All eyes were on the Royal Family when Prince Charles married his longtime partner, Camilla
Parker Bowles, in 2005. But while she has maintained excellent royal decorum throughout
her years as Duchess of Cornwall, she has experienced the occasional snafu. These are
the most awkward Camilla moments that were caught on camera.
To many, it felt like the sky had fallen on the monarchy when Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle announced that they would be stepping back from their roles as senior royals. But
that was just the beginning. Their departure led to a rather public and brutal feud between
Harry and members of the royal family, particularly with Prince William and Prince Charles.
Not too long after the news dropped about Harry and Meghan, Camilla attended the 40th
anniversary of the Prospect Hospice Swindon. As she was leaving the event, a reporter casually
asked her if she would miss Harry and Meghan. Here's where things got awkward. Camilla paused,
smiled, and said, quote, "Course," while walking out the door.
"Will you miss Harry and Meghan?"
"Course."
Some took to Twitter to express their thoughts, with one noting that her body language told
a completely different story. Maybe she wasn't feeling too nostalgic after all.
Many of us have probably gotten into a fight with an umbrella on a windy day. And as it
turns out, even royals have to deal with frustrating moments like these.
As noted by the Daily Mail, Camilla and Prince Charles were visiting Malta, and as they stepped
off their plane, the rather blustery conditions proved totally overwhelming for Camilla and
her umbrella. As she attempted to join her husband outside, the duchess was met by a
"huge gust of wind" that basically forced her into a one-v-one with her umbrella — that
she just could not get to stay open. Luckily for her, a flight attendant offered her a
hand, and she successfully got off the plane and joined the crowd. Camilla's hair also
got a bit tussled in the wind, but she walked it off like a pro.
While on a trip to New Zealand, Charles and Camilla made a number of stops at landmark
locations, all in order to soak up the gorgeous New Zealand culture. But things didn't exactly
go to plan while they were interacting with a native reptile.
According to Sky News, the royal couple had visited an ecosanctuary in the South Island.
There, they got up close and personal with a small lizard — and by all accounts, they
seemed both enthralled and slightly repelled. But things immediately took a turn. As the
couple's attention was focused elsewhere, a bumblebee dove towards Camilla, who swatted
it away. So the bee went for Charles, who reportedly yelped.
"Oh!"
Royals might have crowns and jewels, but they're just as scared of bugs as the rest of us.
Many of us know the queen to be a small woman with colorful clothing and an incredible hat
collection. But she clearly also knows how to stand her ground. And by doing so, she
helped to create a very awkward scenario with Camilla in December of 2020. As the Express
reported, Camilla joined the queen, Charles, and other senior royals in one of their first
public appearances since the coronavirus shutdown. To an outside observer, the event looked pretty
normal, but body language expert Judi James explained that there was a lot of unspoken
tension between the monarch and Camilla.
According to James, Camilla stood in a very, quote, "awkward" stance, which was only heightened
by the queen's apparent confidence. James also noted that Queen Elizabeth spoke to the
band that was playing, as well as her family members — with one exception. James suggested,
"The Queen then actively chats to the band, engaging Charles in the conversation while
Camilla stands back slightly, with her rigidly-placed arms suggesting an air of tension or awkwardness."
Looks like we may never know what was really going on behind the scenes.
You don't have to be a fan of the royals to know that they're not the most affectionate
bunch. Take Prince Charles and Princess Diana. At their peak, people thought that they were
the picture of love and happiness — but if you look back at photos, they seem to barely
acknowledge each other's existence. While things seem to be far rosier between Camilla
and Charles, PDA is still very rare. So when a fan from Korea hugged Camilla during a royal
visit to Liverpool, the duchess appeared to be shaken up. As noted by Hello magazine,
Camilla was saying hello to the city crowd when her apparent biggest fan, Moonsun Kim,
embraced the royal. She recalled,
"I was so excited, I've never seen a member of the royal family before. […] I hope I
wasn't wrong to give her a hug."
"It's very…it's very good memory."
Camilla definitely looked pretty stiff during the interaction, but Kim revealed that the
duchess said, "Nice to meet you," after the brief embrace.
There's a lot to be said about living a highly public life. Camilla has been in the spotlight
for decades, so the cameras have captured her at her happiest and at her most miserable.
According to the Daily Star, the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in 2018 featured
what appeared to be a very down-in-the-dumps Camilla, thought to be, quote, "miserable"
and "uninterested."
"I extend a very warm Australian welcome."
Body language expert Judi James told the outlet,
"Charles and Camilla appeared at times anxious and reluctant and lacking in any youthful
bounce that could imply keenness. Unlike the current royals and the younger royals, they
tend to have the effect of making you worried rather than happier."
While it's not a caught-on-camera moment for Camilla, it is a caught-on-tape snafu — and
it caused so much buzz, it has to be mentioned. As the Mirror reported, Prince Charles and
Camilla were romantically involved long before they were single and available, and a secret
recording of one of their phone conversations was ultimately leaked — cue "Camillagate."
It was 1989; Charles and Diana were still married, and Camilla was still married to
Andrew Parker Bowles. Even so, the heir to the throne and Camilla were chatting on the
phone about — let's just say — a few very intimate subjects.
The audio recording leaked in 1993 and was published in People with the headline, "Charles
and Camilla — the tape." And it's safe to say it was more than awkward for all of those
involved.
The royal family is all about looking the part, but that typically steely demeanor may
have gone a bit far for Princess Anne. According to the Express, Anne and Camilla were pictured
together at a formal event. Body language expert Darren Stanton took a look at the interaction
and immediately pointed to the apparent awkward tension, explaining,
"Camilla's hands [show] a sign of slight anxiety and insecurity. Holding her bag, Camilla's
hand position — although taken in a single still shot — appears to be less confident
than Princess Anne."
Of course, Stanton pointed out Anne's "strong" personality as having been a factor, but the
history between the two women is also worth mentioning. An official royal biographer told
Vanity Fair that Anne and Andrew Parker Bowles — Camilla's ex-husband — actually dated
in the early '70s, possibly a factor that still contributed to the icy tension between
the two ladies.
Weddings are notoriously stressful events, and Charles and Camilla's was chock-full of
tension. First and foremost, Queen Elizabeth refused to attend the ceremony. While she
had given her formal approval for the couple to tie the knot, she did not make an appearance
at the actual wedding. While many speculated that her lack of attendance was a sign that
she didn't approve of the marriage behind closed doors, it was reported that the queen
didn't attend because she serves as the head of the Church of England and didn't want to
publicly promote divorce and remarriage.
But regarding an official portrait from the wedding day, body language pro Blanca Cobb
alleged to Geo News that Princes William and Harry, were, quote, "visibly uncomfortable"
during the wedding. William, specifically, was described as, quote, "nervous," "stiff,"
and "plastered." As for the happy couple, it's hard to say exactly how they were impacted
by all the drama, but it couldn't have been the most blissful experience.
The eagle incident
"Take a look at how amazing nature is and what nature does for us."
It was Prince Charles and Camilla vs. a bald eagle, and the photos did not disappoint.
As People reported it, the royal couple attended the Sandringham Flower Show in 2015, and came
face to face with a 4-year-old eagle named Zephyr. As the pair was engaging with Zephyr's
handler, the large bird flapped its wings and totally caught them off guard. The expressions
on both Camilla and Charles' faces were priceless, and naturally, the images went viral. Charles
clearly knew that something was bound to happen, as he reportedly turned down the chance to
hold the eagle, himself.
After the incident, the royal couple continued their stroll around the annual flower show,
bought some goods from the local vendors, and went on their way. Regarding the eagle,
a spokesman for the couple stated,
"It was less dramatic than the pictures suggest."
…We'll be the judge of that.
Camilla's entrance into the royal family wasn't a particularly graceful one. There was a lot
of drama associated with her and Prince Charles' long-lasting not-so-secret affair, so it's
no wonder that the royals were reluctant to welcome her with open arms. And as the Express
reported, just two months after Camilla and Charles wed, Charles' younger sister, Princess
Anne, seemingly tried to ice Camilla out of a conversation between her and the heir to
the British throne.
Body language expert Judi James told the outlet that Anne has looked as though she wanted
to establish a "barrier" between herself and Camilla, and it's pretty obvious that she
was successful. Of one particular moment, James said,
"There seems to be a sense of exclusion here, as Anne stands closer to her brother to apparently
push Camilla out of the small group here, even raising her arm so that her elbow forms
a barrier gesture. Both Charles and Anne look grim-faced here, rather than sociable."
Yikes. Here's hoping the relationship between the two women has warmed over time.
This weird moment just might be the icing on the Camilla cake. According to the Mirror,
the duchess was spotted with Kate Middleton and Queen Letizia of Spain, at an event in
2019. But what might have seemed like just a couple of international royals chatting
it up, was far from a harmless interaction. Later, Kate was accused of intentionally ignoring
Camilla during her conversation with Letizia, as the Duchess of Cornwall was pretty much
just left in the background of a moment between the two royals.
Camilla was caught on camera trying to engage in conversation and seemingly jump in when
she got an opportunity. At one point, Camilla even said something to Kate directly. But
Kate just carried on talking with Letizia like Camilla wasn't even there. Some people
took to social media to react, with one user posting that the scenario was, quote, "awful."
Was it awkward? 100% yes. Did Kate intentionally ignore Camilla? It's hard to say. Either way,
there was a clear third wheel.
On a different note, the Express reported that Charles and Camilla were on a trip to
Northern Ireland, paying their respects to the victims of the 1998 bombing. There, Camilla
had an umbrella, hoping to protect herself from any rain. And here's where things got
a little awkward. Charles tried to greet his wife with a kiss when she joined him at the
event, but, according to the outlet,
"[Charles] was forced to awkwardly duck under the umbrella to give Camilla a kiss."
Even worse, Charles was pretty much separated from his wife for the entire day due to the
umbrella situation.
Consider this your friendly reminder that the royal family — for as fabulous as their
lives appear to be — are still humans who make regular old slip-ups, and go on bumbling
through life like the rest of us.
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