Camilla Parker Bowles Maybe not the “Queen of Hearts’ but certainly she has been the “voice of reason” throughout Prince Charles’s life and unhappy marriage to Diana. Speak of a Prince and Princess and the image that springs to mind is a couple who resemble Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, but not so with Camilla and Charles. The lady in Prince Charles’ life enjoys the simple life, horse riding, country walks, comfortable sensible clothes and certainly not living the Hollywood lifestyle. Camilla Parker Bowles (nee Shand) was born in London but spent most of her youth growing up in Plumpton, East Sussex. Her education was at Dumbrells School and Queen’s Gate School in Kensington, London. As with many debutants from wealthy families Camilla attended a finishing school, Mon Fertile, in Switzerland. As an English lady, destined for a life in high society, Camilla made her debut in London in 1965. Camilla’s parents were Major Bruce Shand, who was a British Army Officer and her mother was Rosalind Cubitt, the eldest child of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe, Roland Calvert Cubitt. Camilla has a brother Mark and a sister Annabel.
Camilla comes from a long line of high flyers in British society. Thomas Cubitt made his fortune constructing much of London’s up market West End. Her aunt was Elspeth Howe who had been chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission. A distant relation, Alice Edmonstone, was the mistress of King Edward VII who was Prince Charles’s great, great grandfather. She also has royalty and royal connections in her ancestry along with Canadian ancestry which can be traced back to her having the same lineage as singer Celine Dion and Madonna, so making them distant relations. Camilla met Prince Charles in 1970 when their paths crossed at a polo match. Their friendship turned into a relationship and Camilla had hoped that marriage would follow but Charles had a family obligation to become Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales and while he was away Camilla met and married Andrew Parker Bowles, also an officer and a friend of Charles. Even after her marriage she remained a close friend of Charles’s and he became the godfather to her son Tom born in 1974. She later had a daughter, Laura born in 1978. Andrew and Camilla divorced in 1995 after it had become public knowledge that both parties had been having extramarital affairs, Camilla with Prince Charles and Andrew with Rosemary Pitman, whom he later married. During the period of Camilla’s marriage, Charles had met Lady Diana Spencer who became the Princess of Wales when they married in 1981.
Charles and Camilla continued their friendship much to the disapproval of Diana who later announced the romance between her husband and Camilla in the publication of her book, Diana: Her True Story. Princess Diana always maintained that Camilla was the reason for the break up of her marriage and referred to her as a “Rottweiller”. Diana was devastated as she walked down the aisle of Saint Paul’s Cathedral and glanced over to see Camilla sat in a pew and later when she discovered that Camilla had known before Diana that Charles was going to propose. It is rumoured that Charles and Camilla stayed together the night before the royal wedding and she gave him a pair of gold cuff links with two letter ‘C’s entwined. After Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris, France, in 1997, Charles resumed his relationship with Camilla and was gradually seen in public with her. It was announced by Buckingham Palace on 10 February 2005, that Camilla and the Prince of Wales would marry on 8 April 2005 at Windsor Castle with a civil service followed by religious prayer. Unfortunately Pope John Paul II died on the April 2nd 2005 and the wedding was postponed until April 9th to allow the Prince to attend the Pope’s funeral in Rome. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did not attend the civil wedding service due to her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The British newspapers, although earlier completely anti-Camilla reported that on her wedding day her choice of wedding outfit was sensational. It was seen as Camilla’s acceptance within the Royal Family when Queen Elizabeth II made the decision to allow her to wear one of the tiaras of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Prior to the wedding Camilla was seen in public with both Charles and his sons Prince William and Prince Harry giving rise to speculation that both the boys were now more accepting of the couple’s relationship. Camilla has also gradually won the hearts of the British people since her marriage to Prince Charles while performing royal duties, initially with Charles and more recently on her own. Though she maintains a residence in Wiltshire, the Duchess of Cornwall primarily lives at Highgrove House and at Clarence House, the former residence of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, which is now the Prince of Wales's official London residence. As she is the consort and wife of the Prince of Wales, Camilla legally holds the title and rank of Princess of Wales. This title has not been taken up by Camilla as it is too closely associated with Diana. However, the Queen has allowed her to use the style of her husband's subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, rather than Princess of Wales. Clarence House has indicated that when Charles accedes the throne it is intended that she will use the title Her Royal Highness The Princess Consort, however, technically as the wife of a king, Camilla would be Queen. This is however prohibited by the Church of England and Camilla cannot become Queen as she has been divorced. One year after her wedding, polls still showed opposition to the prospect of a Queen Camilla, with only 38% supporting the idea. Meanwhile, Prince Charles is currently viewed fairly well by the public, 52% believing he will be a good King. ABB |
