With King Charles III taking over the United Kingdom, Camilla Shand, the wife of the new British king, officially became queen on Thursday, a title few thought she might return 25 years ago.
And when Charles’ first wife, the famously glamorous Princess Diana, died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Camilla was portrayed by the media as the most hated woman in Britain.
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 before announcing their divorce in 1996, while Diana blamed Camilla for the deterioration of the relationship between her and Charles, who was then Crown Prince.
Throughout her marriage, Camilla, now 75, has been compared to his first wife, Diana.
Her marriage to Prince Charles
Charles and Camilla wed in 2005 and have since been recognized in the royal family “albeit reluctantly by some,” a Archyde.com report says.
The agency said her “calming effect” on her husband helped him deal with his important role in the royal palace.
Despite all the criticism, any remaining doubts regarding her future status were dispelled, on the 70th anniversary of the late Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, when in February of this year, she granted her her blessing for the title of “Queen Consort”, which is granted to the king’s ruling husband.
Charles said at the time: “As we have endeavored together to serve and support Her Majesty the Queen and the people of our communities, my dear wife has been my steadfast support throughout.”
who is she?
Camilla Shand was born in 1947 to a wealthy family, her father was a major in the army and a well-known wine merchant.
She was raised on a rural farm and educated in London before going to Mon Fertile High School in Switzerland and then Institut Britannica in France.
She met Prince Charles, at the Polo Arena in the early 1970s, according to Christopher Wilson, author of a book regarding the couple’s relationship, who said in this regard, “His world has turned upside down and I don’t think he ever recovered from that,” referring to Prince Charles who fell in love with Camilla.
The couple dated for some time, according to royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby, who said Charles was considering marriage at the time but felt too young to take such a big step.
Dedicating himself to his naval career, Camilla married a cavalry officer, Brigadier General Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she had two children, Tom and Laura, before they divorced in 1995.
In contrast, Charles married 20-year-old Diana in a 1981 wedding that enchanted not only Britain but the entire world.
However, despite having two children, William and Harry, the relationship soured following a few years and the prince rekindled his romance with his former lover.
Their relationship was shocked in 1993 when a transcript of a private conversation was published that included intimate details.
In a famous television interview the following year, Charles admitted that he had resumed his relationship with her less than six years following his marriage to Diana, but said that only happened following the collapse of his marriage completely.
However, Diana blamed Camilla for her break-up, and said in a 1995 television interview: “There were three people in this marriage, it was a bit crowded.”
At the time, Prince Philip, husband of the late Queen Elizabeth, said in a letter to Diana: “Charles was ridiculous to risk everything with Camilla, I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind would leave you to Camilla.”
However, those close to Charles say Camilla provided him “an escape from his strict royal duties and his upbringing in the palace, as no one else did”.
After the breakdown of his marriage to Diana, he is said to have bought her a diamond ring and a horse and sent her daily red roses.
“There was no doubt that they loved one another: in Camilla the Prince found the warmth, understanding, and fortitude he so longed for and might not find with anyone else,” Dimbleby wrote in his book.
New image
After Diana’s death, royal aides, tasked with rebuilding the “stained reputation” of a royal family that had been subjected to years of negative media stories regarding betrayals, slowly began the task of integrating Camilla into a more public role.
The couple’s first public appearance together, came at a birthday party for sister Camilla at the Ritz Hotel in London in 1999 and by 2005 they were able to marry.
In the years that followed, criticism in the press faded completely as she became an established member of the family.
Royal family watchers say her sense of humor has helped win the heart of everyone who met her.
“They seem to be a very happy couple in each other’s company,” Simon Lewis, the Queen’s communications minister from 1998 to 2001, told Archyde.com.
In 2013, she joined her husband at the official opening of Parliament, and it was a great occasion to boost her status, followers say, as she sat next to Charles, the Queen and Prince Philip.
Public relations experts say it was the result of a lot of hard work and caution by the prince’s publicity team, though others said it was mainly down to Camilla’s personality.
“I think in the case of the Duchess, it was simply that people had to know her better, so when they knew her they loved her,” a former senior aide to the palace told Archyde.com.
Then he continued, “The truth is that changing her image was not the result of an campaign to make her look good, but rather she did her job really well.”
