King Charles and Queen Camilla met back in 1972, before King Charles served in the military. After their first meeting, King Charles went to serve in the military and Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles.
In 1980, Charles started to his relationship with 10-year-old Diana Spencer. When she first met Camilla, Camilla thought that Diana was a sweet and cute girl.
“I met [Camilla] very early on. I was introduced to the circle, but I was a threat, I was a very young girl, but I was a threat,” Diana shared in the book, “Diana: In Her Own Words.”
Charles and Camilla’s affair started in 1986, when Charles was married to Princess Diana. After Princess learned about the affair, she confronted Camilla.
In 1996, their divorce was finalized after it began in 1992. Back in 1989, Charles and Camilla’s explicitly sexual phone call was leaked. Months later, Diana and Charles officially separated.
In 2018, royal expert Tom Bower stated that Queen Elizabeth didn’t want Charles to be with Camilla.
As the royal expert stated, Charles talked with his mother. “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.”
While Queen didn’t accept Camilla at first, she also struggled with public opinion. People hated her for a while, as she was the reason why their future king and queen’s marriage got ruined.
“That they loved each other was not in any doubt. In Camilla Parker Bowles, the prince found the warmth, the understanding, and the steadiness for which he had always longed and had never been able to find with any other person,” Jonathan Dimbelby wrote in the authorized biography about Charles.
As Angela Levin, royal expert, stated, people called names at Camilla once she was in public. “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,” royal expert said.
“I don’t think Charles realised 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 realised, he did get protection for her, which he paid for himself.”
“She still gets nervous about things,” Levin said as she explained that Camilla was probably nervous about the situation during their coronation.
“She can never be sure how people are going to react towards her,” the royal expert and author added. “There’s a small but very harsh group of people who still think she’s the wrong woman for him.”
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