anhalt.

His links with British royals go back to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Princess Marie-Louise who wed his great uncle Aribert of Anhalt.

The prince grew up around the young British royals in the 1960s and ’70s.

He once recalled how he first met Charles, seven years his junior, “when we were children”.

Prince Eduard says they often “bumped into each other” during Charles’s many visits to Germany or when they attended British polo tournaments.

One photograph released to the media from the Anhalt family files shows a young Charles in polo gear sitting next to the prince.

In the 1990s, Charles agreed to become patron of Woerlitzer Park in Saxony-Anhalt.

Charles visited the park, the largest English garden complex in continental Europe, in 2019.

Eduard also fondly remembers his meetings with Prince Philip, who came from Danish-German stock.

The prince said: “He often organised events and was also happy to welcome German relatives.

“He was very funny. He taught me, for example, to drink French rosé because it is much more digestible than white for older gentlemen.”

The prince praises his cousin’s “socially conscious” character and pointed to his long-standing commitment to the underprivileged.

Although Charles was the longest-serving heir to the British throne, he was never “frustrated” by it, Prince Eduard said.

The prince explained: “He really enjoyed being the Prince of Wales because he could say whatever he wanted.”

Prince Eduard’s revelations seem to be pinned down between 1970, when Charles first met Camilla at a polo match, and 1973 when she wed Andrew Parker Bowles.

Charles was smitten at first sight when bold Camilla marched up to him at Windsor Great Park and joked: “My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. So how about it?”

The British royal family has not commented on Prince Eduard’s claims, say Gente.