We strive for accuracy and fairness.Royal correspondent start of a jubilee year can be a time to reflect, reminisce and think about what’s next, but we never expected the Queen to make her thoughts as clear as she has done in her Accession Day message.Īs the world is watching at the beginning of her Platinum Jubilee year she’s issued the most ringing endorsement of her son and his wife that anyone could have imagined. The two had been romantically involved for more than 25 years. Best Known For: Married King Charles III in a civil service in 2005.Andrew Parker Bowles and ChildrenĬamilla's first husband was British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she married in 1973. The couple endured a scare when Charles tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2020, forcing them apart for a spell, though they reunited in time to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary in April.Īfter initially agreeing that his wife would become princess consort upon his ascension to the British throne, Charles made her Queen-Consort when he became king after Queen Elizabeth's death.

Camilla is the patron of the National Osteoporosis Society and a trustee of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust. She also supports his charitable efforts and engages in her own social work. She has accompanied her husband on many trips, including on a royal visit to the United States in 2005. Since then, the couple has become more public, and Camilla has often assisted her husband in fulfilling his royal duties. On April 9, 2005, they married in a civil ceremony in Windsor, and she was given the title 'Duchess of Cornwall.' Over the years, Camilla's relationship with King Charles III has gained acceptance from the general public. In January 1999, the couple appeared in public together for the first time, at Camilla's sister's birthday party at the Ritz Hotel in London. Princess Diana's immense popularity (and the public's mourning over her death in 1997 from a car accident) made this a difficult task, as did Camilla's 'older woman' status and her less-than-royal personal style. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in January 1995 less than two years later, after a long separation, Charles and Diana announced their divorce.Īt first, Charles struggled with efforts to legitimize his relationship with Camilla, both within the royal family and among the entire British public. By 1994, when an embarrassing news story forced Charles to acknowledge his adultery on British television, his relationship with Camilla was well known to both their spouses as well as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Over the years, the couple frequently stayed together at Charles' marital home, Highgrove, or at the Parker Bowles' Bodehyde Manor. At Charles' request, Camilla helped him settle on a suitable wife, Lady Diana Spencer, whom the Prince wed in 1981.

The two began a romantic relationship that would continue for more than 25 years, though each would spend most of that time married to another person.Ĭamilla married the cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973 they had two children, Thomas and Laura. In 1972, Shand met Charles on the polo field at Windsor Great Park. Her father, a successful wine merchant, was Vice Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex.įrom a very early age, Camilla Shand socialized with members of Britain's royal circles, attending the fashionable Queens Gate School in South Kensington before leaving for finishing schools in France and Switzerland. She grew up on a large country estate in Plumpton, Sussex, with her parents, Bruce and Rosalind Shand, and her two younger siblings. Early Life & ParentsĬamilla was born Camilla Shand on July 17, 1947, in London, England. The public did not initially accept her, especially following Princess Diana’s death in 1997, but she married Charles in 2005 and became his Queen-Consort following Queen Elizabeth II's 2022 death and his ascension to the throne.

They married other people but were romantically involved for 25 years. Camilla's father was Vice Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex and she socialized with Britain’s royalty.

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