VF: Duchess Camilla is stubborn and a ‘terrible gossip’ with ‘irreverent humor’

Duchess of Cornwall attends "Shameless! Festival

Vanity Fair published a very sugary long-read article about the Duchess of Cornwall: “Camilla: The Controversial Figure Who May Become Queen.” Penny Junor is quoted at length, which should tell you a lot about both Camilla and Penny Junor. To be fair, Junor is basically Camilla’s official biographer and Junor is absolutely part of Clarence House’s strategy to make Camilla more likeable and “accepted.” VF also includes other people’s thoughts on Camilla, but make no mistake, this is an overwhelmingly positive, sympathetic and generous read on Camilla. As for the idea that it’s still “up in the air” about whether she’ll be declared Queen Consort… she absolutely will. That’s all Charles cares about. Some highlights:

She’s a real person: Once reviled as the “most hated woman in Britain,” Camilla has proved herself to be much more than the “third person” in the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Confident and breezy, she loves the competitive dance show Strictly Come Dancing; her rescue Jack Russell terriers, Bluebell and Beth; and Charles, the future king of England.

When did her affair with Charles reignite? This gift for friendship seems to have been what reignited her affair with the Prince of Wales in the mid-1980s. “He was in the depth of depression when his marriage was failing, and she pulled him out of that and made him laugh again,” Junor says.

Why did Camilla stick around? With the publication of Andrew Morton’s Diana, Her True Story in 1992, Camilla’s private world was upended. She was stalked by the press, taunted with hate mail, and dismissed as ugly when compared with the beautiful Diana. So why did she stick around with Charles? The answer may be simple: Charles worshipped her and needed her. As she once told a friend, per Junor, “It’s wonderful to be loved.”

Camilla makes Charles less petulant: According to palace staff, Camilla also makes working for Charles, whose petulance and tantrums are legendary, easier. “She would be sitting at the table listening to him behave badly and all she would have to do is look at him and the whole atmosphere would change,” one staffer told Junor in The Duchess. “I think Camilla has transformed Charles,” Junor says. “He is happier with her than he has ever been. She gives him confidence and the support he has so desperately needed throughout his life and never truly found elsewhere.”

Camilla’s faults: Not that the duchess is without faults; she is said to be very stubborn, and tough on people she doesn’t like. Sometimes Camilla’s irreverent humor can also get her into trouble. In 2017, she and Charles were panned as culturally insensitive after they couldn’t stop giggling during a performance of Inuit throat singers in Canada. She is a terrible gossip, notes Junor in her book, making the rumor that she told anyone who would listen that President Joe Biden had passed gas during a reception at the 2021 climate change summit entirely believable.

Camilla had to win over members of the royal family.
“The queen didn’t want Camilla around in the early days because their relationship was so damaging to the monarchy, but on a personal level, she has always liked Camilla,” Junor says. “They have a lot in common, particularly their love of dogs and horses. And I think she is friendly enough with other members of the family and gets on well with William and Kate. It was initially difficult for both William and Harry, but Camilla let them take their time.”

Queen Camilla: Charles also desperately wants her to be given the title “Queen” upon his accession, which, according to rumor, William and Harry oppose. “Privately, I discovered both brothers are absolutely sick to the back teeth of Charles trying to negotiate full Queen status for Camilla,” royal biographer Robert Lacey told Newsweek in November.

[From Vanity Fair]

It’s a strange little thought exercise to think about the “what if” of Camilla. What if Camilla had broken it off with Charles early in their affair? What if Camilla had dumped Charles when Diana outed her as the other woman? But the truth is, Camilla has always enjoyed having Charles wrapped around her finger. That’s her nature, and that’s even referenced in this piece: “It’s wonderful to be loved.” Charles always came back to her. Charles needed HER. She is Charles’s sole priority. In some sense, it is an unconventional love story, especially for royalty. But yeah… it will be interesting to see how the British public really feels about her when she’s declared Queen Consort alongside Charles two seconds after QEII dies.

Royal Christmas cards

Royal visit to Devon

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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120 Responses to “VF: Duchess Camilla is stubborn and a ‘terrible gossip’ with ‘irreverent humor’”

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  1. Jane says:

    The men in this family. My god. Are none of them (bar Harry) capable of behaving like adults and having healthy relationships with their spouses?

    • Ainsley7 says:

      People tend to fall into the same patterns of behavior as their parents and/or other relationships modeled to them as kids. Charles grew up believing the lie that Edward was forced to step down for love. So, Charles has made Camilla non-negotiable and she will be Queen. The government doesn’t really care enough to do anything to stop Camilla from becoming Queen because they aren’t Nazis. Charles is quite literally fighting a battle that no one else is really fighting. No one with any real power cares if Camilla is Queen or not.

      • Esmerelda says:

        Yep, shades of Edward’s devotion to Wallis being used as a convenient smokescreen to oust a pro Nazi King. Charles and Camilla live in much less dramatic times, and the Establishment can neutralize Charles meddling in politics (spider memos and all that) without major upheaval – it’ll be a short reign anyway. So Camilla will be Queen, with the collective eyeroll of a nation as commentary (his sons included, apparently)

        I know there are real and profound reasons for the rift between William and Harry, but I’m sure they’ll share a speaking look on the day of Camilla’s coronation.

      • Tessa says:

        Edward was totally besotted with Wallis. That’s another factor. He needed her “help and support.” They ended up in the US in “society” wintering in Palm Beach with a suite in the Waldorf in NYC. He was madly in love with her and she treated him badly in front of other people. In the old days, divorce was frowned upon and it was “taboo” for a royal especially someone directly in line to the throne,
        to marry a divorcee. The royals changed and accepted divorce, Margaret was the first senior royal among the Windsors to divorce, Some years before, One of the Queen’s cousins (through Princess Mary) was isolated by the family because he divorced. Charles made sure he could still be King despite marrying Camilla. Anne was allowed to remarry as well.

    • Selene says:

      My observation is that with the exception of William, the Windsor gene has the capacity to love blindly, rapturously and everlastingly. The trick has always been who’s on the receiving side of that love; if they’re good people, intentions, etc. Queen Victoria loved her husband this way and George VI loved The Queen Mother this way. Elizabeth II loved Philip this way, Edward loved Wallis this way; Charles loves Camilla this way and Harry loves Meghan this way.

      • NiqGee says:

        I think William also loves this way too, but like Charles with Diana, William’s everlasting love isn’t directed at Catherine. I think if Jecca or Isabella had returned even a modicum of affection for William we would be seeing that all-encompassing love play out right now, and maybe the love story narrative would actually look real.

      • notasugarhere says:

        William may love his own ego this way, NiqGee. I’m not sure he’s capable of loving anyone other than himself unconditionally.

      • Elsavita Williams says:

        What is irksome is that The Firm, Royal Reporters especially Penny Junor amongst others, have conveniently forgotten the damage that Camilla’s illicit affair with Charles did to her own family. Her son Tom was a cocaine user.

        Ghislaine Maxwell’s accuser ‘was paid to set up Tom Parker …https://www.dailymail.co.uk › news › article-10224407

        Another link:
        CAMILLA’S KID ADMITS SNORTING COCAINE – New York Posthttps://nypost.com › 1999/05/16 › camillas-kid-admits-…

    • Lorelei says:

      @Jane, MTE.
      These types of puff pieces about how “brilliantly” Kate calms William down and how Camilla makes Charles “less petulant” paint the heirs in a very unflattering light.

      It seems we’re often hearing stories like this, which give the impression that both Charles and William are both manbabies with tempers— not exactly qualities that inspire confidence in their ability to be effective reigning monarchs.
      And I cannot understand how the palace can’t see how negatively Charles and William come off looking in these articles.

    • Kalana says:

      Harry started to do that with Meghan and she made it clear to him that he needed to go to therapy to work on it, something neither Charles or William ever did.

  2. Noki says:

    Yes Fartgate made us aware of how she is a terrible gossip.

    • equality says:

      Giggling about a body function that is common to all isn’t gossip though; it’s immaturity.

      • Teddy says:

        Immaturity with a heavy dash of cruelty. She gives off a mean girl vibe.

      • harperc says:

        There’s a series of pictures of Phillip grinning while letting one rip on the palace balcony, and the queen rolling her eyes while others are laughing. That with the tradition of gag gifts at Christmas make me think that the BRF likes the potty humor.

    • Tessa says:

      In the CNN documentary about Diana, one commentator said Camilla “mean girled” Diana by asking her out to lunch after Diana got engaged.

    • PrincessK says:

      I think she is. I also think that she helped spread the story that Meghan made Kate cry.
      She had tea with newly engaged Kate and supposedly told someone that Kate was rather dim.

      • Nic919 says:

        Camilla wasn’t wrong about Kate. She is dim. Gossip is when something isn’t true.

      • Nope says:

        @Nic919, what? No. Gossip is stories that are secret or salacious, not necessarily untrue. For example, this is a celebrity gossip site. Plenty of speculation, but lots that is true.

  3. minx says:

    Camilla loves Strictly Come Dancing and Jack Russells. Riveting, Penny.

    • C-Shell says:

      Yes, so delightfully charming, right? And Harry was trashed for recording a supportive message to his wounded veteran friend, JJ Chalmers when he competed on SCD. Hypocrisy Example #5,237,891.

    • Couch potato says:

      Her children will be pleased to learn this. Or maybe they already know.

  4. Rapunzel says:

    You know, it’s interesting. It almost seems like Camilla ended up with Charles cause she stuck around and outlasted the others. It’s very Kate, minus the stalking.

    • equality says:

      This PR of being the only one who can calm him down and make him behave is very Kate too.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      Camilla ended up married to Charles as Andrew Parker-Bowles wanted a divorce so he could marry his long-term mistress, Rosemary Pittman and remove himself from the Royal merry-go-round.

      • notasugarhere says:

        And yet they all remain great friends, exchanging birthday and Christmas gifts, with APB possible serving at Anne’s current sidepiece.

    • KFG says:

      Not really. Charles had 3 other high profile mistresses besides Camilla. He loves her and she accepts him as he is.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        That’s it really. Camilla accepts all of Charles’s faults and fits of anger. Had she truly loved him, they would have married long ago, but she wasn’t seen as suitable for some reason, I guess Liz and Phillip expected a virgin and someone young and easy to manipulate, hence Diana.

        The Windows men are quite pathetic but I look at Anne and see a steely woman with the ability to endure strong storms, no matter what. Plus, she does her work, keeps her nose down and tries not to be too much of an embarrassment to the RF.

      • Tessa says:

        Charles I think could have married Camilla back then if he had wanted to. He told Dimbleby he was not ready to marry when he met Camilla said. But also he never told her they had a future together. Charles was wishy washy about Camilla and he could really have not thought her “suitable” to have his royal heirs. He did not have the all encompassing LOVE and Infatuation that Edward had for Wallis. Edward did not look at another woman and did not marry a suitable girl to have heirs with. It was all or nothing. Charles got to have his cake and eat it too.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Camilla didn’t want to marry Charles the first time around (and I question the second time around). She wanted an affair with the heir for the clout, but she and Anne were openly fighting over Andrew Parker-Bowles.

        Anne is completely entitled. Crown Estate funds used to fix up her private property, let’s her adult kids and their families live in her taxpayer funded townhouse in London, let’s her untrained dogs attack small children in parks. Likely currently having an affair with Andrew Parker Bowles. People are so busy looking at other royals, they tend not to notice how awful Anne can be.

      • Gigi says:

        @notasugarhere: everyone also ignores that it was Anne who sparked the “annus horribilus” when her love letters with Tim Laurence got leaked the the press and she had to initiate a hasty divorce from Mark Phillips to marry Tim (in Scotland). I’m sure that she and Mark would have remained married and Tim would have been a sidepiece had proof of her affair not gotten out. She’s just like her brothers.

    • Tessa says:

      Camilla has manipulative “skills” she was the last woman standing.

    • Gubbinal says:

      I think Camilla has a thorough understanding of how to make a narcissist happy. She will never outshine her husband (even if she could she would not). She spends their time together listening to him whine and validating him. If you listen to the “Tampongate” conversation you can hear how naturally she defers to him.

    • Tessa says:

      Charles called Lady Tryon (his other married mistress) the only woman who really understood him. But Camilla outmaneuvered her.

    • Tessa says:

      Camilla also was not the average royal mistress, she undermined the wife and name called her (that ridiculous creature) to the royal husband. She also sat at Diana’s chair as Highgrove hostess while Diana and Charles were still married. She had ambitions. Lady Tryon was more traditional and apparently did not badmouth Diana.

  5. equality says:

    So she let W&H “take their time”? How magnanimous of her. She should fit right in with the rest of the family because they are all “culturally insensitive.” I wonder if W does oppose her being called “Queen”; I really can’t see H caring either way.

  6. girl_ninja says:

    What IS it with making these men seem like big baby brats? This narrative of Bill and Chuck being petulant and in forever bad moods until their women wipe their asses is gross and embarrassing. What a messy family.

  7. lana86 says:

    That piece doesn’t do any favors to the future king of England

    • Vavavoom says:

      It sure doesn’t. The basic rule of British press: push one down to lift up the other. No matter who it is. It’s so strange and insulting. I see that quality in some of my british family members though. If I think back to staying with my Nana when I was a kid (my dad was born in England and they all came to Canada in the 50’s) and how she had to read the enquirer every week, and told me all about what was happening back in the UK from all the letters from relatives. It was JUICY .. I think I actually got my love of gossip from her. LOL I just don’t have that lack of empathy you so often see in the way they speak about others.

      I also still think Camilla was the one who made a joke/comment about H&M’s baby’s skintone. It just seems so HER to think it would be hilarious thing to joke about.

  8. Woke says:

    The british public is mostly apathetic about these people and that what keep them going even though the way they went after Meghan made more people paying attention and take position. She will be made queen and there’s nothing brits can do about it.

    • BayTampaBay says:

      No matter what title Camilla uses after the accession of Charles III, she will legally be Queen of England because she is married to the King just like the Queen Mother was.

      • Woke says:

        Yes I know it’s automatic but that’s not what we’re discussing is it ? She will be called queen instead of princess consort like they said after their wedding and there’s nothing brits can do about it.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Woke, the people can change it if they want but they have to do it before Charles is king.

        When W&K were expecting PGTips, there were successful discussions about removing primogeniture. One member of Parliament also added the idea the consort should be prince/princess consort. He was basically shouted out of the room

        The People can change it, but it appears they don’t want to.

      • Gabby says:

        And frankly she is probably just as qualified as the current queen who has accomplished almost nothing of real substance in her big 70 years on the throne.

      • Tessa says:

        Camilla would never qualify to replace the Queen Regnant. Charles will be the one who has the power not Camilla. Camilla would be comparable to Prince Philip as Consort. HM does not have the past Camilla had and never was a divorcee or married a divorced person or the other woman” in a marriage. Although the Queen made really bad blunders over the years

    • notasugarhere says:

      This. Only a handful of lifelong Diana fans continue to dislike Camilla. Otherwise most of the population doesn’t think about royals on the regular.

      Odds are most people won’t care if she’s crowned Queen Consort as she should be. Otherwise it sets a precedent Billy the Basher doesn’t want – his (future) wife being Princess Consort instead of Queen Consort. It is the less sexist option, Princess vs. Queen, but not a precedent William wants.

      • Becks1 says:

        I wonder why William is so opposed to Camilla being called Queen. Does he want kate to be the next queen (or another wife), or is it just out of dislike for Camilla?

        If the former, then he should be careful, bc setting up a precedent where the wife of the king is a Princess Consort would have an impact on his wife as well.

      • Tessa says:

        I don’t like Camilla, never will. I think that even people who are not Diana fans find Charles and Camilla offputting. And the icing on the cake to me is the way C and C behaved with Harry and Meghan. She laughing and smirking during Harry and Meghan’s wedding. And Charles not returning Harry’s calls. I think though some just don’t care. I don’t care much also for William, Charles, Kate and Andrew (him for obvious reasons) either. Harry was a lot more polite to Camilla than William and his. “reward” for him doing it was her behaving badly at the wedding Camilla should have been savvy enough to be nice to the Sussexes. Considering how the Cambridges behave now.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Becks1, I doubt William is against Camilla being Queen Consort. Basically William will go wherever his petulant whims and PR thoughts send him. If now he scores points for undermining Camilla, that’s what he’ll do, particularly if it upsets his father. But under no circumstance would Wm want the situation changed and for his (future) spouse to be Princess Consort instead of Queen Consort.

      • Tessa says:

        William will have no say in the matter of what Camilla will be called. Charles will make this non-negotiable. Too bad he let William take control and allowed him to push Harry and Meghan out.

  9. Laura-Lee MacDonald says:

    Camilla and Charles mocking the throat singers performing for them was not ‘insensitive’ it was colonialist racism on full display. That trip, and all of their other trips, to Canada get few attendees and a lot of questioning about the worth of the Monarchy to Canadians. I truly hope more republican movement happens here, because I definitely don’t want this woman and her tantruming husband as my head of state anymore than I want the next tantruming dork and his wife, either!

    • Yarema says:

      THANK YOU. As an indigenous Canadian that incident makes me boil with rage. They were privileged to have been invited to witness that and they were “giggling”. The disrespect is profound. I think about this episode whenever Charles comes up but I didn’t realize she was implicated too. Completely disgusting.

    • Merricat says:

      It is absolutely racist and graceless, as well. Their arrogance and rudeness is breathtaking. They really have no self-awareness.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        It really is. They both need to grow up. Actually, ALL of them need to grow up, that certainly applies to Bitter Brother and Charles. My gawd, what a complete disaster these two will be once they become king. Bitter Brother with his endless temper tantrums and Charles with his lack of conducting himself as an adult, a mature one at that.

        Hopefully their misdeeds will come for them sooner rather than later. Their appalling behaviour needs to be called out for all to see, both of them. And get some therapy FFS!! You are both petulant children in adult bodies! Especially you Billy, you are the worst of everyone!

      • PrincessK says:

        I am sorry but when l watched it l could not stop laughing. Nothing malicious at all

  10. OriginalLala says:

    Laughing while Inuit are throat singing is disgusting, considering it’s a cultural practice that was banned for years because colonizers thought it was “demonic”, so they can eff off with their pathetic attempt at redemption. They are all so gross.

    • SophieJara says:

      Thank you OriginalLala! My feelings exactly. How is this not the take away? She finds “natives” hilarious and their ceremonies scornful. In the same Commonwealth where they are still digging up children kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Crown (and Church). All legally, because their parents are deemed unfit to be parents because… Indigenous. That people keep talking about this s**t as a “gaffe” is infuriating.

    • Tessa says:

      Camilla is very rude at times and she did the same at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, showing disrespect.

  11. Zapp Brannigan says:

    “Camilla makes Charles less petulant”

    Yes because women are merely rehabilitation centres for men. Many years ago I read the earliest warning sign of an abusive, unhealthy relationship is when one partner is made responsible for the emotions of the other. So yeah.

  12. ABritGuest says:

    Isn’t it funny how Charles can be known for apparently being petulant & having temper tantrums to the extent Camilla has to calm him down, William for always being incandescent with rage that needs Kate to soothe him, Anne for being really rude & insisting friends refer to her by title etc & bringing grown men to tears- yet not aware of nasty nicknames leaked to the press for them or any official bullying reports.

    So many press have said that Camilla loves a gossip recently I wonder what she’s spilled in recent years apart from allegedly fartgate. I also think Lacey is spilling that as we know, the campaign for Camilla to be queen consort likely involved PR moves that impacted William & Harry

    • Nick G says:

      @ ABRITGUEST that’s exactly what I came to say. How these people can fail to see their bias sticking out a mile behind them is really shocking. It enrages me to hear them savage Meghan for her so obviously unconvincing bullying tendencies …. and then calmly gloss over the temper tantrums of every member of the Royal Family except for the Queen.

    • Amy Bee says:

      @ABritGuest: The press tried that nonsense with Harry and Meghan in the beginning but that didn’t last long because the Palace wanted to make her a monster instead. I don’t believe that story anyway because Harry basically said that Meghan wouldn’t put up with that behaviour and told him he needed to see someone.

    • Tessa says:

      Camilla kept her own home to retreat to I think Fawcett also is a calming influence on Charles, I think he still works for Charles in some capacity and not really “fired.”

  13. MaryContrary says:

    Wow-if someone who likes Charles and is committed to propping him up describes him as “petulant” and “tantruming”-I can only imagine how horrible he really is! They both come across terribly-racist, snobby, out of touch. What a ridiculous institution the monarchy and BRF are -lucky Harry found Meghan and escaped this nonsense.

  14. kelleybelle says:

    … and utterly unfit for Queen Consort. They’re a pair of selfish homewreckers IMO.

    • notasugarhere says:

      He’s married to her. If he becomes king, she becomes Queen Consort just as she’s legally Princess of Wales now. That’s how the system works.

      • kelleybelle says:

        I’m well aware of that. Regardless of those realities, she is still entirely unfit for the role.

      • notasugarhere says:

        As could be said or not said about Philip. Or the racist, drunken Queen Mum. Or racist, lazy Katie Keen. You consider her ‘entirely unfit’, but Charles and the majority of the UK do not.

    • kelleybelle says:

      @notasugarhere … oh I doubt that. Many people can’t even stand Charles either, so this future queen consort, nah. Still an unsightly homewrecker, sorry. She constantly looks unwell do to her age and drinking too much and she treated Diana horribly. So I don’t agree with “the majority of the UK” in the least. That’s actually funny. She’s a pig and she’s a racist. Hopefully the monarchy will crumble shortly. Here’s hoping.

      • notasugarhere says:

        The majority of people in the UK give no thoughts to royals. Of those who do? They’re not concerned with a first marriage that failed 3 decades ago, or the remarriage of divorced/widowed people which has been allowed in the Church of England for 20 years. And less than 20 percent of people in the UK even care at all about CoE anyway.

        Camilla will be Queen Consort legally and likely publicly. There won’t be big fusses about it and Camilla being Queen Consort won’t be what ends this monarchy.

  15. notasugarhere says:

    Interesting RRs are saying ‘future king of England’. Alluding to the likely dumping of the monarchy by 14 more countries in The Commonwealth upon QEII’s death? And/or the future independence of Scotland?

  16. Amy Bee says:

    It’s a myth that Camilla didn’t want any of this. If she didn’t she wouldn’t have stuck around and gladly participated in the media strategy to make Queen Consort Camilla a reality. It was interesting to see the press start to talk about her relationship with Harry after it came out that he was writing a book. I don’t think he will talk about her that much to be honest but it’s now out there that they don’t get along and who could blame him.

    • notasugarhere says:

      She didn’t want to marry him all those years ago, I’m not convinced she wanted to marry him in 2005. Once she was outed and the Archbishop of Canterbury publicly urged them to marry? The wheels were rolling, but she might have preferred to remain just one of the mistresses of the divorced future king.

      • Tessa says:

        Charles outed her in 1994 during the DImbleby interview. This caused the PB divorce. He had to wait years to marry her. The Queen Mother disapproved of Camilla after the divorce, she would not receive her. Camilla’s father was outraged that Charles outed her. She started her “preparation” for being consort in 1997 when she started working with Bolland. This was interruped after Diana’s death and resumed less than a year later.

      • notasugarhere says:

        I doubt the Queen Mum disapproved as much as you think. If she had, she wouldn’t have left all those Greville jewels and her fav diamond ring to Charles – knowing he’d give them to Camilla. Queen Mum’s fav diamond ring is Camilla engagement ring.

      • Tessa says:

        The Queen MOther was very inconsistent. When Camilla was still married to APB she never saw her as a “threat” to the future of Charles as King. she even lent the couple a Safe House (I think it was Birkhall) But when she divorced APB the QM saw her as the new Wallis Simpson, a divorced person and a threat to Charles becoming King. She wanted Charles “safely married” and was said to be happy when Charles settled down and had a family. I read that The Queen Mother did not want to be around when a C and C wedding took place. I can believe that since she saw Camilla then as a “threat” to the future of the monarchy. I think the wedding would have taken place sooner if the QM had really wanted to see Charles settle down with Camilla. There were no stories of the QM receiving Camilla and there would have been had she done so. She left Charles her property but he would get this after she died and she would not be party to a wedding.

      • notasugarhere says:

        The Queen Mum’s issue with Wallis wasn’t because Wallis was divorced. It was because Lizzie Bowes-Lyon tried to get the Prince of Wales for herself but he wasn’t interested. She stewed about that for years and finally settled for his younger brother. It was by no means a love match, but a business/status one. That was the basis of her dislike of Wallis, not the divorcee status or the stress on her beloved (LOL) husband of the abdication.

        Queen Mum tried to manipulate Charles to marry people of her choice several times. She managed it with Diana, so she would have resented Charles wanting to end that marriage. But in the end, she wanted Charles happy. If that meant marrying Camilla, before or after she died, so be it.

    • Sofia says:

      I think she would have been fine with being the mistress but not the wife. There’s a lot more freedoms to it. If Diana had accepted it, I think Camilla would have left Diana alone.

      As for wanting to be Queen, yeah I don’t blame Camilla. If I was told/“strongly encouraged” to marry the future King and spend the rest of my life in public service when I could have spent it at my country estate, I would want to be called Queen too.

      • Tessa says:

        She got the security of being a wife. Had she been only a mistress theoretically Charles could have dropped her and remarried someone else. His naming her locked her in and APB had no recourse but call for the divorce. And she was ‘free’ to marry Charles. Which the Queen Mum was worried about and called for no marriage of C and C in her lifetime. I think Camilla liked the trappings of being a mistress, she got the bling and she had influence. If she did not want this lifestyle she never would have gotten involved with the Prince of Wales. Plus he had other women in his life like Lady Tryon and Janet Jenkins among others.

      • PrincessK says:

        She reportedly told Diana than she had borne the children and she should not be upset.

      • Tessa says:

        I don’t think she’d leave Diana alone no matter what. She was not a conventional mistress, she actually played hostess at Highgrove when Diana was not there. Queen Alexandra turned a blind eye to the mistresses her husband had but she was not really happy with it and none of the mistresses were allowed to speak negatively about the royal wife. Camilla called Diana that ridiculous creature.

      • PrincessK says:

        Camilla told Diana that she was the lucky one because she had borne Charles children and therefore was in a more important position.

  17. tw says:

    I feel like Camilla is half in the bag at all times

  18. Lady Digby says:

    When they finally got married some astrologer commented that their Cancer/Scorpio star signs were ideally matched, somehow completely overlooking that Diana was a Cancerian too! I share a birthday with William and we are also Cancerians. Any astrologers out there know if W and Kate’s Cancer/ Capricorn combo is also predicted to be a blissful love match? Both signs are famously stubborn!

    • Emma says:

      Well I’m not an astrologer (and I think astrology is total nonsense) but it’s kind of obvious W and K aren’t a “BLISSFUL LOVE MATCH.” Dude seriously.

    • notasugarhere says:

      The scarily accurate late astrologer, AstroAmerica, said that W&K have a fraught relationship that is filled with negativity and destined to be miserable. They’re held together by severe emotional immaturity and fear of the world around them – not by any love between them.

      • Slipkeennot says:

        He also wondered if Willy didn’t have “some bastards” running around as his Venus (in Taurus 5H, house of children) was very fertile placement lol

      • notasugarhere says:

        And that W&K would one day abandon their roles and their eldest child to his fate, and foreshadowed William not being king (and didn’t want to mention why). Very interesting reading.

  19. Tessa says:

    Junor is also a personal friend of Camilla, they even went on a vacation together. Junor is heavily biased and never refrained from blaming things on Diana (and Diana was dead and could not defend herself) and absolving Camilla.

  20. J says:

    She’s an unremorseful cheater and an other woman and that’s all I need to know about her

  21. Bread and Circuses says:

    Eh, I think Camilla was always Charles’ forever-love, and when the royal family told him he couldn’t be with her, she moved on, he tried to, and it not only didn’t work, it wasn’t fair to anyone.

    Charles may not be a flawless guy, but being heir to the throne and dealing with that family is what screwed his life up.

    • Tessa says:

      Charles own words to his official biographer Dimbleby tells a different story.He met Camilla before she married APB, they had a fling, and he told Dimbleby he was not ready to marry and moved on. He did not tell Camilla they had a future together. He was never forbidden, he just did not bother to get more serious with her before she married APB. I think Charles was badly influenced by his grandmother, who spoiled him and made him feel the center of the Universe also Mountbatten was not a good influence. Charles was egocentric. He did not choose Camilla to be the mother of his royal children. I think if he had pressed the issue, he could have married Camilla, He just did not bother. Charles got messed up when he thought it “OK” to be with his friends’ wives. That “ruined” him for marriage to Diana. ANd she was not one to turn a blind eye. Charles could have been a “nice guy” but seemed to think of himself first always. But some of the royals behave that way.

    • notasugarhere says:

      Camilla never wanted to marry Charles, so her ‘past’ never prevented a marriage. She wanted the influence of an affair with the heir, but her marriage target was always Andrew Parker Bowles. The one Anne was also dating off and on at the same time. APB was fine with the Charles/Camilla affair in later years, they were all friends and chummy. Only later did he decide on a divorce and remarriage. They all continue as friends. Weird set.

      • Tessa says:

        She was said to really want to marry APB and she had started dating him in 1966. Charles was wishy washy about her then but if he ardently courted her it is subject to speculation if she changed her mind and married Charles instead of APB. I think that APB did not fuss over C and C being involved, he had his own relationships and as long as it was not broadcast to the world and only known in their “circle” he did not mind. But when Charles revealed he was involved with Camilla, then that was it and APB and CPB divorced.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Everyone in the set wanted APB. Camilla won by marrying APB, which was what her original intention had always been. And as all three of them remain close friends, with APB even giving gag gifts to Camilla that mock Kate’s scandals? They all don’t appear to care about water under the bridge.

  22. Swan Lake says:

    I liked Camilla from the beginning in the 70’s—- I’m Charles’ age and I remember with how much press coverage he received about his dating life even here in the States. I never liked Diana who seemed grasping and interested only in the title and not in the man.

    • Tessa says:

      Diana was a sweet young woman a teenager of 19. She was awed that this older man started courting her. and lacked Camilla’s experience. Camilla was not really in the news until the time she was said to be the one who approved or disapproved Charles girlfriends. I got some of the early books and Camilla was mentioned as the one who gave Charles advice and her word could banish a person she considered not suitable. She “vetted” Lady Diana and approved of her and it was said that she thought Diana was a “mouse”. Then later on, the rumors came out and then the Morton book. Camilla was “safely” married and the attention was on the serious contenders for Charles’ wife including Lady Jane Wellesley and Davina Sheffied. Diana was on the LIST of contenders to be Charles’ wife. She did not pull a Kate and go to the same University. She was considered a catch. I liked Diana and never found her grasping. The same thing could be applied to Camilla, would she have been interested in Charles had he not been Prince of Wales. Diana wanted a husband and family, and I think she was great and Charles di dnot do right by her

    • notasugarhere says:

      Swan Lake, that has been my impression of Diana as well, come to after years of watching these sagas. And yes, I was alive and seeing it all in real time then. Diana wanted to marry the only man in the UK she thought could never divorce her, so she pointed herself at Charles. She was happy to have her manipulative granny help her get in Charles’s path, after one of her elder sisters decided not to marry him. Lied repeated about the type of person she was in order to appeal to him. Neither of them married a person, they married the idea of each other, which was always going to fail.

      • Tessa says:

        Unfortunately, I think Diana fell for Charles. I think Diana’s grandmother Lady Fermoy was an opportunist and not family oriented, she turned against her own daughter and granddaughter after their respective marriages failed. Sarah Spencer IMO did not really love Charles, she said so publicly and I think she meant it. She wanted to marry the Duke of Westminster and she fell in love with him, Charles was a rebound IMO. Diana wanted to “fit in” with Charles lifestyle, I don’t think she lied I think she was sincere. She was a teenage girl and had romantic ideas. Charles I think had his “philosophy” of marriage and his own goals and a “concept of it” without considering Diana’s feelings. In a way Charles put up a false front by presenting Camilla as the “safe” married friend and wanted Diana to befriend Camilla. I don’t think Lady Fermoy helped Diana all that much. Diana IMO did not “point herself” at Charles, she was on a list of prospects for the Prince. I think he was attracted to her and said so but I think his main goal was to get heirs. He dated her after Amanda Knatchbull turned down his proposal and then Anna Wallace broke up with him. If Diana had said no he would have found another on the list. Diana could not pursue Charles the way Kate pursued William.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Diana targeted and fell for The Prince of Wales. Charles himself didn’t matter, just as William himself doesn’t matter to Kate. Diana wanted to be Princess of Wales and Queen Consort, those were her goals. She wanted to be seen as important, and Charles was a means to that end.

      • Tessa says:

        Diana’s friends like Carolyn Bartholomew wrote that Diana often said she would never be Queen. Diana was on a “list” of prospects of young aristos. Charles just went down the list. If Charles did not matter, I doubt Diana would have cared if he went off to see Camilla. I think Kate cares but she puts up with it. Thankfully, Diana had more goals and abilities than Kate. At least for a few years, there was a royal who thought out of the box and embraced causes and charities and actually worked. And now they have Kate, who is totally workshy.

    • equality says:

      If she had been only interested in the title, she would have stuck it out and not cared how many side pieces Charles took up with.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Not with her ego, which was just as large as Charles’s.

      • Tessa says:

        I don’t think Diana would have minded Charles having one night stands. But Camilla was a lot more formidable and always a presence one way or another. Diana probably would have had a happy life if she had not married Charles but an aristo or a wealthy upper class person. . Jane has a happy life with Fellowes. And Sarah has been happy with her husband. This would have been ideal for Diana.

  23. J says:

    Yeah there’s no excuse for her behavior and she isn’t sorry so what’s to admire about her (don’t admire her husband either). Diana was a child basically and horribly gaslit from the beginning so I cut her a lot of slack

    • Tessa says:

      Diana was selected in a rather clinical way. She filled the bill: she was young, aristo, no past, fertile, and descended from kings. If she had turned down Charles he would have found someone similar. It was not a level playing field by any means. She was used to get heirs for Charles. Stuart Higgins did report that Camilla would call him (when he was editor of the Sun) for ten years during the years Charles and Diana married, and she gave “her side.” Diana never had a chance.

  24. cassandra says:

    I would totally love to get drunk with her and listen to all the tea she spills. I bet she knows some really good dirty jokes. That being said, I doubt she’d condescend to drinking with a normie like me.

    • Tessa says:

      I would not go near her and would think of how she treated Diana and later Harry and Meghan. I don’t think she is a nice person to say the least. I think she even made jokes about Meghan and said horrible things about her. I would not put it past her.

    • notasugarhere says:

      She might have good tea to spill. People who meet her on engagements say she’s fun, smart, engaged, and charming.

  25. MrsH says:

    Another article painting the born royal male as weak and needy! BOTH future kings are painted as weak and temperamental and who can only function because of their commoner spouse. Why on earth are these men not fighting back on this narrative when we all know they have no problem using the press to their advantage otherwise.

    • Tessa says:

      Exactly right. It fits into the Spin that Charles must be made Happy. No mention of who HE makes happy.

  26. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    When I read the headline “irreverent humor” I immediately thought, “the royal family is making excuses for some racist comment.” Then I read the example about the Inuit, and BINGO! Camilla’s “irreverent humor” is being put out there now to deflect when reports of racism happen.

  27. Lululu says:

    I’ve always thought of Camilla as boozy and gossipy in the very best way. I wonder how much she even cares about the monarchy, beyond just knowing it’s part of the package with Charles. She’s my favorite royal after Harry and Meghan (who I barely consider to be royals anymore).

    Small chance she’s an evil, conniving, power hungry stepmother who is desperate to be queen, but if so, they are doing a good job of hiding it. And I don’t think they are generally very good at that. Cheers!

    • Tessa says:

      I don’t think she’s a caring person, she’s out for herself, like Charles is. I think the terms of what would happen when Charles becomes King were legally worked out ages ago.

    • notasugarhere says:

      That’s how she strikes me, lululu. She isn’t someone who is awed by the monarchy, but it is a job she (reluctantly) took on after much pressure. She’s found her spot in it, and doing her role well, she gets to spend a lot of time with her kids and grandkids away from the spotlight and royal family.

  28. poptop says:

    Penny Junor WOULD be part of a puff piece on Camilla, as she’s been pro-Charles forever, and has always trashed Diana. The way she would talk about Diana’s figure, behavior, bulimia, mental health, upbringing was virtually always negative and frequently bordered on cruel. And she’s only doubled down on it when asked to reflect on those choices.

  29. SomeChick says:

    she’s serving up Sally Jesse Raphael vibes with those red glasses and her hair!