Queen Elizabeth II Wants Camilla to Be Queen Consort

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have been joined for 18 years. But to one grade oregon another, they've been by each other's broadside for 50.

Their April 9, 2005, nuptials at Windsor Guildhall marked the commencement of a caller section successful their epic emotion story, but it was conscionable 1 momentous halt connected a travel that will find them astatine Westminster Abbey connected May 6, erstwhile Charles, 74, and Camilla, 75, will officially beryllium crowned king and queen.

Yet think how easy it each could person gone south, not slightest because they utilized to beryllium joined to different people—and Charles hails from a household that historically held the reins alternatively tightly erstwhile it came to who was considered a suitable mate for 1 of their own.

With each good into their 50s and the confrontation-averse Charles contented to conscionable proceed connected arsenic they were, there had been nary certainty that they would ever go hubby and wife. But contempt the couple's rocky reception successful earlier days, seemingly anyone who's spent clip with Charles and Camilla thinks helium made the close move—for himself and the United Kingdom—by tying the knot. 

At their wedding reception, Queen Elizabeth II said successful toasting the newlyweds, after popping into different room to drawback a equine contention connected television, "I person 2 important announcements to make. The archetypal is that Hedgehunter has won the Grand National." (The steeplechase that took spot that greeting was delayed 25 minutes truthful the BBC could televise the post-ceremony supplication work astatine St. George's Chapel.)

Continuing with the racing metaphor, the parent of the groom added, "They person flooded Becher's Brook and The Chair and each kinds of different unspeakable obstacles. They person travel through, and I'm precise arrogant and privation them well. My lad is location and adust with the pistillate helium loves."

And the pistillate helium truly loved had, to date, been the only woman who turned Charles into the champion mentation of himself—because she loved him conscionable arsenic helium was.

"She's made a monolithic quality successful him," a longtime royals analogous told Vanity Fair in 2018 about the then-Duchess of Cornwall's ongoing effect connected Charles, past inactive the Prince of Wales. "He's overmuch much relaxed now. They are ever laughing and chatting, they person large affection and wit betwixt them."

That being said, "when she joined the royal household it was a precise antithetic concern to the 1 we spot now," Daily Mail royals analogous Rebecca English told Victoria Murphy for Town & Country. "They decided the mode to bash it wasn't to 'sell her'. They concluded that the champion mode to determination things guardant was to conscionable fto her beryllium herself and fto radical spot for themselves what she is really truly like."

Andrew, meanwhile, already had aggregate inroads with the royal family. His parents were longtime friends of Charles' grandma Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and astatine 13 Andrew was a pageboy astatine Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. He also had been an serviceman of the Household Cavalry, the queen's authoritative bodyguard, since 1960.

Though much is made of how Camilla's enduring affection helped Charles travel into his ain and, eventually, helped repair some of their reputations successful the nationalist eye, Charles' emotion for Camilla besides helped her heal from life's indignities arsenic well. And the aboriginal king's undivided attraction was what she deserved aft having signed up for a narration that had a large question people looming implicit it for years.

Though Camilla was for each intents and purposes Andrew's No. 1 girlfriend, the 1 who spent cozy state weekends with him and his whole household and each their friends, Andrew loved the ladies and didn't springiness them up. One night, according to Penny Junor's 2017 biography The Duchess, Camilla saw his car parked extracurricular the location of 1 of her champion friends, and she fto the aerial retired of his tires and scrawled a connection successful lipstick crossed the windshield.

Either way, Charles whitethorn person been a small gobsmacked by the cheeky comment, but helium was besides instantly charmed by Camilla's warmth and wit. His ain parents, aft all, were known for their dry, ribald senses of humor, and Charles—as the full satellite would find retired down the road—certainly enjoys his stock of banter.

Their relationship blossomed immediately, but Charles had conscionable graduated from Royal Air Force College and was on his mode to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth that September. After helium graduated from RNC, helium was stationed aboard the destroyer HMS Norfolk for 9 months.

At the time, Charles' closest mentor was his great-uncle Louis, Earl of Mountbatten, oregon Dickie arsenic helium was familiarly called. And Dickie recommended to Charles that helium sow his royal oats portion helium could.

But erstwhile it came clip for a antheral successful Charles' presumption to marry, Mountbatten added, per Junor, "for a woman helium should take a suitable, charismatic and sweet-charactered miss earlier she has met anyone other she mightiness autumn for...I deliberation it is disturbing for women to person experiences if they person to stay connected a pedestal aft marriage." 

Hence each that was made years aboriginal of 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer's presumed virginity.

When Charles was astir to spell connected an eight-month circuit successful the Caribbean aboard the HMS Minerva, helium invited Camilla and Mountbatten to circuit the ship. Mountbatten thought Camilla was conscionable terrific—but inactive not a existent imaginable for his great-nephew, the aboriginal king.

But portion Charles was nuts astir Camilla, she was inactive determined to marque it enactment with Andrew—who toward the extremity of 1972 had taken up with Charles' sister, Princess Anne, these royal/noble/military societal circles lone having truthful large a circumference.

Anne knew successful the backmost of her caput that she couldn't wed Andrew, who was a Roman Catholic (that obstruction wasn't officially done distant with until 2011), but they were superior enough for the queen to invitation him to articulation the household during Royal Ascot week—all of which near Camilla escaped to bask herself, which she was intent connected doing, though not to the grade that she considered really mounting herself free.

On his end, Charles didn't precisely assistance matters by never explicitly telling Camilla however helium felt.

After Anne paired disconnected for bully (at the time) with Mark Phillips, whom she had known for respective years from the equestrian circuit, Andrew projected to Camilla—which, contempt her heavy affection for Charles, is what she had wanted for almost 7 years.

Camilla wrote to Charles, who was stationed successful the West Indies, to interruption the news. 

"I tin spot I shall person to find myself a woman beauteous rapidly, different I shall get near down and consciousness precise miserable," Charles, starting to consciousness abandoned by the astir important women successful his life, wrote to a person successful the aftermath of his sister's and Camilla's engagements, per Sally Bedell Smith's 2017 biography Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.

"I accidental the feeling of emptiness volition walk eventually," helium mused.

On July 4, 1973, she became Camilla Parker Bowles. She and Andrew had a Roman Catholic ceremonial astatine Guards Chapel astatine the Wellington Barracks successful London. The queen, her sister Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother and Princess Anne each came and sat close up front.

Charles was invited but was inactive successful the Caribbean and supposedly it was a committedness to look successful the Bahamas connected behalf of the queen that kept him distant arsenic opposed to wounded feelings.

The newlyweds honeymooned successful the southbound of France, past started hunting for a house successful the English countryside to telephone their own—though Andrew spent astir of the week successful London working, Bruce Shand having hired him connected successful the vino business.

They rented a location adjacent Andrew's parents, 1 of whom Camilla felt adjacent to. She and her brother-in-law Nic Paravicini (who joined Andrew's sister Mary Ann) bonded implicit their emotion of their father-in-law, Derek Parker Bowles, and traded reservations astir their mother-in-law, Dame Ann.

Eventually Camilla and Andrew recovered a location to bargain successful Wiltshire, 200-acre Bolehyde Manor, not agelong earlier they welcomed lad Tom on Dec. 18, 1974. Daughter Laura Rose was born on Jan. 1, 1978. 

In the meantime, Camilla had agelong since been disabused of the anticipation that her hubby would alteration his ways.

"I'm truly hurt, Andrew," 1 of Camilla's friends supposedly told Andrew astatine a meal party, per The Duchess. "I'm the lone 1 of Camilla's friends you haven't made a walk at—what's incorrect with me?" 

Yet portion it seemed that everyone successful their ellipse knew what Andrew was up to (in London helium and brother-in-law Nic shared a bachelor pad and had a strategy involving beverage bottles near extracurricular the door), helium and Camilla remained a dazzling mates astatine meal and erstwhile different together. Mrs. Parker Bowles conscionable accepted that her husband's philandering was portion of the deal.  

In summation to speechmaking and riding, Camilla turned to gardening to enactment sane and, per Junor, she and her friends would laughter astatine the to-do lists Andrew would permission for her erstwhile he'd spell disconnected to London for the week.

Camilla was besides determined to springiness Tom and Laura a unchangeable location life, arsenic her parents gave her, truthful she made it wide she didn't privation to move—as truthful often subject families are compelled to do.

At the aforesaid time, Camilla and Andrew inactive had a person successful Charles, who is simply a godfather of their lad Tom. The men played polo unneurotic and the Prince of Wales often spent the play at the couple's home. In turn, the Parker Bowleses hobnobbed often with the royal family, Camilla getting on famously with the queen implicit their emotion of riding and the outdoors.

In the meantime, Charles had dated a slew of women, including Dale Tryon, an Australian who adored him and in crook loathed Camilla. In 1977 helium started seeing Lady Sarah Spencer; a fewer months aboriginal helium met Sarah's then 16-year-old sister Diana astatine Althorp, the Spencer household location successful Northamptonshire.

The prince wasn't successful immoderate unreserved to get married, but helium knew it was expected of him. In January 1981, erstwhile helium and Diana had been courting for a fewer months, Charles' father, Prince Philip, advised him to either suggest oregon interruption up with her—and a spot to his surprise, Charles proposed.

After Charles and Diana's engagement was announced connected Feb. 24, 1981, Camilla invited the 19-year-old nursery schoolhouse aide to luncheon portion Charles was going to beryllium connected a tour of Australia and New Zealand, penning to her that she would "love to spot the ring."

According to Morton's Diana: Her True Story successful Her Own Words, the princess later described the luncheon arsenic "very tricky indeed," having travel to judge that Charles and Camilla had joined forces to effort to enactment her astatine ease. Again, Charles didn't assistance matters due to the fact that helium ne'er was honorable astir Camilla being an aged flame. He conscionable called her a friend.

Inevitably Diana started seeing Camilla each the time, too, including connected weekends staying astatine Bolehyde, successful the months starring up to her marriage.

"...I couldn't recognize wherefore she kept saying to me, 'Don't propulsion him into doing this, don't bash that,'" Diana said successful the Morton tapes. "She knew truthful overmuch astir what [Charles] was doing privately...if we were going to enactment astatine Broadlands, I couldn't recognize it. Eventually I worked it each retired and recovered the impervious of the pudding and radical were consenting to speech to me."

In turn, Diana became wretchedly jealous of Camilla—though, by her wedding day, she was jealous oregon resentful of astir everyone successful Charles' life. Diana adjacent refused to fto Tom Parker Bowles, Charles' godson, beryllium a subordinate of their wedding party. (Forty years later, Tom's lad Frederick volition beryllium a Page of Honour astatine Charles' coronation.)

Also earlier their nuptials, Charles—a large acquisition giver—had his apical adjutant bargain jewelry for several of his erstwhile girlfriends, including Camilla, arsenic a token of affections past. Diana had go adjacent with the aide, a erstwhile Royal Navy serviceman named Michael Colborne, and recovered a bracelet intended for Camilla connected his desk. She was sick implicit it. 

When she confronted Charles, who was bushed of arguing astir seemingly everything, helium reassured her that helium planned to beryllium a devoted husband.

And so, Camilla, Andrew (on duty with the Household Cavalry, protecting the bride and groom) and Tom were astatine Charles and Diana's wedding connected July 29, 1981.

Meanwhile, Charles rejoiced implicit Prince William's commencement successful 1982 and, contempt Diana's brooding recollections of her hubby hoping for a girl, likewise celebrated Prince Harry's accomplishment successful 1984.

But in Diana's account, what was near of their matrimony imploded not agelong aft Harry was born.

According to Junor, Emilie van Cutsem—who on with hubby Hugh knew Camilla from past socializing with the Prince of Wales—contacted Camilla to fto her cognize that she was disquieted astir Charles, arsenic did Lady Susan Hussey, a erstwhile woman successful waiting to the queen who had known Charles since helium was 12. Both women felt that the airy had gone retired of him and Camilla was the lone idiosyncratic who could power it backmost on.

"I ne'er thought it would extremity up similar this," Charles wrote in 1 of his galore letters to friends. "How could I person got it each truthful wrong." In different connection helium wrote that helium couldn't spot the airy astatine the extremity of "a alternatively appalling tunnel."

Junor suspects Camilla reached retired toward the extremity of 1986.

Royal biographers bash not deliberation that Charles ever meant to dupe Diana, who had besides begun her ain affair with cavalry officer James Hewitt, her riding instructor. 

First it was conscionable telephone calls, past some Camilla and Andrew would spell for visits astatine Highgrove, Charles' state home, erstwhile helium was determination alone. He and Diana were starring progressively abstracted lives but enactment up a still-glamorous façade for the press. They did their champion to clasp it unneurotic for William and Harry earlier their sons inevitably went to boarding school.

It was Diana who yet tipped disconnected the papers astir Camilla being backmost successful Charles' life, and past Morton's publication blew the lid disconnected the full cognition erstwhile it came retired successful 1992.

According to Diana, she approached Camilla during a meal enactment successful 1988 and told her that she knew everything, so determination was nary request to dainty her "like an idiot."

The princess claimed that Camilla said, "'You've got everything you ever wanted. You've got each the men successful the satellite falling successful emotion with you, and you've got 2 beauteous children. What much could you want?'" To which Diana says she replied, "My husband."

Up until then, acknowledgment to Camilla and Andrew's concerted efforts, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles thought they had a perfectly blessed family. They besides got on large with Charles, whom they had known each their lives.

After the Morton publication came out, the queen insisted that Diana and Charles inactive instrumentality a planned travel to Korea unneurotic that November. When they got back, Diana refused to driblet William and Harry disconnected with Charles for a planned shooting play with assorted friends, including Andrew and Camilla. It was an yearly travel and the boys were looking guardant to it—subsequently, Charles was livid.

That was the past straw, and on Dec. 9, 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced successful the House of Commons that the Prince and Princess of Wales had separated. Their official divided followed the separation of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and the divorcement of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips earlier successful the year. (Anne past joined Timothy Laurence connected Dec. 12.)

In January 1993, the Daily Mirror published snippets of leaked telephone conversations betwixt Charles and Camilla, the infamous "Camillagate," or, little delicately, "Tampon-gate," owed to the prince's expressed tendency to "live wrong [Camilla's] trousers oregon something."

"What are you going to crook into, a brace of knickers?" she joked arsenic they some laughed, per reports of the conversation, which you could besides dial a telephone fig and perceive to astatine the time, courtesy of the tabloids. "Oh, you're going to travel backmost arsenic a brace of knickers." 

"Or, deity forbid, a Tampax," helium quipped. "Just my luck!" Camilla jested back, "You're a implicit idiot. Oh, what a fantastic idea!"

Though Diana's infidelity had besides been exposed, Charles and Camilla were the villains of this story, arsenic acold as public opinion was concerned.

Camilla was astir acrophobic astir her kids, and Tom—who went from Eton to Oxford during that period—would aboriginal callback that those were the times erstwhile helium recovered retired who his existent friends were. Like William and Harry, helium besides got a sensation astatine an aboriginal property of what a rabid battalion of paparazzi looked like.

"When you were 15 oregon 16 and you're coming retired of an airport," Tom said, per The Duchess, "and they were truly winding you up, each I wanted to bash was smack them successful the look and bushed the hellhole retired of them. But you couldn't bash that."

It was Charles' crook to scandalize his parents straight successful 1994, erstwhile the BBC aired writer Jonathan Dimbleby's interview special Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role.

Asked if helium intended to stay faithful to Diana, Charles told Dimbleby successful the film, "Yes." He added, aft a pause, "until it became irretrievably breached down, america some having tried."

In the interview, Charles called Camilla "a large person of mine...a person for a precise agelong time. She volition proceed to beryllium a person for a precise agelong time."

Camilla, however, was adrift successful the days aft the divorce. The tabloids were relentless, unearthing 1 alleged scoop aft different astir her and Charles and the clip they spent unneurotic portion some were inactive married.

Friends and family, including her beloved dad, rallied circular and tried to support her occupied. She yet recovered a caller house, Ray Mill (about 30 minutes distant from Highgrove), having sold Middlewick to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

All the wounds were made fresh, however, erstwhile Diana sat down with Martin Bashir for the BBC's Panorama successful November 1995, the infamous "three of america successful this marriage" interview.

Asked what effect uncovering retired astir Charles' matter with Camilla had connected her, Diana replied, "Pretty devastating. Rampant bulimia, if you tin person rampant bulimia, and conscionable a feeling of being nary bully astatine thing and being useless and hopeless and failed successful each direction."

By July 1996, the queen had approved a colony and Charles and Diana were officially divorced connected Aug. 28, 1996.

Then, however, Charles' bureau enactment retired a connection saying the Prince of Wales had "no volition of remarrying"—an olive subdivision to the queen, perhaps, but besides the past gasp for the prince's backstage secretary Richard Aylard, who had besides enactment the Dimebleby interrogation together. (Charles' property caput denied determination was a circumstantial crushed for Aylard's departure, saying his tenure had simply tally its course.)

And due to the fact that of Charles' evident devotion to his boys, it was successful the months pursuing Diana's decease that nationalist sentiment dilatory started to crook in the prince's favor for beauteous overmuch the archetypal time. No 1 was singing his praises conscionable yet, but a mourning populace overwhelmingly approved of the occupation helium was doing with William and Harry, lone 15 and 12 erstwhile they mislaid their mum.

But if sentiment was dilatory to crook for Charles, it moved astatine a glacial gait for Camilla.

Charles and Camilla's first nationalist quality unneurotic since Diana's decease occurred Jan. 28, 1999, erstwhile they were photographed leaving her sister Annabel 50th day enactment astatine the Ritz successful London.

However, Camilla was not among the guests erstwhile Charles' brother Prince Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones that June. And she wouldn't person immoderate benignant of look clip with the queen arsenic Charles' spouse until June 2001 erstwhile they had a nod-and-curtsy, followed by smiles and tiny talk, astatine a day enactment Charles threw for a relative astatine Highgrove, their archetypal clip socializing since the 1980s.

Camilla didn't basal with the household but did be the ceremonial erstwhile the Queen Mother died successful 2002. As the years went on, Camilla was mostly accepted arsenic Charles' companion, but she wasn't making "official" royal appearances.

Charles, arsenic his 1996 connection asserted, didn't needfully spot himself remarrying. But successful the autumn of 2004, Camilla was informed up of the wedding of Charles' godson Edward van Cutsem—who was a leafage lad astatine Charles and Diana's wedding, and whose parent Emilie had told Camilla successful 1985 that Charles was successful a atrocious authorities and needed her—that she would beryllium seated a fewer rows down Charles. She was told she'd person to arrive and permission separately, due to the fact that they were not hubby and wife.

In portion to avoid further sticky societal snubs similar that one, and erstwhile Charles squared it distant with his sons, helium yet projected that Camilla articulation him astatine the altar. Upon saying "I do," the bride became Duchess of Cornwall, arsenic good arsenic Duchess of Rothesay successful Scotland.

"She's not the wicked stepmother," Harry told an interviewer in 2005. "She's a fantastic pistillate and she's made my begetter very, precise happy."

He expanded connected however it each came astir in his 2023 memoir Spare, penning that helium and William successful information pleaded with their father not to wed Camilla—not due to the fact that they didn't similar her but due to the fact that it would resistance their precocious parent done the wringer each implicit again.

"Despite Willy and maine urging him not to, Pa was going ahead," Harry wrote. "We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings. We recognized that helium was yet going to beryllium with the pistillate helium loved, the pistillate he'd ever loved, the pistillate Fate might've intended for him successful the archetypal place. Whatever bitterness oregon sorrow we felt implicit the closing of different loop successful Mummy's story, we understood that it was beside the point." 

And for the past 18 years, matrimony the 2nd clip astir has been as adjacent to an idyll arsenic it gets. 

"As soon arsenic they looked astatine each other, determination was a sparkle successful their eyes—that's erstwhile the magic happened," gushed lensman Alexi Lubormiski, who photographed Charles and Camilla for Vanity Fair in the autumn of 2018. "You consciousness similar they are a young mates successful love."

"He's decidedly a much relaxed idiosyncratic since she's been connected the scene," the Mail's Rebecca English told Town & Country. "I deliberation we're starting to spot a spot much of what he's similar successful backstage arsenic good and she's liable for bringing that retired successful him. It's a broadside to him that everyone truly likes."

Camilla's nephew Ben Elliot told Vanity Fair, "They are some intelligibly large connected their own. But 2 and 2 makes 5 successful a large mode here. You tin spot it erstwhile they are together. They bask each other's institution truthful much. You tin spot it champion erstwhile they are dancing together—such genuine, deep-down affection and love. They some get the giggles—she first, past helium tries to clasp it together. She knows that helium is the boss, the star. She does everything she tin perchance bash to enactment him. At the aforesaid time, he's precise arrogant of her. She's precise crisp and perceptive."

At the clip of their marriage, the mates assuaged the still-critical nationalist with connection that, 1 time down the road, Camilla would spell by princess consort, alternatively than queen consort.

But the crystal yet melted, with the queen relaying successful February 2022 that it was her "sincere wish" that her daughter-in-law beryllium queen consort erstwhile the clip came, which it did connected Sept. 8, 2022. The coronation invitations mailed to 2,000 guests referenced to "Queen Camilla," and that's expected to beryllium her moving rubric moving forward—though similar Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, Queen Mary, etc. earlier her, she is simply a consort.

None of which registers arsenic a daze anymore, Camilla having been moving it similar a calved royal for immoderate clip now.

In 2016, the queen made her a subordinate of the Privy Council, the monarch's highest-ranking advisors. Though it still hardly equaled half of Charles' jam-packed schedule, successful summation to being patron oregon president of more than 90 organizations, she carried retired 219 engagements successful 2018, including 70 overseas. She and Charles made past successful 2019 erstwhile they became the archetypal members of the royal household to ever marque an authoritative travel to Cuba.

In 2022, with everyone's docket impacted by the decease of Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla registered 102 authoritative engagements, according to the Court Circular, placing her astatine sixth connected the database of busiest royals. Charles logged 181, 2nd lone to the perennial champion, his sister Anne, atop the household with 214.

And present Camilla's preparing for the astir historically important day of her husband's reign. 

"I don't attraction what anyone says," her lad Tom said on the April 20 occurrence of The News Agents, making uncommon comments about the royal household up of the coronation. "This wasn't immoderate benignant of extremity game. She joined the idiosyncratic she loved and this is what happened."