From the Other Woman to Queen, Here’s the Life of Queen Camilla

Camilla Rosemary Shand (pictured, right) was born in London on July 17th, 1947. She was born into high society through both her aristocratic parents. Her father, Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand, Vice Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, was a former British Army officer-turned-wine merchant.

Her mother, The Honourable Rosalind Maud Cubitt, was the daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and a charity worker. Camilla has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot — and she also had a younger brother, Mark, until he sadly passed away when he fell and hit his head in New York in 2014.

The Shand family divided their time between their three-story house in South Kensington and their $2 million, 18th-century country estate, The Laines, in East Sussex. When she was 10, Camilla (pictured, left) went to London’s exclusive Queen’s Gate School. She was an avid reader, horse rider, and tomboy.

Classmates described “Milla” as a girl of “inner strength,” exuding “magnetism and confidence,” and “bright and lively.” Despite these glowing references, 16-year-old Camilla left Queen’s Gate School with one O-level in 1964. For reference, most average students gained 8-10 O-Levels.

Instead of continuing her education by taking A-levels, Camilla Shand attended Mon Fertile Finishing School in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, where she developed a “confidence over men.” Next, she studied French and French literature at the University of London Institute in Paris for six months.

Most students need three A-levels to get into university. Camilla had one O-level and no A-levels, but money goes a long way. In 1965, Camilla became a debutante in London. A debutante is a young aristocratic woman who’s presented to high society at a formal debut.

During the height of London’s Swinging Sixties, Camilla moved into an apartment in trendy Kensington with her friend Jane Wyndham. She worked as a secretary for several West End companies and as a receptionist for a painter and decorator in Mayfair. However, she was soon fired after “she came in late, having been to a dance.”

Camilla, you see, was a party girl. She loved living it up and often stayed out all night schmoozing with her posh pals. But eventually, her girlfriends started marrying off.

While Camilla was happy living the high life, all her friends became engaged to various Princes, Barons, Counts, and Dukes. Her roommate Virginia Carrington moved out to marry Camilla’s uncle, real estate tycoon Henry Cubitt.

According to her classmate, the renowned British actress Lynn Redgrave, Camilla not only wanted to stay out partying, but she also made it abundantly clear she intended to marry for status. In fact, Camilla always insisted that she was “holding out for a king.” Pictured here is Camilla’s future brother-in-law, Richard Eustace Parker Bowles, and the other on their wedding day.

Young Camilla continued her passion for horse riding and frequently attended equestrian events events like polo games. She loved painting and even took private lessons with an artist, although she admits most of her work “ended up in the bin.” The outdoorsy tomboy also loved fishing and gardening.

In the mid-1960s, Simon Parker Bowles — who worked for her father’s Mayfair wine company — introduced Camilla to his elder brother. Andrew Parker Bowles was a Guards Officer; a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals Cavalry Regiment of the British Army.

Camilla Shand saw Andrew Parker Bowles on and off since she was 18. But the pair were always splitting up and getting back together. Andrew started dating the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, and Camilla started dating Prince Charles. It’s long been rumored Camilla and Charles first met at a Windsor Great Park polo match.

Never one for being backward at being forwards, legend says that the outrageously blunt Camilla Parker Bowles’ first words to Prince Charles were — “My great-grandmother and your great-great-grandfather were lovers. So how about it?”

Now would probably be a good time to mention that the Shand family is no stranger to having affairs with British kings. Camilla’s maternal great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was the long-time mistress of King Edward VII, King Charles III’s great-great-grandfather.

When Alice Keppel was 23, she married the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel George Keppel, son of the 7th Earl of Albemarle. But in 1898, Alice met Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales. Despite the 27-year age gap, they embarked on a long and torrid affair.

Camilla’s great-grandmother. Alice, was 29 years old when the salacious affair started, while the Prince of Wales was in his mid-50s. Edward was besotted with Alice, and — while it was never publicly acknowledged — their affair was an open secret in aristocratic circles. Prince Edward became King after his mother, Queen Victoria, passed away in 1901.

However, because his mother reigned for 63 years, Edward VII had to wait until he was 59 to inherit the throne. He lived another nine years, passing away in 1910 aged 68 and ending the Edwardian era.

Throughout her life, Camilla Parker Bowles had often declared to friends she was a member of the royal family through association. Narrator’s voice; she wasn’t. Whether she used the above pick-up line on the young prince is up for dispute.

Royal biographer Gyles Brandreth revealed they didn’t meet at that ​Windsor Great Park polo event. Beloved British raconteur Brandreth says the couple first met when Charles’ ex-lover, Lucía Santa Cruz, introduced them at a glitzy 1970 house party when Charles was 22 and Camilla was 24.

Charles and Camilla bonded over their shared sense of humor, particularly a mutual love of Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan’s 1950s brilliant, surreal comedy radio show, The Goon Show (they could perform all the voices!). Royal expert Marlene Koening says they were instantly attracted to each other, and the young prince chased Camilla right from the get-go.

He was putty in Camilla’s hands, often going gooey with puppy-love excitement. He wrote her “elaborately worded love notes,” and they talked on the telephone into the early hours of the morning.

After becoming close friends, they eventually fell in love. Charles was delighted Camilla liked all the things he did (red flag!). She enjoyed country life and adored horses, hunting, and horticulture just as much as he did. Later, people laughed at Charles for talking to his house plants, but he’s right — it works!

The pair were often seen out and about in town and at Windsor polo matches, where Charles frequently played. They became part of Annabel’s Berkeley Square set and even met each other’s families… but it wasn’t meant to be. Not yet.

Camilla wasn’t viewed as a good match for Charles for many reasons. For starters, royal historian Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills explains, “There was no chance a senior royal, much less the future king, could marry a woman who wasn’t a virgin.”

Mace-Archer-Mills continues, “The number one rule, before the looks or the breeding of a potential royal spouse, was that she be a virgin first and foremost. This rule has always been strictly observed for women marrying senior royals — it was a condition of marriage.”

In early 1973, Charles was posted overseas with The Royal Navy and left Camilla behind for seven months. Now, because this is the Royal Family, there are many conspiracy theories. First, The Queen was not amused that Camilla had a reputation for being a party girl and had been with so many boyfriends.

Another theory suggests The Queen Mother wanted Charles to marry one of the Spencer family’s granddaughters, one of whom was a beautiful, shy young girl named… Lady Diana Spencer.

Charles’ favorite uncle, Monty, even wrote to the prince — “In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down, but for a wife, he should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for… It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage.”

Another theory is that Lord Mountbatten, the Admiral of the Fleet, sent his nephew overseas to get rid of Camilla to make way for his granddaughter Amanda Knatchbull.

Charles and Camilla spent one last weekend together in December 1972. Charles wrote to his Uncle Dicky (Mountbatten) that it would be “the last time I shall see her for eight months.” However, after just two months overseas, he was shocked to hear Camilla and Andrew Parker-Bowles had become engaged.

Charles was devastated that such a “blissful, peaceful, and mutually happy relationship” had ended so suddenly. According to reports, the “broken-hearted Prince of Wales locked himself in his cabin for two days and nights and refused to emerge for meals.”

With both sets of parents desperate for Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles to tie the knot, Camillas’ father had grown impertinently impatient. And then he did something crazy. Something less befitting of a stiff-upper-lipped ex-British Army Major and more like a hysterical character in a Jane Austen novel…

Channeling Pride and Prejudice’s Mrs. Bennett, in 1973, Major Bruce Shand placed an engagement announcement for his daughter in The Times newspaper. This forced Andrew to propose to Camilla because his future father-in-law gave him no choice!

On July 4th, 1973, 25-year-old Camilla Shand and 33-year-old Andrew Parker Bowles were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Wellington Barracks Guards’ Chapel, in London. Eight hundred guests attended the “society wedding of the year,” — including Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Anne; the Queen’s sister, Margaret; and The Queen Mother.

The newlyweds settled down in England’s gorgeous West Country, moving into Bolehyde Manor in Allington and then Middlewick House in Corsham. They had two children, Tom and Laura, in 1974 and 1978. Prince Charles became Tom’s godfather.

Around this time, Charles started dating Lady Sarah Spencer. He first met her younger sister, Diana (pictured), when he stayed at Sarah’s family’s Northamptonshire Althorp Estate in 1977. Charles described Diana as a “very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old.”

Charles’ relationship with Sarah Spencer went downhill on a 1978 ski trip when she told journalists she didn’t love Charles “and wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love — whether he were a dustman or the King of England.” Later that year, Charles invited Diana to his 30th birthday party.

Fast-forward to August 1979, and tragedy struck. Charles’ great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Viceroy of India — better known as war hero Monty — was assassinated when IRA terrorists blew up his boat in Ireland.

Royal expert Marlene Koening wrote, “Camilla was the only person to whom he [Charles] could talk about anything. She was his best friend, his soulmate, and lover.” Prince Charles’ second affair with Camilla lasted until he became engaged to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, although some say it never ended.

In 1980, the 30-year-old prince began dating Sarah’s 19-year-old sister, Lady Diana Spencer. In September, at Charles’ behest, the Queen invited Diana for the scary Royal initiation/humiliation ritual at Balmoral — her beloved Scottish summer home. You may remember shy Lady Diana’s colorful pink sweater from The Crown‘s “Balmoral Test” episode.

The Netflix show featured Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Balmoral. But, the real Iron Lady staying at Balmoral was Camilla. Charles sought his soulmate’s advice “as he weighed the pros and cons of a marriage with Diana.”

After a whirlwind romance, Prince Charles and Lady Diana became engaged to be married in 1981. However, Diana’s friend, Penny Thornton, later revealed, “Diana told me that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn’t love her.”

“I think Charles didn’t want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her, and it was devastating for Diana. She didn’t want to go through with the wedding … she thought about not attending the wedding.”

On July 29th, 1981, Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles in a jubilant Royal Wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Britain ground to a halt as millions lined London’s streets, colorful bunting adorned neighborhoods for street parties, ancient beacons were lit, and Red Arrows jet planes performed a fly-by.

On TV, 750 million people watched the wedding ceremony. But perhaps the only person in the United Kingdom not celebrating was Camilla Parker Bowles. She had been invited to the Royal Wedding but chose to stay away.

Camilla had given Charles her blessing to marry Lady Di because she didn’t feel threatened by the shy, timid, and sweet princess. Lantern-jawed Parker Bowles was confident her Royal love triangle would carry on regardless of whether Charles was married or not.

But Camilla was wrong about Diana; she was not weak, and she wasn’t going to lie down and be told what to do… According to the newly crowned Princess of Wales, Diana overheard Charles speaking to his mistress on the phone on the day of their Royal Wedding.

Charles and Diana spent 15 tumultuous years together, bearing two heirs, Princes William and Harry. But their marriage would never work, as Charles was in love with Camilla. Diana later stated that the wedding was the “worst day of my life” and “If I could write my own script, I would have my husband go away with [Camilla] and never come back.”

When Diana discovered love letters and cufflinks with two intertwined C’s from Camilla, “Boy, did we have a row. Jealousy, total jealousy!” Diana said later in her book.

Camilla and Charles would literally creep around in the dark to conduct their scandalous affair. When she visited him, Charles used to have his valet disarm the palace’s alarm system to sneak Camilla into his bedroom. Camilla would ruffle her bedclothes so it looked as though she had slept at home.

When he visited her, servants were instructed to leave all the lights off so they could creep around. Charles was seen leaving so often in the early hours that the staff nicknamed him The Prince of Darkness.

Diana knew all about the affair and confronted Camilla Parker Bowles, later telling royal writer Andrew Morton she was “terrified” of her husband’s lover.

The Princess of Wales told Camilla, “‘I know what’s going on between you and Charles, and I just want you to know that.’ She said to me, ‘You’ve got everything you ever wanted. You’ve got all the men in the world fall in love with you, and you’ve got two beautiful children, what more do you want?'” Diana replied with four short words: “I want my husband.”

Andrew Parker Bowles also knew all about his wife’s affair with Charles and even approved of it. By 1986, Charles and Diana’s marriage had irretrievably broken down, and he wrote he felt “in a kind of cage … longing to be free.”

Meanwhile, Diana wreaked her revenge by having an affair with her former horse riding instructor, ex-British army Major James Hewitt.  Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Never one to shy away from the truth, Diana told the world of both affairs in Diana: Her True Story.

After details of Charles and Camilla’s long affair came out, the brutal British tabloids published secretly recorded telephone conversations between the Prince and his mistress. Charles told Camilla, “The trouble is I need you several times a week. I’ll just live inside your trousers or something,” before getting too steamy and weird for us to publish here.

Andrew Parker Bowles divorced Camilla in 1995, paving the way for Charles’ “non-negotiable” relationship with his ex-mistress. However, it would take a massive public relations image rehabilitation campaign for the British people to accept Camilla.

Princess Di was no slouch when it came to PR. In an infamous, world-shattering 1995 BBC Panorama interview, Martin Bashir asked her, “Do you think Mrs. Parker Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?” Diana replied, “Well, there were three of us in this marriage… so it was a bit crowded.”

Her book and interview blew the roof off Buckingham Palace, exposing the marriage as a sham and severely damaging Charles’s public image. However, the British public and half the world worshipped Diana.

Then, two years later, on August 31st, 1997, the unthinkable happened. Diana, the People’s Princess, and her Egyptian lover, Dodi Fayed, tragically lost their lives in a Paris car crash while being chased by paparazzi. Britain and the world went into shock, mourning for their beloved, slain Princess of Hearts.

Millions left flowers at Kensington Palace, and two billion watched Diana’s funeral and wept as young William and Harry looked lost walking in her funeral cortège. Diana’s friend, Sir Elton John, sang his rewritten “Candle in the Wind”.

Then, wild conspiracy theories surrounding Diana’s passing started popping up. Millions believed that the Royal Family had gotten rid of Diana because she was growing too influential or to pave the way for Charles to marry Camilla. Dodi Fayed’s father, Harrod’s owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, said the Duke of Edinburgh and MI6 had planned the crash that took the lives of his son and Diana.

And with every conspiracy theory, it looked less and less likely that the British public would ever accept homewrecker Camilla Parker Bowles as Charles’ wife, let alone Queen.

Diana’s book and interview had damaged Charles’ reputation, but the savage British media vilified Camilla, and the ever-unforgiving British public turned on her. Charles finally spoke about his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles with Jonathan Dimbleby in ITV’s 1994 interview, Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role.

In 1995, the disgraced prince appointed PR guru Mark Bolland to refurbish his own image‍. After Bolland revived Charlie’s reputation, he enacted Operation PB to rebrand Camilla’s image. If Charles could win his mother’s approval, he would win the British public’s approval.

Camilla was first seen in public with Charles in 1999 at her sister’s Ritz Hotel birthday party. In 2000, she joined Charles, Wills, and Harry on a trip to Greece. The same year, Charles introduced Parker Bowles to his mother at the exiled King Constantine II of Greece’s 60th birthday party.

This meeting at Charles’ Gloucestershire Highgrove Estate was Camilla’s “Balmoral Test” to see if the Queen gave her the royal seal of approval. In 2002, Elizabeth II invited Camilla into the Royal Box for her Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Camilla passed Queen Elizabeth II’s initiation test with flying colors. The couple soon moved into Clarence House together. Charles proposed with Queen Victoria’s diamond ring. They married in a civil ceremony on April 9th, 2005, at Windsor Guildhall. At their Windsor Castle reception, the Queen raised a toast to the 800 guests.

Her Majesty spoke of the terrible obstacles the couple had overcome — “They have come through, and I’m very proud and wish them well. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves.”

After marrying 56-year-old Prince Charles, 57-year-old Camilla Parker Bowles became the Duchess of Cornwall, the second highest woman in the British order of precedence after The Queen. However, Elizabeth II quickly altered the royal order of precedence, demoting Camilla to fourth after the Queen, Princess Anne, and Princess Alexandra!

The former Duke and Duchess of Cornwall spent their time between their official residence at Clarence House in London, Charles’ Highgrove Estate, Birkhall Estate in Scotland, and Llwynywermod Estate in Wales.

In 2005, Camilla carried out her first solo engagement by visiting a hospital in Southampton. Since then, she and Charles have traveled the world for many events, from visiting New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France.

Camilla has carried out her Royal duties with grace, traveling to South America, Australia, New Zealand, West Africa, Cuba, and Canada — where her distant relatives include Celion Dion, Madonna, Shania Twain, and Justin Bieber. No, really!

Naturally, as a serving member of the Royal Family, Camilla performs lots of charity work. But would you believe she is the president or patron of over 100 charities and organizations? She campaigns and raises money for vulnerable women, animal welfare, veterinarians, and homelessness.

As an avid reader, Camilla advocates literacy among children and adults. She’s been a member of the National Osteoporosis Society since 1994, the year the bone disease took her mother’s life… and her grandmother’s life.

Camilla smoked for over 30 years before she developed a heavy cough and persistent allergies. Concerned for her health, she contacted alternative healer Dr. Mosaraf Ali, who helped her kick her nicotine habit in 2001. The health guru also helped Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, lose weight… so she’s in good company!

In March 2007, Buckingham Palace confirmed Camilla had undergone a hysterectomy. In April 2010, she fractured a bone in her left leg while walking the misty Scottish hills and dales.

On September 8th, 2022, Charles’ mother, Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, passed away. She served Britain and the Commonwealth as head of state for a remarkable 70 years, reigning even longer than her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. After a period of mourning, Charles was crowned King George III at Westminster Abbey on May 6th, 2023.

He wore the same crown as used at his mother’s coronation 70 years prior, while Camilla was crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown. So, with Charles crowned King, Camilla finally became Queen, right? Well, not quite…

Camilla Parker Bowles finally fulfilled her life-long ambition to become Queen Camilla. However, she’s only Queen in name because King Charles is the ruling monarch. Normally, Camilla would have been Princess Consort, but in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II said, “It is my sincere wish that … Camilla will be known as Queen Consort.”

Elizabeth II allowing Parker Bowles to call herself Queen Consort Camilla was the ultimate Royal seal of approval. However, since Charles’ coronation, Camilla has been styled Her Majesty The Queen, a decision that’s not gone down too well with the British public.

In February 2024, Buckingham Palace announced King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer. Camilla visited her husband every day while he was in the hospital undergoing treatment. While we wish Charles III all the best, he was 73 when he became King — that’s 15 years older than when his great-great-grandfather was crowned King Edward VII.

It’s safe to say Charles’ reign won’t last decades, which means Camilla won’t be by his side for very long, just like her great-grandmother, Alice Keppel. What do they say about history repeating itself?