Queen Camilla provides stability to the monarchy

Queen Camilla has a great sense of being her own boss. It’s not a bad image for a woman in the later stages of her life.

Camilla is crowned with Queen Mary's crown by The Archbishop of Canterbury. Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images

She tried to be discreet about it, but with millions watching on Saturday, Queen Camilla did what many women do when nervous about their hair, she fiddled with it.

Her locks were pretty solidly fixed into her usual style, yet the woman who is said to be most comfortable mucking about in gumboots clearly wasn’t sure. As the Archbishop of Canterbury prepared to place the crown on her head, Camilla looked as if she wanted to remind him not to muck up her hair in the process.

The crown, like the one used for the King, is a hefty number – any bigger and it would have run the risk of caricature, with a touch of a Mad Hatter’s tea party about it.

As hers sat precariously on her head, Camilla was at it again, touching her hair to make sure it was not sticking out from under. It was all fine, but those gestures were a reminder that the new Queen is very different from the old one. Did we ever see Elizabeth II fuss with her hair in public? Would the late Queen ever have allowed herself to relax enough to check her style during an official event?

Yet Camilla’s fiddling is also a mark of her informality – at times deeply serious during the coronation service in Westminster Abbey, at other moments she seemed almost nonchalant about the whole thing. For many watching, the “crown on her head” moment in this day of pomp and theatre was, well, ­momentous.

Decades of public shaming and anger, dozens of unpleasant opinion polls, hectares of dismissive newsprint, years of being depicted as the baddie in the Windsor saga were washed away when the ermine and velvet was manoeuvred into place.

Not too much of those emotions from the woman herself at that point – no longer in any danger of losing her head (metaphorically), the new Queen seemed more worried she might lose her crown. It was a few minutes before she ­allowed herself a smile, with just a hint that, given her druthers, she would have invited us all to have a jolly good giggle at the silliness of it all.

But Camilla Parker Bowles, nee Shand, is rather too well versed in the style and values of the aristocracy to do that. She never really puts a foot wrong, knows not to go too far, indeed knows exactly how it’s done.

‘Calm centre’: Queen Camilla after the coronation. Picture: WPA Pool/Getty Images

She has mixed in royal circles from childhood and from the start enjoyed a privilege that creates the natural confidence that serves her well in a role that demands certainty as well as warmth. Unlike middle-class Kate, or outsider American Megan, or even awkward Diana, Camilla knew the ropes before she took on any sort of public role with Charles.

No special tutorials on the mysteries of royal operations needed for a woman who seems to have a clear understanding of the institution, but at the same time not take it too seriously.

As the past dropped away on Saturday and she was formally rehabilitated as a 100 per cent Queen rather than a mere consort, there was just a hint in she might not have given a fig about that status at all really.

Her effectiveness working alongside the King will come from this mix of common sense and a confidence born of class. In other words, you could take the new Queen anywhere.

The couple’s personal history is of an enduring love, one that comes across as deeper and more real than the somewhat deliberate shows of public affection between the younger royal couples. Charles is clearly his own man when it comes to his passionate interests and desire to show leadership, but Camilla’s image as a “doer” and a bit of a funster helps blow the dust off the King’s image.

She doesn’t look younger than she is, she’s doesn’t try to be particularly glamorous and she’s relatable, just as Diana was to millions.

Diana built her public support on a mix of warmth and vulnerability, breaking protocol and looking doleful.

Camilla can’t ­afford to look sad or vulnerable, there was never any hope of her being cast as victim even as the world threw rocks at her.

In contrast, she is the sturdy, calm centre of gravity and as Queen adds significantly to the marketing of the monarchy as a force for stability.

At 20, Diana was too unformed to really cope with the pressures of the job. Camilla’s biggest plus so far has been her willingness to be a support to the “ boss” while retaining a great sense of being her own boss.

It’s not a bad image for a woman in the later stages of her life and not a bad basis for building public respect.