1947-present
Who Is Queen Camilla?
Queen Camilla, also known as Camilla Parker Bowles, is the queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Born a commoner, Camilla met then-Prince Charles around 1970. They briefly dated but, despite their connection, weren’t serious. Camilla remained friends with Charles after she married Andrew Parker Bowles. In the late 1970s, she and Charles began an affair that spanned two decades and his marriage to Princess Diana. After Camilla and Charles divorced their spouses in the late 1990s, they pursued their relationship in earnest. The public didn’t initially accept Camilla, especially following Diana’s death in 1997, but she married Charles in 2005 and became the duchess of Cornwall. Camilla was named queen consort following Queen Elizabeth II’s 2022 death and her husband’s ascension to the throne. She was crowned queen in May 2023.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Camilla Parker Bowles
BORN: July 17, 1947
BIRTHPLACE: London, England
SPOUSES: Andrew Parker Bowles (1973-1995) and King Charles III (2005-present)
CHILDREN: Tom and Laura
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer
Young Camilla
Queen Camilla was born Camilla Rosemary Shand on July 17, 1947, in London. She grew up on a large country estate in Plumpton, Sussex, with her parents, Bruce and Rosalind Shand, and her two younger siblings. Her father, a successful wine merchant, was vice lord lieutenant of East Sussex. Her mother was from a wealthy family that developed many parts of London.
From a very early age, Camilla was devoted to horses, an interest she shared with her father. She attended Dumbrells School in Sussex before enrolling at the fashionable Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington at age 11. She told her Queen’s Gate classmates that her family had a connection to Britain’s royal circles, as her great-grandmother had been King Edward VII’s mistress. After leaving Queen’s Gate, Camilla went to a Swiss finishing school called Mon Fertile. She also practiced her French at the Institut Britannique in Paris.
In 1965, Camilla came out as a debutante in London. At the time it was common for upper-class girls to think about the future in terms of marriage. Yet Camilla also had fun in London, where she attended parties, drank, and smoked cigarettes, a habit she’d picked up as a teen.
Romantic Entanglements with Andrew Parker Bowles and Prince Charles
Camilla had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles when she got to know Prince Charles around 1970. By some accounts, Camilla and Charles met at a polo match in 1970, though it could have been the next year when a friend brought them together. Despite Charles’ attraction to Camilla, the demands of his naval career meant they didn’t really begin a relationship until 1972.
At the time, Camilla and Charles were in love but didn’t seriously consider marriage. Charles was in his early 20s and felt he was too young to settle down. Although Andrew’s army service had taken him out of England for much of 1972, Camilla still had feelings for him. In addition, Camilla wasn’t considered a suitable match by many in the royal orbit because she wasn’t a virgin and lacked a title.
Charles sailed off on a deployment in January 1973. That March, Parker Bowles proposed to Camilla; they wed months later in July 1973. Camilla Shand was now Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles was stunned to learn about Camilla’s engagement and saddened by her marriage. However, Camilla’s relationship with Charles continued, first as friendship, then as a rekindled love affair.
Affair with King Charles III
Charles became godfather to Camilla’s son, Thomas, who was born in 1974. Camilla and Andrew also had a daughter, Laura, in 1978. Yet Andrew was not a faithful husband, and by 1979, Camilla and Charles were lovers once more. Charles decided to make Highgrove his home in 1980 in part because of its proximity to Bolehyde Manor, where the Parker Bowles family lived.
At Charles’ request, Camilla helped him settle on a suitable wife, Lady Diana Spencer, whom he wed in 1981. Camilla and Charles ended their fling before his marriage, but their close friendship continued. As Charles’ marriage with Princess Diana floundered, his love affair with Camilla resumed in the mid-1980s.
The couple frequently stayed together at Highgrove or Bolehyde Manor. They also spoke on the phone, which resulted in a scandal that was dubbed “Camillagate.” In January 1993, newspapers published the transcription of a December 1989 conversation between Charles and Camilla (a dabbler in amateur radio reportedly recorded their phone call). The most memorable moment was Charles saying he wanted to live in Camilla’s trousers, then joking that he might do so as a tampon.
In addition to embarrassing the British royal family, the publication of this call made it impossible for Charles to deny his involvement with Camilla. In 1994, he acknowledged his adultery on British television. Although the relationship had already been known to both their spouses, as well as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the public admission affected each marriage. Camilla and Andrew divorced in January 1995. In August 1996, Charles and Diana made their previous separation permanent.
Marriage to King Charles III
Following his divorce, Charles wanted to legitimize his relationship with Camilla. However, he faced opposition both within the royal family and among the British public, particularly after the immensely popular Princess Diana died in a car accident in August 1997. But in January 1999, the couple were publicly seen together at Camilla’s sister’s birthday party at the Ritz Hotel in London.
Over the years, the general public began to accept Camilla’s relationship with Charles. His family also acquiesced to their union. On April 9, 2005, they married in a civil ceremony in Windsor.
Royal Titles: From Duchess to Queen Consort to Queen
Charles was prince of Wales when he married Camilla. But instead of using the title princess of Wales, which was associated with Diana, upon her marriage, Camilla became the duchess of Cornwall. The palace also announced that she would be known as princess consort when Charles ascended to the British throne.
In February 2022, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th year on the throne and shared her wish for Camilla to receive the title of queen consort. This happened when Charles became king following his mother’s death on September 8, 2022. During King Charles III’s coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, Camilla was also crowned as queen.
Both as the duchess of Cornwall and as queen, Camilla has supported her husband’s charitable efforts while engaging in her own social work. Camilla is the president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society and a longtime patron of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, a home security service for elderly and vulnerable populations.
Camilla has also assisted Charles in fulfilling his royal duties. She has accompanied her husband on many trips, including on a royal visit to the United States in 2005 and a state visit to Kenya in 2023.
Children and Stepchildren
Camilla’s children from her first marriage are Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes (her married name). They maintained a close bond amid the press attention and turmoil that accompanied Camilla’s relationship with Charles. Camilla becoming queen didn’t alter her children’s status as commoners.
Camilla is also stepmother to Charles’ two sons: Prince William and Prince Harry. Given their mother’s antipathy towards Camilla, William and Harry had some reservations about her. In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry wrote that he and his brother initially asked their father not to marry Camilla. However, they accepted the marriage because she made Charles happy. The two attended Charles and Camilla’s 2005 wedding and were in their early 20s at the time.
Camilla is an attentive grandmother to her five biological grandchildren. Her three grandsons were pages of honor at her coronation. Counting William and Harry’s children—George, Charlotte, Louis, Archie, and Lilibet—Camilla has 10 grandchildren in total.
The Crown
As a member of the royal family, Camilla has been portrayed on Netflix’s hit series The Crown. The show has depicted her love triangle with Charles and Diana. Emerald Fennell portrayed her in Seasons 3 and 4. In 2022, Camilla and Fennell met during an event for International Women’s Day. During her speech, Camilla joked, “It is reassuring to know that, if I should fall off my perch at any moment, my fictional alter ego is here to take over. So, Emerald, be prepared!”
Olivia Williams stepped into the role for the fifth and sixth seasons. The sixth and finale season, which begins streaming in mid-November 2023, is expected to recreate Camilla and Charles’ wedding.
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Sara Kettler is a Connecticut-based freelance writer who has written for Biography.com, History, and the A&E True Crime blog. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America and also pens mystery novels. Outside of writing, she likes dogs, Broadway shows, and studying foreign languages.
