King Charles and Queen Camilla have been happily married for many years now. Of course, their love story has experienced many ups and downs, not least as a direct result of their infamous affair, which became a national crisis for the Royal Family.
Today, the situation is different, with Charles and Camilla celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. Prior to their wedding, Camilla was not only excited, but also nervous, with her friend revealing how the Queen Consort felt before saying yes to Charles.
It’s no great secret that Charles and Camilla engaged in an affair while both married to other people. At the time Charles had tied the knot with Princess Diana, while Camilla had a husband in Andrew Parker Bowles. The affair began in 1986, according to Prince Charles’ authorized biography, and before too long, Diana found out.
The princess confronted Camilla about it, but her marriage to Charles couldn’t be salvaged. In 1992, Charles and Diana announced their separation, though both continued with their official royal duties. Four years later, in August of 1996, they reached a final agreement for their divorce.
By that stage, things had reached the public’s ears regarding Charles’s relationship with Camilla. And what happened in December 1989 pretty much confirmed that they had been having an affair for years.
Just months after Charles and Diana formally separated, the press published a full transcript of a telephone call between the then-future king and Camilla.
The phone call, recorded by an amateur radio enthusiast by mistake, revealed an intimate and sexual exchange between the couple. The nation was outraged, and Camilla became a despised figure in both newspapers and among the public.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said that then-Prince Charles had destroyed his reputation, while 42 percent even thought Prince William should become the monarch after Elizabeth. And it wasn’t just the public that didn’t want anything to do with Camilla. In 2018, investigative author and journalist Tom Bower claimed that Queen Elizabeth herself initially didn’t want to interact with her.
King Charles & Queen Camilla
By the time of Diana’s passing, there was an ongoing campaign to “introduce” Charles and Camilla’s relationship to the public. However, that was promptly abandoned in the wake of Diana’s death. At one point, it all became too much for Charles. As per Bower, he confronted his mother at Balmoral Castle.
“He asked that she soften her antagonism so he could live openly with Camilla,” he said. “His hope was that the Queen, who rarely interfered, would at least not directly forbid it.”
The Queen, though, was of a different mind, and was said to have lashed out at Charles. Indeed, Camilla had difficulty being accepted by the Queen when she and Charles officially became a couple. Meanwhile, when her affair with Charles first came to light, Camilla pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth due to how the public treated her.
Speaking with OK Magazine, royal expert Angela Levin, author of the 2022 book Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: A Royal Survivor, claimed Camilla had to endure “torrents” of mistreatment from the public. According to Levin, she was forced to spend most of her time at home to avoid backlash from the public.
Moreover, the expert claims Camilla was afraid to go shopping or visit 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.
Queen Camilla was afraid of leaving her house when the affair with Charles was revealed
It has been reported that Charles paid for Camilla’s security, hiring two full-time protection officers. When they then married in 2005, Camilla qualified for publicly-funded security, and Charles no longer had to pay them out of his pocket.
Levin said: “I don’t think Charles realized 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 realized, he did get protection for her, which he paid for himself.”
Luckily, the public’s enmity to Camilla calmed. In the end, Charles and Camilla loved each other, and they wouldn’t let anything stand in their way. In 2005, the couple tied the knot, but though the future king was to marry, Queen Elizabeth decided not to attend the civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
As queen, Elizabeth was head of the Church of England. Therefore, she decided that it wasn’t appropriate for her to attend the wedding of two divorced people (Camilla and Andrew divorced in 1995, one year before Charles and Camilla).
Only 28 people were in attendance to see Charles and Camilla say their vows. Among those were Prince William–who served as a witness—and Prince Harry, as well as Camilla’s children: Tom–also a witness on the big day—and Laura. Prince Charles’ siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward, were also in attendance.
While Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip weren’t in attendance, they did appear during the Service of Prayer and Dedication at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle afterward, and later held a reception for the couple in Windsor Castle. They also hosted a reception, where Elizabeth gave a moving speech to the newlyweds.
“They have come through and I’m very proud and wish them well. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves,” the late monarch said.
King Charles & Queen Camilla wed in 2005
Unlike other wives of the monarch, Camilla didn’t receive the title of Princess of Wales. Instead, she became known as the Duchess of Cornwall. On a podcast in 2023, Camilla’s son Tom explained that his mother never had her sights on becoming queen.
“She’s our mother. Change happens but I don’t care what anyone says — this wasn’t any sort of end game. She married the person she loved, and this is what happened,” he said.
As stated, Camilla and the late Queen didn’t have the best of relationships initially, and that was, of course, not a big surprise. Over the years, though, they grew closer, and shortly before her passing in 2022, as she celebrated 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth publicly backed the couple for the first time ever.
“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me. And it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service,” Elizabeth said.
Although it wasn’t the most significant, grandest wedding, their wedding day in 2005 was very special. Before the big day, however, it turns out Camilla suffered from serious anxiety. Speaking with Hello! Magazine, Camilla’s long-time hair stylist, Jo Hansford, revealed new details about how the now-queen was very nervous before the big day at Windsor Guildhall.
“I had been doing her hair for years, but I was very nervous about doing it for the wedding,” she revealed. “She looked amazing, thank God. She was so nervous. The whole world was watching, and it must have been terrifying, the same as the coronation. But I think she handled it really well.”
Queen Camilla’s friend reveals she was “nervous” before tying the knot with Charles
Hansford, who has worked with Camilla for 35 years, has developed something that goes beyond a mere working relationship. Sh was invited to the wedding, though didn’t attend due to a personal tragedy.
“I got an invitation to the wedding, but my husband had just died and I didn’t feel very comfortable going on my own, so I didn’t go, but I still have a slice of wedding cake,” Jo explained.
Charles and Camilla haven’t spoken much about their marriage and relationship, but others have. In the BBC1 documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, Queen Camilla’s sister, Annabel Elliot, described Camilla as King Charles’ “rock.”
“She is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasize that enough. She is somebody who is completely loyal, and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows,” Annabel, who works as an interior designer, said in the documentary.
The queen’s sister added: “He brings to her everything. I’m not talking about all of this, but you know he has such a knowledge and interest in so many different things which she wouldn’t really have been open to if she hadn’t met him. They are their yin and yang really, they really are polar opposites, but it works brilliantly.”
This year, Charles and Camilla will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, and what better way to do that than to travel to Italy? Luckily for Charles and Camilla, that is what will happen.
“Astonishing”
They’re set to venture to Italy on a royal tour in April, which coincides with their anniversary. King Charles’ former butler Paul Burrell recently spoke about the couple’s anniversary.
“It is astonishing to think that Charles and Camilla’s wedding anniversary is 20 years this year,” Burrell said, per InStyle. “Charles made up for his lack of romance [with Diana] with Camilla. He’s been married to Camilla longer than he was married to Diana. That is astonishing.”
“And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wow, what did you do in the 20 years married to Camilla?’ I can’t think of anything. But what did he do in his short marriage with Diana? A lot. There’s more public record of his life with Diana than there is with Camilla. That tells you something.”
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