Camilla’s coronation alongside King Charles III on May 6 will be a regal milestone as well as a personal triumph for the monarch, who has long been privately determined to make her his queen. She was demonised as “the other woman” in Charles’ marriage to his first wife, Princess Diana, throughout the stormy 1990s.
But she has gradually gained acceptance for her unwavering support for her husband and unobtrusive dedication to charitable causes.
Let’s look at who Camilla is:
Before the couple married, Charles let it be known that his relationship with the then Camilla Parker Bowles was “non-negotiable” and she would always be “central to his life”.
At the time his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was reportedly worried that the marriage would cause irreparable damage to the monarchy.
Royal experts have described a long campaign behind the scenes by Charles’s office to improve Camilla’s image and ultimately ensure she would be queen.
The royal seal of approval for Camilla finally came before Elizabeth’s death last year when she said it was her “sincere wish” that Camilla be known as Queen Consort after her death.
That finally put to rest a 2005 royal household plan for Camilla to become Princess Consort when Charles acceded to the throne.
In recent weeks, the “consort” part of her title has been quietly dropped and she is to be known simply as Queen Camilla.
Sense of duty
Although her popularity ratings remain lower than most other senior royals, Camilla is increasingly seen by the public as a warm and down-to-earth figure.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said the public now took a “benign view of Camilla”, nearly three decades after Charles and Diana’s very public divorce.
“She’s someone who has a strong sense of duty,” he told AFP.
“There’s no question that she regards her role as to support Charles, and that they are soulmates — similar age, a similar sense of humour, similar friends… everything that he and Diana did not have in common.”
“The rehabilitation of Camilla was very successful, and it led to their marriage and it’s been very happy,” he said.
Camilla has also shown her “tough” side by silently enduring much criticism over the years.
‘Three People in this Marriage’
Prince Charles and Camilla first met at a polo match in 1970 and began dating. When Charles set sail, they ended things. Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, while Charles married Princess Diana in 1981. Throughout their separation, Charles and Camilla maintained a close relationship.
An intimate phone call between Charles and Camilla was leaked in 1993, causing a huge scandal. Both divorced their partners in the years that followed.
Charles and Camilla made their relationship public a year after Diana’s death in 1997, and they married in 2005.
Diana and Charles first met in 1977 through Diana’s older sister, Sarah. Charles was 28 years old, and Diana was only 16 years old. Charles recalled their first meeting as “very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was,” calling her “great fun, and bouncy and full of life.”
The two next met in 1980, a year after Lord Mountbatten’s assassination, and private tapes show Diana sympathising with how “lonely” Charles must have felt at the time.
In February 1981, the couple announced their engagement, and during a television interview, a reporter behind the camera asked the couple, “Are you in love?” While Diana replied, “Of course,” Charles added, “Whatever ‘in love’ means.”
Five months later, they married in a lavish ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral. A 2017 biography by Sally Bedell Smith describes Charles weeping on his wedding night while “the extremely turbulent” Diana was fighting bulimia.
Charles’s image took a devastating hit during his acrimonious separation from Diana.
In her extraordinary 1995 interview in which she revealed her feelings over his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, Diana famously said “there were three people” in her marriage.
The royal couple had made the bombshell announcement they were separating in 1992, but following the fallout from the controversial sit-down with the BBC’s “Panorama” programme they finally agreed to divorce.
Silent Supporter
Since Elizabeth’s death last year, the causes Camilla has supported for years have been given a much bigger platform, as per an AFP report.
They include the arts, promoting literacy and supporting survivors of rape and sexual assault.
“She’s been very low-profile in the UK in recent decades,” said the former UK ambassador to France, Peter Ricketts, speaking in March before the couple’s state visit to Germany.
“Now she has a moment to come more into the spotlight.”
One cause close to her heart is the Royal Osteoporosis Society, of which she has been president for more than 20 years.
Both her mother and grandmother died from the crippling, bone-weakening condition.
Traditional upbringing
Camilla Rosemary Shand was born in London on July 17, 1947 and had a traditional upbringing among the monied upper classes.
She first met Prince Charles as a young woman at a polo match in the early 1970s, and they later became close.
But believing Charles would never propose, she married British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973.
The couple had two children — food writer Tom Parker Bowles and art curator Laura Lopes. She now has five grandchildren.
Windsor wedding
They married on April 9, 2005, in a civil ceremony in Windsor, drawing a cheering crowd of 20,000 on the streets before a religious blessing.
Camilla has since been widely accepted by the royal family, including Charles and Diana’s eldest son Prince William.
His younger son Prince Harry accused Camilla in his recent autobiography of playing “the long game”, with a campaign aimed at “marriage, and eventually the crown with Pa’s blessing we presumed”.
But Tom Parker Bowles rejected the claim: “This wasn’t any sort of end game,” he said last week. “She married the person she loved.”
AFP contributed to this report
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