How Camilla went from public enemy to the royal family’s secret weapon
While all eyes have been on the young royals, the Duchess of Cornwall has quietly worked her way from marriage-wrecker to “good sport” royal favourite
Entertainment
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It appears Camilla might finally have been forgiven. Some 26 years after being branded a marriage-wrecker, the Duchess has gone from floozy to favourite. Ask a royal correspondent which member of the Royal Family they like to deal with the most and they invariably nominate Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
In person she is charming, funny and kind — one guest at a recent royal function told Insider that Camilla was absolutely magnetic, enchanting the room, saying: “All eyes were on her.”
“Camilla is one of the most genuine members of the Royal Family,” says Charlie Proctor, editor of Royal Central. “At engagements, Camilla is charming, caring and extremely funny. Unlike other royals who can perhaps be a little stuffy, Camilla always joins in and isn’t afraid to have a good time.”
She treats everyone equally, whatever their background and is known to always speak to staff at events and make personable asides to each person she meets.
“This is by no means how every member of the Royal Family behaves,” says royal writer Penny Junor in her biography The Duchess. “The last member of the Royal Family who had such a compelling effect on the people she met was the Queen Mother.”
It’s a long way from 1993 when the Camillagate tapes were published, recordings of a 1989 phone call between the then Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles, which proved the pair was having an affair. Diana, Princess of Wales, had claimed Camilla ruined their marriage, calling her “The Rottweiler” and famously saying: “There were three of us in the marriage so it was a bit crowded.”
And so Camilla became public enemy No.1. “How anyone comes back from that sort of public humiliation is unimaginable,” says Junor.
And yet she did — going on to marry Charles in 2005 and take her place by the side of the future king. It wasn’t simple — the British public’s perception of Camilla was frosty for many years and some members of the Royal Family were far from fans.
According to Charles’ biographer, Tom Bower, Charles and Camilla were convinced Prince Andrew had been bad-mouthing her and Camilla “has never forgotten” how unhelpful he was at that time. But as they approach their 15th wedding anniversary next year, it seems everyone has finally moved on.
Sceptics might suggest it’s helped by the fact there’s a new member of the royal family getting all the negative attention — as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex takes the unwanted crown as most-criticised royal female — but insiders say Camilla changed opinion internally and externally herself, by simply getting on with it.
Certainly, she works hard — last year she attended 219 official engagements, on a par with Prince William and more than Prince Harry. At each one, she is known to be a “good sport”, always posing for photographs and willing to make a fool of herself. But her main attribute is she makes Charles happy — the pair often snapped giggling — and he refers to her as “my darling wife”.
“Most importantly, Camilla makes Charles happy,” says Proctor. “This has helped cement the Duchess of Cornwall’s place in the royal family.”
“Everything about him, from the grin on his face to the relaxed body language, tells you that he adores her, depends upon her — she is a strong woman, far stronger than he — and that with her in his life he feels complete,” Junor says.
William and Harry have an excellent relationship with their stepmother, according to Proctor. “Any suggestion that William and Harry do not get on with Camilla, or that there is tension between the trio, is nonsense,” he says.
He maintains Camilla never tried to replace Diana, refusing the title of Princess of Wales and obviously adoring her royal and non-royal grandchildren alike.
“Camilla very much treats William and Harry’s children as her own grandchildren, and this is reciprocated, with the children affectionately nicknaming her GaGa,” he says.
As to the title she will take when Charles becomes king, it is looking likely it will be Queen Consort — something the public initially railed against when the pair wed — and that the palace initially stated would not happen.
“Clarence House said at the time that upon Charles becoming king, Camilla would become Princess Consort. Clarence House has now deleted that statement from their website, and I suggest that Camilla is more likely to become Queen Consort,” Proctor says.
But he for one, thinks that’s right.
“What the public thinks of Camilla doesn’t really matter. This is a constitutional monarchy, not The X-Factor — the public doesn’t have a vote.”
And as the day draws inevitably closer, he thinks she’ll do a great job.
“Camilla will make an excellent queen and any other title offered would be a profound insult to the way she has dedicated herself to the UK and The Commonwealth over the years,” he says.
Originally published as How Camilla went from public enemy to the royal family’s secret weapon
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