As we’ve discussed, People Magazine’s current cover story is just a promotion for a People Mag-produced and sponsored ABC docu-special on the Windsors. People has been parceling out the exclusives, and it’s about what you’d expect: self-proclaimed royal experts spouting Windsor PR. For example, they’re holding the Queen up as some kind of public relations master who should be credited with modernizing the monarchy. Which… not so much, in my opinion. But here’s an interesting new wrinkle: apparently, the pro-Windsor line is that Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will make an excellent Queen Consort. Oh how times have changed.
When Prince Charles ascends the throne, he’ll have his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, by his side. Since tying the knot in 2005 (after they were permitted to marry by Queen Elizabeth), the royal couple has tackled their royal duties as a team. Charles Anson, former press secretary to the Queen, praises Camilla in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, as someone who “kind of jollies” her husband and “doesn’t let him get too overburdened by the woes of the world.”
He explains, “She’s got a good philosophy about life: There are things you can change, other things you can’t change . . . Don’t get too hung up about it. And I think she’ll be a great consort as queen,” Anson adds.
The rest of that article is just a soft-focus reframing of Charles and Camilla’s affair throughout his marriage to Diana. While there is little positive to say about either of their actions, I have to admit: Charles’ PR campaign on this score has been a wild success. He took a rumpled, blousy, drunk-seeming mistress and turned her into a duchess and a future Queen Consort and at this point, everyone just accepts her. Camilla still comes across as a bit rumpled and drunk, but it’s actually sort of charming. She’s not a fashion-plate. She’s not trying to save the world. She’s not trying to be grand. And I sort of like her for that.
All that being said, I would love it if one of these royal reporter types did a deeper dive into all of the sh-t that went down in the late ‘80s and throughout the ‘90s, just not through Diana’s perspective. We know that version of the story. I want to know if Camilla was the only mistress, because I don’t think she was. Diana didn’t think Camilla was the only one either.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
honestly all I can think about is: can’t wait til The Crown hits the epic mess which was Charles-Diana-Camilla triangle.
I’m also looking forward to Ryan Murphy’s version, too!
Who should play her?
Nah, everyone doesn’t accept her. There are plenty of older white women who continue to view Cam just as Diana framed her, and I very much doubt they will ever stop viewing her as ‘that woman’.
And it’s mostly those older, vaguely affluent, white women that keep the monarchy as influential as they are – with their union flag bunting and coffee mornings.
I mean sure Charles and Co have done a good job with the media white wash, but the certainly not everyone is sold.
I don’t think it’s only elderly women who care. My brother-in-law absolutely despises the woman he’s not the only one) and he’s fairly young. He wishes William were king because he also feels prince Charles is out of touch.
@Alexamar – is he British? Most people I know (in the UK) would prefer the Queen to live forever to either Charles or William.
Definitely not everyone accepts her. Brazilian Instagram users of any age love to hate on her on posts she’s featured. So even people that don’t really have much to do with the BRF -except for the entertainment part – still have strong feelings about Camilla.
I’m embarrassed to say that Camilla has grown on me. The situation never occurred t o me that she wasn’t the only mistress.
Me too, although I was dimly aware that she wasn’t the only one, but she was clearly the most lasting one, and at the end of the day, being there for the long haul is what a relationship is. (Although wouldn’t it have been nice if her first husband hadn’t been a trollop? Perhaps she wouldn’t have strayed back to Charles had that been the case).
Wait: what did her first husband do??
Andrew Parker Bowles cheated on her with many women during their marriage , including some of her very good friends… and also with Princess Anne, no less.
Camilla’s cheating with Charles was a kind of revenge for her, at the very beginning at last.
Yes – APB- was quite the ladies man – and considered THE CATCH of that generation. Other have this right… She bagged the most eligible – and he was a dog.
Camilla has grown on me too, and I’m not embarrassed to say it. I quite like her now and have healthy respect for the work she does for rape victims. I say Charles could do a lot worse than Camilla. I used to intensely dislike her, but after actually learning about her and what she does, and LAK telling me that people threw bread at her in the streets changed my mind about her.
If Camilla was Queen, no consort, would she appear on our money along with Charles? Would a Queen ever be seen as equal to a King in merry olde England?
William and Mary were co-monarchs in the late 17th century. (Mary, technically Mary II, was the real Stuart heir, but her husband William [who was also her cousin] of Orange made it much easier for Parliament to invite her AND him to rule after their attempt to get rid of monarchy failed miserably. So they were co-regnant.
And of course there have been several women who have ruled in their own rights: Elizabeth, Mary I, Anne, and Elizabeth II.
Knowing everything about these two & how they’re relationship started & how it affected Diana,I’m always quite surprised how William & Harry even have a relationship with her.Its just not something I think I would forgive🤷🏼♀️.
Why does that surprise you? Their mother was dead. She never kept them from Charles or the Royals. They turned to their family in their grief. I think there did have to be a mending of sorts, but Charles has never shown himself to be a bad father. Just a rotten husband to their mother. I feel fairly certain Diana would have wanted them supported and loved by family.
TBH I feel like William really hates Charles – for whatever reason. But Charles also holds the purse strings, and William is nothing if not an entitled brat who will follow the ££
William chose to cheat on and dump Kate for years. He is choosing to raise his family in the house where Charles and Camilla conducted their relationship, with the help of the Van C family (with whom William is close friends).
As I’ve written many times before. William doesn’t have a problem with infidelity itself. He resents his parents having lives outside of him. See his working parents are bad parents rhetoric, Diana was a bad mother because she did too much charity work, etc. for the last few years.
He has a job that requires he and his wife to work, far less than the taxpayers who support them, but requires them to work. If he and his wife want to be stay at home parents, he can remove himself and his line from succession and get the hell out.
William is an entitled prig. He feels no shame in being a lazy arse especially compared to his aunt Anne. After HM dies I’m hoping UK will toss all those royals curbside.
Maybe because it’s not kids’ jobs to he minding their parents’ business? Relationships are hard and kids should not be expected to take sides. My father’s wife (of 30 years) was his mistress first and I had strong thoughts and feelings about that when I was a child. Now, as an adult mlm she has been in my life for most of life and I love her- she has been good to me and my brother. Also, I recognize that my parents’ business is not mine to mind.
We’ve known for like 15 years that Camila is going to be Queen Consort. Only the delusional Diana fans that think she was a saint hold the hope that Camila wont be Queen
Always liked Camilla. Hard working. She will never be popular but she will do her job.
I like her too. I’ve liked for quite a long while actually. Can’t really explain why, but she just rubs me the “right” way. People also need to let it go. They don’t have to like it, like her, or like the way she and Charles got together. But when it gets down to it, she’s been married to Charles longer than Diana ever was at this point.
She seems like one of those people that gets on with everyone, and is able to talk with anyone. Also, she seems to have a good sense of humour, which helps a lot.
Both sides had affairs. My question is whether Diana actually thought there were more mistresses or if she wanted to make Camilla nervous about her standing.
I like Cam. I think she’d be fun. It’s been decades since the affair happened and they seem happy together. I don’t agree with the way it started but they genuinely seem to be well suited for each other.
There was a period of time where Diana thought that Tiggy Legge-Bourke, William and Harry’s nanny, was a mistress and alleged that Charles was more enamored with her than Camilla.
Charles had other mistresses besides Camilla.
People really forget Charles was a handsome and attractive.
That’s because he wasn’t! LOL! Well, he may have been charming.
I think he looks handsome in retrospect but he was never considered a sex symbol lol. He was rich and the future king though, so that goes a long way, ha.
I remember a book I read years ago about their marriage – something like “Charles, while a nice-enough looking chap, is notoriously unphotogenic, and the camera worshipped Diana.”
I remember Charles as being sort of hot @Becks1. Not an all-out “sex symbol” but back then, at least in the US, sex symbols were film stars with an occasional singer like Sinatra thrown in. I never have luck posting links but there’s a 2013 HuffPo article with pictures showing him looking pretty good when young!
Yeah that’s why I said “in retrospect” lol. I don’t think anyone was hanging his poster on the wall (a la William) but he certainly was handsome enough, especially as we look back.
He was attractive in a non HW conventional/aristo way. There are some photo’s of Charles in his early 20s where you can see the resemblance to William.
In one of her more manic phases, Diana called Camilla to warn her that she was being set up because Charles wanted to marry Tiggy Legge-Bourke (sp?) who was a cheerful minor-aristo type who was the boys’ nominal governess.
Except we know she wasn’t the only mistress he had. She was just the only mistress Diana took offence to. Diana even wore the designs of another one of his mistress’ Dale Harper (Kanga as she was known as). Think there was another one too but can’t remember her name. For whatever reason she just didn’t like the fact that Camilla was one of them
Ironically, she died the same year as Diana.
At the end of it all, Camilla got it all. In fact, people still have more crap to say about Kate and Meg, but Camilla is fine.
Charles’ s other mistress during the eighties was lady Dale Tryon. Also married, she was as much a part of Charles’s life as Camilla.
Unfortunately she was criticized for going to the press which of course is never done. Had a rather tragic life and died at the age of 49.
Charles didn’t go to her funeral. Diana hated Camilla but was friends with Dale.
I agree with your comment except I think Dale / Kanga’s relationship with Charles was in the seventies (pre-Diana). I think Kanga talking to the media is why Charles dumped her as a mistress but since Kanga’s husband was a long-time friend of Charles, he continued to socialize with the Tryons.
I like Camilla. I feel bad when Clarence House or the royal family (on IG or FB) posts something like “happy birthday to the duchess!” and people are like HOME WRECKER!!!!!!!!! In my mind you can think she made mistakes and behaved poorly but also that she has stepped up as Duchess of Cornwall and works hard. I think she is probably one of the most fun members of the royal family.
I also love how much she loves big jewelry. If you’ve got it, flaunt it.
And she knocks the other royals out of the park with her outfits. She always gets it just right.
I have to agree about Camilla and think she will be a good Queen consort because she is good for Charles. She strikes me as a what you see is what you get type with a great sense of humour.
I will say this about her – she as been utterly loyal to Charles and never breathed a word to the press or spojen out of turn. I say this as a huge Diana fan too.
Whatever people think of Camilla she has a very good relationship with her children and stepchildren.
She and Charles enjoy each other’s company and always photographed laughing and joking.
She’s independent, does great work for charity and since her marriage has not stepped a foot wrong.
Basically yes, she will be a great consort to Charles.
Whether people accept her is another issue. The Diana stans never will no matter what she does.
PS I am biased because a friend of mine knew Camilla’s daughter. Friend was invited at their house and spent an evening sitting in the kitchen with Camilla and daughter and friends smoking fags and drinking a lot of gin. She said C was lovely and down to earth and had a wicked sense of humour.
I’ve liked her since!
Camilla is at the top of my list of people I’d love to have a drink with!
^ Cams seems like a hoot, even the royal press pack have commented on that she’s fun and often gives them a good shot to run with and has been known to wave/say Hello to them. My fave was when she posed with a tote that said ‘An old bag from Deptford’.
I know Diana was so young when she got married, she was pretty naive about what she was getting herself into and thought Charles was the love of her life. She grew up in that world and I always wondered how she seemed to be unaware how messy aristos are–everyone cheats on everyone and has illegitimate children, they divorce and remarry within the circle, it’s always been like that throughout the history of the upper class/royals (and not limited to the BRF). Especially considering her parents’ divorce and her mom’s messiness.
I never thought Camilla was evil. Just Prince Charles was too wimpy to stand his ground and marry the woman he loved instead of marrying someone he was ill-suited for. I know as the heir there was way more pressure on him as the direct heir to marry someone “suitable.” Also I can’t remember if Camilla was really interested in being married to Prince Charles and being burdened with the royal lifestyle at the time.
I think she would have been aware by the time she hit 25, but I can see someone at 19 hanging onto their illusions. She looked like a fully grown woman at 19, which is probably why no one thought to inform her. I don’t necessarily think it’s weird though that she’d want Charles to be faithful to her though. She was marrying him in 1981, not 1881. It sounds like she had a severe temper at times but at 19 she wouldn’t have had the same maturity as Camilla to know how to entrance a man over the long-haul. Diana had the advantage of youth and beauty, but I think Camilla had the advantage of experience. Who knows — if Camilla had married Charles at 19 maybe she would have lost her mind too.
Camilla didn’t want to marry Charles back in the day. She married Parker Bowles early on when she could have had Charles. She didn’t care to. In fact she wasn’t even that fussed to marry him after Diana died. It’s Charles who pushed for it.
Apparently Parker-Bowles was quite the eligible bachelor back in the day – even Princess Anne was said to be after him. And yes Cams was never interested in marrying Chuck, like Wallis Simpson she was happy to be his girlfriend then mistress and like his great Uncle he (Chuck) was desperate to marry her.
History tends to repeat itself quite a lot with that family.
I agree that Diana was very young and immature when she married him but given that she came from a broken home caused by bed hoping aristocrats she would have known that they were all shagging each other.
At the end of the day none of them were innocent – Diana herself shagged married men and was named as the other woman in at least one divorce (Will Carling – England rugby captain) while still married. People forget Diana was friends with a few of Chuck’s mistresses (and she knew there were his mistresses), she just didn’t like Camilla.
No I don’t think it’s weird Diana wanted Charles to be faithful to her. But Charles had a well documented dating history as the heir (not because he was so handsome, he was so awkward looking as a young man and looks better as an older guy), including dating her own sister (yuck) which she can’t pretend to have not known about. I do think Diana was swept up in the whirlwind of a Prince courting her without thinking of the repercussions but it amazes me she never once considered Charles’s track record with women and how that would impact their relationship over the long-term.
She was 19. That would be a lot for someone with zero real life experience to even fathom. She knew her sister dated Charles. It wasn’t a secret. It was also known that Charles was thrown at the pretty little virgin by the Queen Mum who said he should marry one of those nice Spencer girls because “the bedded can’t be wedded” so none of his many girlfriends would ever be on the table.
The whole thing was a disaster from the start so I don’t really place blame on any one person’s shoulders or either side. Charles didn’t really want to marry Diana and Diana was mentally ill and forced into it because their faces were already on the tea towels, as her supportive family reminded her. There was a ton of manipulation from her side from day one (her tilted chin with the doe eyes look that makes me gag but others eat up), and dishonesty from his. But the fact remains that neither was truly invested but they were slammed together like trains and that everyone was shocked at the outcome baffles me.
I think it’s likely that as an inexperienced 19 year old virgin she was flattered by the attention Charles, as an older man, gave her. In his own way, I think Charles can be charming and I can see how a 19 year old would be affected by someone like him paying attention to them. Yeah, there’s the reality of how aristocrats function, but at the same time she was still mentally a 19 year old with the same desire to be appreciated by the opposite sex. I don’t think some of this wisdom people are expecting her to have had comes until a bit later and after one has had a bit more experience with men. Heck, Charles was 32, and it’s said he was flattered by the attention Diana was giving him, so I guess I don’t see how it would be any different in the other direction when the girl is still in her late teens.
I think these two were pushed together by their grandmothers. The grandmothers probably should have known better.
I also think it’s possible that Diana and Charles did genuinely love each other at some point, but their temperaments didn’t mesh well. Why Charles may have thought a 19 year old virgin who was about to do it with him for the first time would have been interested in his philosophy books on their honeymoon is a bit funny to me. .
It must be difficult to live a life in which your past mistakes are constantly brought forward as though they happened yesterday, to have some that will never see the good work you have been and are currently doing but are stuck 20+ years in the past. Through all the ups and downs Camilla has carried herself with a great deal of dignity and grace.
As the Duchess of Cornwall she has choosen to highlight some of the most heartwrenching issues facing women today, sexual assault and domestic violence. Not only is she highlighting these issues but is taking concrete steps in helping those survivors by putting together items to give these women a sense of self during what must be one of the most horrible moments of their lives.
Yes, I believe that Camilla will be a wonderful Queen Consort.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3272532/Camilla-joins-volunteers-rape-crisis-centre-pack-wash-bags-victims-sexual-assault-scheme-pioneered.html
Let’s face it, it was Camilla that Charles always loved. Not only did he not love Diana, but he was in love with someone else. Unfortunately he “did was what expected of him” at the time, with tragic consequences.
I think Camilla is one of those women, while not a great beauty, who is charming and entertaining, especially to men.
I also have to say whoever her style advisor is, she always looks stylish and appropriate, whatever the occasion.
Agree- Cam’s always looks great. I can’t wait until she can really raid the tiara closet. The Breville is gorgeous, but I want more!!! also when will we get a reply of that amazing ruby neckllace from the KSA _ so heave it seems she can’t keep her neck up!!
I just read Diana in Her Own Words by Morton. I have to say I think if Diana had lived she and Charles would have gotten to a point of comfortable co-parenting and she would have been alright with Camilla. In the book, she says that she found a package from Charles to Camilla before she married Charles and it was a bracelet with a note that said “No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.” She confronted Charles about it and he told her he was planning to continue his relationship with Camilla after they married. Also by the end of the book Diana was even becoming a bit team Camilla. She liked that she kept Charles occupied and out of her way and she even told Charles that Camilla deserved to be publicly recognized by him for her years of discretion and loyalty. Is it wrong to have an affair? yes. But I still think these two really love each other and are good together.
Do Brits still care about who will be Queen consort? Dunno about that. This story came out just days after it was reported that Camilla used her clout to prevent the building of a flat for her neighbor’s granny. That’s the modus operandi of Clarence House. If a negative story is reported about Charles or Camilla, and even Will or Kate, few days later a good story will appear either through sources or direct interview praising them.
When Richard Kay wrote that scatching report about how stubborn Will is and how he tries to blackmail Charles into giving him more money using the kids, two days later, one columnist wrote how the Middletons are providing strength and the family bond that Will never had. It was a response from KP at Charles for after Kay’s article attacking Will.
Anytime any unsavory thing is reported about the senior royals, there is always push back either through fawning interviews from friends (eg Peny Juror) or OTT write-up from columnists.
That’s why I keep wondering why the same type of defence is not done for Meghan and Harry. That’s what bothers me. It’s like issues that concern Harry and Meghan are not being taken seriously by the palace. The palace is only using them as PR props, but they do nothing when the tabs tear them down. The palace machinery is only looking out for the Queen, Charles, Camilla, Will ,Kate.
I love Camilla despite the fact that I also love Diana and have experienced marital infidelity. Sometimes people are not well-suited and are better off with some more compatible to their interests and goals. Being cheated on sucks but sometimes it is an inevitable outcome of a very unhappy marriage 😔 Camilla comes across as approachable, funny and humble ❤
I really loved the wickedly funny way Camilla is portrayed on the comedy series “The Windsors” 😂
I am indifferent to Camilla. My hope is that they both learn to change their ways in terms of discrimination before Charles becomes King. Not sure it will be possible. I still cringe when I recall how a few months ago Charles made the comment “you don’t look it” to a women from Manchester.
I’m so glad to see a mostly positive feed of comments. I was dreading opening this thread and having to read the usual dross that pro Diana stans still dish out on any story about Cam.
She’s has been a great wife, seems to be popular within the family, and will continue to be a fantastic ambassador.
Bring on Queen Camilla.
I think that Charles’ and Diana’s marriage would have been a disaster even if Camilla wasn’t in the picture. They were terribly unsuited to one another – not only did they have nothing in common (she hated all of his interests and vice-versa) but emotionally they were a very bad match. They were both psychologically scarred by their childhoods and were left terribly insecure. Charles’ relationship with Camilla works because she has always given him constant, endless, unconditional support and reassurance. The tragedy of Diana’s life is that, while she needed someone to give her that same level of support and reassurance, none of the men in her life were able to do it.
Camilla has always been the love of Charles’ life, and I am happy they are happy. By Diana’s own admission she knew CC were a thing when they got married. After watching all those Diana documentaries where it was clips of her talking, and describing how her and Charles got together, there was never any romance between them. I blame Diana’s father for setting up his teenage daughter in that way.