The wedding of today’s King Charles III. (75) and Queen Camilla (76) are shown at the finale of the Netflix series “The Crown”. The royals are played by Dominic West (54) and Olivia Williams (55). As is well known, the story of the royal couple is in reality a drama in several acts. Charles and Camilla had to overcome these obstacles in order to finally be able to exchange vows on April 9, 2005…
According to media reports, the relationship between Charles and Camilla began in the 1970s. The split reportedly occurred when Charles joined the Royal Navy and became more busy in his role as heir to the throne.
In addition, Camilla Shand is said to be a great-granddaughter of Alice Keppel (1868-1947), who was a mistress of King Edward VII (1841-1910), Charles’ great-great-grandfather. Apparently the royals initially didn’t exactly have the right background for a relationship with a future king… In 1973, Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles (83). She and Charles are said to have remained friends. Camilla had two children with Parker Bowles: Tom (48) and Laura (45).
When Charles married Lady Diana Spencer (1961-1997) in 1981, Camilla was among the wedding guests. The heir to the throne and Princess Diana had two sons, Prince William (41) and Prince Harry (39).
In 1992, Charles and Diana officially separated. Shortly afterwards, the heir to the throne’s extramarital relationship with Camilla became public through leaked telephone conversations. The tapes with intimate content caused a worldwide sensation and became known as the “Tampongate” scandal.
In 1994, Charles admitted in a television interview that he had committed adultery. A year later, Diana was asked in her own TV interview whether Camilla had played a role in the breakdown of her marriage. Diana famously said, “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a little tight.”
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in 1995. Charles and Diana in 1996. Camilla subsequently became Prince Charles’ official partner. She initially remained largely unpopular with the people.
Prince Charles’ sons William and Harry are also said to have been against their father’s possible marriage to Camilla, even though they supported the relationship. Prince Harry wrote in his autobiography “Reserve,” published in January 2023, that he and William begged Charles not to marry again, ostensibly so as not to incite the press and provoke comparisons between Diana and Camilla.
In February 2005, Charles announced his engagement to Camilla. However, the marriage presented the couple with several challenges again.
A few days before the planned wedding, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) died in Rome. As heir to the throne, Charles was appointed to represent Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) at the Pope’s funeral, which was to take place on his wedding day. Charles and Camilla had to postpone the appointment by a day.
The wedding was supposed to actually take place at Windsor Castle. Since Charles and Camilla were already married, a ceremony in a church was apparently out of the question. Therefore, a civil wedding should be arranged at the castle, followed by a church blessing. It was later announced that the civil wedding would be moved to a registry office in Windsor due to certain regulations.
When it became public that Queen Elizabeth II would not attend her son’s civil wedding, there was further speculation: Is a registry office beneath her dignity or does she disapprove of the marriage to Camilla?
The explanation is probably simpler: As monarch, she was head of the Church of England. Although this recognizes divorce “as a sad fact of life”, it does not support it, as the Daily Mail reported. Because Charles and Camilla were both divorced, the Queen stayed away from the ceremony. However, she hosted the couple’s blessing and wedding reception.
When Charles and Camilla got married in Windsor on April 9, 2005, not everything went according to plan. Camilla is said to have suffered from extreme nervousness and even picked the wrong shoes on her journey from London to Windsor, as she later revealed herself. As the couple drove through the city of Windsor, boos were said to have been heard as the onlookers cheered. And Queen Elizabeth’s decision to wear white at the blessing ceremony was seen by some as a sign of disapproval of her son’s second marriage. Nevertheless, King Charles’ second marriage seems to have a happy star; to this day the couple lives a scandal-free life together.
