London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jul 11, 2025

"Charles' Soul Mate": All About Britain's New Queen Camilla

"Charles' Soul Mate": All About Britain's New Queen Camilla

When Charles' divorced first wife, the popular, glamorous Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Camilla bore the brunt of media hostility. Some declared the couple could never wed.
After years of being depicted as the most hated woman in Britain, Camilla, the second wife of King Charles, was crowned queen on Saturday, capping a remarkable turnaround in public acceptance few would have thought possible.

When Charles' divorced first wife, the popular, glamorous Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Camilla bore the brunt of media hostility. Some declared the couple could never wed.

But marry they did eight years later, and since then she has come to be recognised, albeit still grudgingly by some, as a key member of the royal family, as someone on whom the new king heavily relies, and as the nation's Queen Camilla.

"She is his sort of soul mate," said Robert Hardman, a long-time royal correspondent and author of 'Queen of our Times', pointing out she had been married to Charles longer than Diana.

"They're a team. And you've got to be a team."

Born Camilla Shand in 1947 into an affluent family - her father was an army major and wine merchant who married an aristocrat - she moved in social circles that brought her into contact with Charles, who she met on a windswept polo field in the early 1970s.

The pair dated for a time and Charles had contemplated marriage, but felt too young to take such a major step.

As he dedicated himself to his naval career, Camilla went on to marry a cavalry officer, Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles. The couple had two children, Tom and Laura. They divorced in 1995.

Charles himself married 20-year-old Diana in a wedding in 1981 that enchanted not just Britain but the world. After having two children, William and Harry, the relationship turned sour and they divorced in 1996 after he rekindled his romance with his former lover.

The depth of that relationship was exposed to a shocked public in 1993 when a transcript of a secretly recorded private conversation with hugely intimate details was published in newspapers.

"I'd suffer anything for you. That's love. That's the strength of love," Camilla told Charles in the secretly recorded telephone conversation publicised in 1993.

In a TV interview the following year, Charles admitted he had resumed their affair, but said it was only after his marriage had irretrievably broken down.

"There were three of us in this marriage - so it was a bit crowded," Diana, who dubbed Camilla "the Rottweiler", famously remarked in her own TV interview in 1995.

While Diana brought glamour to the stuffy House of Windsor with her glittering gowns, many Britons could not understand why Charles would prefer the country-loving Camilla, usually pictured wearing a scarf and green waterproof riding coat.

"I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla," Prince Philip, Charles' father and the late Queen Elizabeth's husband, said in a letter to Diana.

FOCUS OF CRITICISM

Amid a public outpouring of grief and anger after Diana's death, Camilla was singled out for harsh criticism. But in subsequent years, royal aides, tasked with rebuilding the tarnished reputation of the royal family as a whole, also slowly began to integrate Camilla into a more public role.

From being able to appear in public together, to marriage and last year's approval from Queen Elizabeth to Camilla taking the title Queen Consort, their success is complete.

Public relations experts say it was the result of much hard and careful work, although aides said it was mainly due to Camilla's own personality and great sense of humour.

"She is resilient, she was brought up with this extraordinary sense of duty where you got on with it, don't whinge, put your best face on and keep going, and it has stood her in very good stead," Fiona Shelburne, the Marchioness of Lansdowne, a close confidante of Camilla, now 75, told the Sunday Times last month.

However, her rehabilitation has come at a cost. In his memoir, Charles's younger son Prince Harry accused his step mother of leaking stories about him to the press to enhance her own reputation, and that he and his brother had asked their father not to marry her.

Polls also suggest she has not won widespread public affection either. A YouGov poll this week found while 48% had a positive view of her, 39% held a negative opinion, putting her among the least popular in the royal family.

Other surveys have also indicated only a minority thought she should be Queen Camilla.

"I think Diana ... will be hurling thunderbolts on coronation day, that's for sure," royal author Tina Brown told Reuters. "I mean the idea of a crown being placed upon the head of her deadliest rival, Camilla, I think would have given her absolute heartburn."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
×