In many ways, Queen Camilla has become one of the most popular figures in the British Royal Family. If one had made that claim a decade or two ago people would have scarce believed it. Today, it’s veritable fact.
Camilla’s journey toward becoming queen has been very long and often controversial, not least considering that she and King Charles engaged in an affair while he was still married to Princess Diana.
Today, things have changed a lot, but there are still many things about Camilla’s past that people might not know about. Here, we take a closer look at her early life – and some of the throwback pictures that have been hidden for years.
In modern history it’s become common practice for non-royal individuals to marry into the Royal Family. Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are two recent examples, while the late Princess Diana a slightly older one. Yet it’s another who has arguably caused the most friction…
Queen Camilla – childhood
Queen Camila’s introduction into the Royal Family left people feeling furious and betrayed. After all, Camilla was seen by many to be then-Prince Charles’ mistress, and so plenty of people deemed her not fit to be a part of the Firm.
But how did Camilla end up in the Royal Family from the beginning? Let’s take a closer look at her past.
It should be noted that Camilla wasn’t an ordinary citizen. Born on July 17, 1947, her family tree includes many notable figures, including Alice Keppel, the mistress of Edward VII, and Thomas Cubitt, a famous builder.
Camilla’s family was wealthy, owning houses in both East Essex and South Kensington. Being a part of the elite in that era meant that the children had to, at least to some extent, make it on their own. But Camilla’s parents, Bruce and Rosalind Shand, were supportive and loving. According to The Guardian, this was “unusual for their class and era.”
Speaking with Women’s Day, Camilla reminisced about her “idyllic” childhood.
“I was one of the very lucky ones, I had the idyllic childhood right in the country, sitting on the South Downs with my brother and my sister and our pets and our ponies. I think it was a very simple childhood,” she said.
“Sometimes in the summer, we used to ride to school on our ponies, probably something that’s more Australian than English, but we used to ride and then tie them up and ride back again. It just shows how things have changed because, in those days, there was nothing on the roads. Can you imagine now letting a child ride to school with its satchel on its back? I mean, it wouldn’t happen.”
Camilla grew up alongside her two younger siblings, Annabel and Mark. Sadly, Mark passed away in 2014.
“My mother was absolutely brilliant”
The future Queen Consort grew up in the English countryside, where she developed an immense passion for horses. As mentioned, her family was very wealthy and, according to Town & Country, had “well-used” accounts at the luxurious and famous department store Harrods.
Camilla’s mother hailed from a wealthy aristocratic family. The young girl was very close to her mother, and one important lesson she taught her was the art of small talk. That, if something, certainly prepared Camilla for royal life.
“My mother was absolutely brilliant at making us speak to people,” Camilla told Women’s Day. “She used to have people to dinner; it didn’t matter who it was, old or young, some of them we thought were incredibly boring, but she used to sit at the end of the table and say: ‘Talk! I don’t care whether you’re talking about your pony or your homework, just talk!’ She was also quite forthright and never minced her words.”
Yet although Camilla might be adept at small talk, giving speeches isn’t one of her favorite things in the world.
“I get petrified making speeches,” she says. “I hate every moment of it. People always say it’ll get better and sometimes I find it’s all right if I really know my subject, but sometimes [I get] that awful thing beforehand of really shaking and feeling seriously sick,” the queen said.
Attending Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington, Camilla was known as “Milla.” A former classmate revealed in the 2005 book Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair by Gyles Brandreth that the then-future royal wore twinsets and pearls to class. It was as though she knew what sort of lavishness her future would hold.
“She had a magnetism and confidence I envied like anything,” the classmate said. “She was one of those people who know what they want and know that they will be a success in life.”
Queen Camilla was fired from her job
Camilla studied at the Swiss finishing school Mon Fertile, where she had posh housewives to help her craft her skills. After the stint in Switzerland, she studied at the Institut Britannique in Paris, before later returning to London.
According to the Mirror, she worked as a secretary at several firms in London’s West End area and later as a receptionist at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in Mayfair.
In the book On The Fringe—A Life In Decorating, designer Imogen Taylor, a colleague at the interior design firm Colegax and Fowler, where the queen consort used to work, recalled how a young Camilla came to work late after a night of partying.
The former colleague explained how Camilla was fired – and yelled at by the boss.
In 2016, she told the Sunday Times: “There were lots of debutantes working for us, even Camilla. She worked for us for a moment but got the sack.”
Taylor elaborated that their boss had quite the temperament.
“He would shout and bellow so the whole building heard every word. The Duchess of Cornwall was one assistant who fell victim to one of tantrums. I think she came in late, having been to a dance,” she recalled.
Queen Camilla might have been fired from her job, but money wasn’t a problem. She explained that she was still very confident and carefree, which all stemmed from her childhood.
“If people think I am strong, then it’s all down to my family,” Camilla said. “I had so much love and security growing up. I never doubted my family would be there for me in times of crisis.”
Queen Camilla met Charles before marrying Andrew Parker Bowles
In her 20s, she found love. Queen Camilla married her first husband, British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1973, but what closed in on her as the years went by would alter her life forever.
Just a year before she tied the knot with Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla had met then-Prince Charles for the first time at a polo match.
In Charles and Camilla Portrait of a Love Affair, author Gyles Brandreth claims that Charles and Camilla were introduced by their mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz, the daughter of the Chilean ambassador.
The couple dated for a while but stopped when Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy. By the time he returned, Camilla was involved and engaged to Andrew Parker Bowles.
Charles and Andrew played together on the same polo team when younger; in fact, Andrew dated Princess Anne in the early 1970s, and their relationship remained strong. Camilla, meanwhile, maintained a close and friendly relationship with Charles after they first met. Back then, the king had started dating 16-year-old Diana Spencer, and we know how that story would go on to develop.
When Diana was introduced to the Bowles couple, Camilla thought the young lady was “sweet and cute” and approved of her.
At first, Diana and Camilla got along well. But things soon grew uncomfortable.
Queen Camilla & King Charles – ‘Tampongate’
“I met [Camilla] very early on. I was introduced to the circle, but I was a threat, I was a very young girl, but I was a threat,” Diana explained in the book Diana: In Her Own Words.
According to Charles’ authorized biography, as quoted by Town & Country, Charles and Camilla’s affair started in 1986. Charles was still married to Princess Diana at that point. She found out about it – and confronted Camilla.
Things for Charles and Diana continued as usual, at least from the public’s perspective. But it wasn’t long before the couple’s fairytale life was over.
In 1992, the couple announced their separation, though both continued with their official royal duties. Four years later, in August of 1996, they reached a final agreement for the divorce.
By that stage, things had already reached the ears of the public regarding Charles’ relationship with Camilla. And what happened in December 1989 pretty much confirmed that they had actually been having an affair for years. Tampongate became a a huge scandal, and Queen Camilla was at the center of the story.
Speaking with OK Magazine, royal expert Angela Levin, author of the 2022 book Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: A Royal Survivor, Camilla had to endure “torrents” of mistreatment from the public as the affair was revealed. According to Levin, she was pretty much forced to spend most of her time at her home to avoid any backlash from the public.
“It was very difficult for her”
Moreover, the expert claims Camilla was afraid of going out shopping or visiting stores. Instead, she had to send her friends to do her errands.
“It was very difficult for her, as she was portrayed as the most wicked woman in the world. She was constantly called nasty names like ‘rottweiler,’ and it must have come as a huge shock that people were so vile about her,” Levin said.
Levin went on: “I don’t think Charles realised how awful it was for her. He was often away on engagements and working hard for the country and Commonwealth, and at the time, Camilla didn’t have protection officers because she wasn’t part of the Royal Family. But when Charles finally realised, he did get protection for her, which he paid for himself.”
Camilla became increasingly popular among the public as the years went by. Even so, Levin suspects she “must still bear the scars of it all.”
While Camilla endured harsh treatment from the public and media for many years, she luckily made it to the other side. These days the queen consort has become one of the most popular Royal Family members. In the last year, she has been praised for how she took on a lot of responsibilities while her husband, King Charles, recovered from cancer.
In just a few weeks, the king and queen will embark on their first major overseas trip, which will be a tour to Australia and Samoa for a meeting with the Commonwealth heads of government. Hopefully, Camilla will be greeted with the same love she’s gotten in the UK.
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