Camilla: King Charles’ ‘soulmate’, the ‘other woman’ and now Queen

Britain got a new Queen on May 6 after King Charles III's coronation amid spectacular pomp and pageantry at Westminster Abbey in London. Camilla Parker Bowles has come a long way from being perceived as a threat to the British monarchy to taking the title of Queen. In the turbulent 1990s, she was vilified as ‘the other woman’ in Charles’ marriage to his first wife Princess Diana. But slowly, though painstakingly, she gained acceptance from the common British people for offering steadfast support to her husband. 

She was present by the side of King Charles when he publicly grieved his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and stepped into his new role. She is the love of his life, a decades-long counsellor and Charles’ confidante. And on May 6, Camilla was crowned the 29th Queen Consort at the iconic Westminster Abbey. 

We take a look at the life and journey of Camilla, the new Queen. 

Life before King Charles III

Camilla was born Camilla Rosemary Shand in London and was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington. She got her education in England, Switzerland, and France. In 1973, she married a British Army officer named, Andrew Parker Bowles. They divorced in 1995.

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Camilla and Andrew’s wedding was considered the ‘society wedding of the year’ with 800 guests. Royal guests were present at the ceremony and reception, including Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Anne and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Camilla gave birth to two children with Andrew, Tom and Laura. Tom is the godson of King Charles III. 

After 21 years of marriage, Camilla and Andrew divorced in January 1995 on the grounds that they had been living separately for years. 

Relationship with Charles and second marriage

Camilla reportedly met then-Prince Charles in mid-1971. At that time, Andrew ended his relationship with Camilla and was courting Princess Anne, Charles’ sister. It is known that Camilla and Charles were romantically involved periodically both before and during each of their first marriages. Their relationship was highly publicised in the media and attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. 

After a lot of push against Camilla within the Royal family for various reasons, the two finally got married on February 10, 2005, in Windsor Castle. From the marriage until her husband’s accession in 2022, she was known as the Duchess of Cornwall. 

Camilla, Charles and Diana 

When Charles met Diana Spencer in 1981, he was still seeing Camilla. In Diana: Her True Story, author Andrew Morton wrote that Diana almost called off the wedding two days before it was due to take place after she found a bracelet Charles got made for Camilla. The bracelet had the letter ‘F’ and ‘G’ engraved on it, which were the initials for their names for each other — Fred and Gladys. 

Charles insisted that they only rekindled their romance when his marriage had "irretrievably broken down". But as Diana so memorably stated in the now-discredited 1995 Panorama interview "There were three of us in this marriage". Camilla's divorce was finalised in 1995. Charles and Diana's marriage officially ended in 1996.

The image makeover

For a long period of time after Charles and Diana’s divorce, she was always seen as the ‘other woman’ by the general public of the UK. But quite slowly, she won over the British public with her down-to-earth personality and her charitable work. She notably worked against domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse, the causes that she says she’ll continue to support as queen. 

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Camilla made dozens of official visits with charities each year, and her warm personality and ease at connecting with people no doubt helped her image makeover; those who've met her often describe her as warm and likeable.

The question of Camilla’s title

Choosing a title for Camilla has been a long point of controversy. When Charles and Camilla married, instead of naming her Princess of Wales, the palace granted her the less prestigious title Duchess of Cornwall. It was also said that once Charles became king, she would be known as “Princess Consort,” not “Queen” or “Queen Consort.”

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But Queen Elizabeth’s late support for Camilla being called “Queen Consort” paved the way for the change. The “Queen Consort” title is typical of the royal marriage, with Queen Elizabeth II’s mother known as that when her husband, King George VI, was king.

Camilla still hasn’t received the kind of popularity that was expected by Buckingham Palace. She currently ranks ninth among the royals, according to a YouGov poll earlier this year, below Charles, William, and others.

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