Camilla is the Queen of King Charles' heart. While the royal couple found their happily ever after, the road to get there wasn't a quick one. After both going through a divorce and having two children each, Charles and Camilla tied the knot more than three decades after they first met.
At their wedding reception, the King reportedly gave a speech, thanking his "darling Camilla who has stood with me through thick and thin - and whose precious optimism and humour have seen me through."
Camilla's sister Annabel Elliot has called the King and Queen "yin and yang," noting that "they really are polar opposites," but thinks they work "brilliantly." Discussing her sister and brother-in-law in the BBC documentary, Charles III: The Coronation Year, Annabel said, "She is his rock and I can't actually emphasize that enough. She's somebody who is completely loyal."
After Charles ascended the throne in 2022, he stated in his first address as monarch that he could "count on the loving help" of his "darling wife, Camilla." His Majesty said, "In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort. I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.”
When the royal couple celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2025, the Queen remarked, "Who could believe it was 20 years?” As for the secret, she told reporters (via the BBC), “I don't know, well, I suppose it's just the sort of friendship really, laughing at the same things, getting on with life.”
Charles told CNN in 2015 that he and Camilla "laugh a lot," revealing that his wife "sees the funny side of life, thank God." His Majesty said, “It’s always marvelous to have somebody who, you know, you feel understands and wants to encourage. Although she certainly pokes fun if I get too serious about things. And all that helps."
Continue reading to learn more about King Charles and Queen Camilla's relationship.
When did King Charles and Queen Camilla meet?
Per the BBC, Charles and Camilla met at a polo match in 1970. However, Penny Junor wrote in her book The Duchess: The Untold Story that the pair were introduced by their mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz in the summer of 1971.
In the special Charles: In His Own Words, biographer Christopher Wilson shared that "it's said that Camilla's opening gambit was my great-grandmother and your great-great-grandfather were lovers, so how about it?"
According to The Prince of Wales: A Biography author Jonathan Dimbleby (via the BBC), Camilla "was affectionate, she was unassuming, and - with all the intensity of first love - he lost his heart to her almost at once."
Junor wrote in The Duchess: The Untold Story that Camilla was "not sufficiently aristocratic to be the Prince's wife, and she was not a virgin, which was a prerequisite." Historian and biographer Robert Lacey noted in the Charles: In His Own Words special that Camilla's problem was "sort of catch-22." He explained, "When she met Prince Charles, she fell in love, they went to bed together, but that sort of automatically ruled her out as a future Queen. We told Prince Charles, 'Sorry mate, you can't marry Camilla cause she's been to bed with you. It sounds ridiculous, it sounds primitive and it was.'"
In September of 1971 Charles began his naval career with a six-week course at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, followed by service on the HMS Norfolk and two frigates. Camilla went on to marry her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles in July of 1973.
Camilla is said to have written a letter to Charles informing him that she had accepted Andrew's proposal. Junor wrote in The Duchess: The Untold Story, "It broke his heart. He fired off anguished letters to his nearest and dearest. He has always been a prolific letter-writer. It seemed to him particularly cruel, he wrote in one letter, that after ‘such a blissful, peaceful and mutually happy relationship’ fate had decreed that it should last a mere six months. He now had ‘no one’ to go back to in England. ‘I suppose the feeling of emptiness will pass eventually.' He did have one last-ditch attempt to get Camilla to change her mind, however. He wrote to her the week before the wedding asking her not to marry Andrew. Nevertheless, the wedding went ahead."
Related: Remember Queen Elizabeth with Over 45 of Her Best Quotes
Did Queen Camilla attended Charles and Princess Diana's wedding?
Camilla was among the guests at Charles and his first wife Diana's wedding on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Speaking about Camilla, Diana once famously said, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
Charles and Diana, whose separation was announced in 1992, finalized their divorce in 1996.
Does Queen Camilla have kids from her first marriage?
Camilla has two children, son Tom Parker-Bowles and daughter Laura Lopes, from her first marriage to Andrew. The former couple's marriage was dissolved in 1995. King Charles is actually a godparent to his wife's older child, Tom.
It was announced in February of 2005 that Charles was engaged to Camilla. The then-Prince of Wales said, “Mrs Parker Bowles and I are absolutely delighted. It will be a very special day for us and our families.”
What ring did King Charles propose to Camilla with?
His Majesty popped the question with an emerald-cut ring that belonged to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
What did Prince William and Prince Harry say about their dad King Charles' engagement to Queen Camilla?
Charles' two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were both happy for their father. The brothers reacted to their father's engagement with a joint statement that read: "We are both very happy for our father and Camilla, and we wish them all the luck in the future."
According to the BBC, the Duke of Sussex once said that Camilla's "always been very close to me and William... but no, she's not the wicked stepmother." Instead, he described his stepmother as "a wonderful woman," adding that "she's made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing." Harry said, "William and I love her to bits."
Related: 26 of the Best Royal Weddings
The King and Queen were married on April 9, 2005 in a civil ceremony held at the Guildhall in Windsor. A service of prayer and dedication at St George’s Chapel was held after, followed by a reception at Windsor Castle hosted by the groom's mother. Queen Elizabeth toasted the newlyweds at the reception, saying (via The Telegraph): “They have overcome Becher’s Brook and The Chair and all kinds of other terrible obstacles, They have come through and I’m very proud and wish them well. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.”
Was Camilla always going to be Queen Consort?
When it was announced that Camilla was engaged to the heir to the throne, a press release noted that it was "intended that Mrs Parker Bowles should use the title HRH The Princess Consort when The Prince of Wales accedes to The Throne." However, months before Queen Elizabeth's passing in 2022, Charles' mother stated that it was her "sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service."
When were King Charles and Queen Camilla crowned?
The coronation of Their Majesties took place on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey. After Charles became King in 2022, the monarch thanked his "darling" wife, who he said "has stood with me through thick and thin - and whose precious optimism and humour have seen me through.”
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