Whether it's soaking up some rays on the beach, or poking fun at American politicians,
sometimes King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla really are "just like us."
At first glance, King Charles III may seem quite traditional. However, in reality,
the monarch enjoys some rather unconventional New Age philosophies. Over the years, he has
dabbled in numerous controversial ideas. King Charles has undergone Jungian dream analysis,
experimented with farm life, and even embarked on a spiritual journey to the Kalahari Desert,
where he reportedly had a "vision of earthly eternity."
Unfortunately, King Charles's unusual philosophies aren't merely "quirky" — some are even dangerous.
One of the monarch's most controversial ideas relates to his apparent preference for
homeopathic remedies over modern medicine. In a 1982 edition of The New York Times,
then-Prince Charles was quoted comparing "modern medicine" to "the [Leaning] Tower of
Pisa." The same piece reported that the former prince called pharmaceuticals "frightening."
In 2004, then-Prince Charles made headlines again, thanks to his endorsement of a regimen that
claimed to treat cancer. According to a report in The Guardian, the former prince supported
a never-proven cancer regimen called Gerson Therapy, which encouraged cancer patients to forgo
chemotherapy for a juice diet. The former prince's stance on Gerson Therapy angered physicians across
the globe, as the so-called "treatment" has no evidence to back its efficacy.
While King Charles III enjoys eccentric philosophies, Camilla Queen Consort is
more interested in having a good time. And according to royal expert Ingrid Seward,
Camilla has hardly ever lacked fun. In an interview with the Channel 5 documentary Camilla
Before Charles, Seward revealed that Camilla had been the life of the party since the 1960s:
"Camilla's friends all loved her ... She was always the one at the
center of everything. She was terrific fun."
By some accounts, the future Queen Consort allowed this popularity to shine during
nights out. As royal family specialist Tom Quinn told Channel 5 in the same documentary:
"She was famously a party girl in the mid-60s."
Although the "Swinging London" of the 1960s has long disappeared, Camilla has refused to age out
of having fun. In 2004, writer Kate Mosse unknowingly bumped into Camilla in a party
venue's restroom, according to Penny Junor's book The Duchess: Camilla Parker Bowles and The Love
Affair That Rocked The Crown. As they waited for a bathroom stall to free up, the two women
had what Mosse later called "a women's locker-room moment." Camilla was, in Mosse's words, "a hoot."
At first glance, King Charles III and Camilla Queen Consort make an unusual
pairing. Nonetheless, the alternative medicine pupil and the party animal have been together for
upwards of three decades. One of the reasons for the couple's romantic success seems to
be Camilla's ability to keep King Charles on his toes. In the documentary Camilla Before Charles,
Ingrid Seward divulged some insight into the duo's initial courtship. According to Seward's account,
Camilla made King Charles nervous at the beginning of their relationship. Seward revealed:
"Charles [...] told me a wonderful story about going out with a girl, who was
obviously Camilla. [...] So, he ordered the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu. And Charles
just sort of moved his hand and knocked the whole bottle over. And he said he was so humiliated."
It's fair to say that Camilla no longer leaves her husband totally nerve-wrecked
at dinner. However, she does continue to challenge him just the right amount.
In an interview cited by Penny Junor's book The Duchess, a palace staff member
described Camilla's power over the King of England. The anonymous employee revealed:
"[Camilla] 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."
King Charles III is not the only person Camilla keeps on their toes. On the contrary,
the Queen Consort has a long history of rebelling against anything from social
norms to the authority of politicians. During her adolescence, Camilla broke the rules of
what was once considered "appropriate behavior" and smoked cigarettes.
Throughout the decades, Camilla has continued to question authority. On several occasions,
she has even mocked politicians of global importance. The Daily Mail
reports that at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow,
Scotland, Camilla overheard President Joe Biden as he "broke wind." A source told the outlet,
"[Biden's flatulence] was long
and loud and impossible to ignore [...] Camilla hasn't stopped talking about it."
This episode came just two years after Camilla poked fun at ex-President Donald Trump at a 2019
press conference. According to Harper's Bazaar, the future Queen Consort waited for Donald Trump
to turn his back before shooting a pointed wink at members of the media. Much of Twitter interpreted
this gesture as a way to comment on a joint event that some critics considered "absurd."
It's no secret that "gift giving" is one of King Charles III's love languages. Leading up
to his 1981 marriage to the late Princess Diana, then-Prince Charles sent Camilla several presents,
eventually making headlines. According to the Channel 5 documentary Charles & Di:
The Truth Behind Their Wedding, the former Prince of Wales sent Camilla a bouquet of flowers with a
card that read: "To Gladys, From Fred." Shortly after, the future king gave Camilla a gold
bracelet engraved with the initials "G" and "F." As royal expert Christopher Wilson told Channel 5,
"It was clear that this was [then-Prince] Charles's farewell present to Camilla."
Although the days of their illicit affair have ended,
King Charles and Camilla continue to enjoy their tradition of gift-giving. In 2019,
Camilla made headlines for wearing one of the then-prince's most extravagant presents. As
reported by "Express," Camilla boasted a pair of Van Cleef & Arpels earrings worth more than 33,000
British pounds. The set was reportedly made of 18-carat gold and exactly 158 diamonds.
In front of the cameras, the British royal family may seem like a cohesive unit,
behind closed doors, however, the family is fragmented. When King Charles III was growing up,
he barely had contact with his mother. As related in a piece by Time, the then-prince's first
word was not "mama" but rather "nana," a term he used to refer to his nanny. Perhaps, then, it is
natural that the former Prince of Wales did little to foster a close relationship with his sons.
In the documentary Prince Charles and Camilla:
King and Queen in Waiting?, former Royal Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter explained
the distance between the future king and his two little boys, revealing:
"Charles wasn't the ... hands-on dad that [Princess Diana] would have expected."
Despite King Charles's past shortcomings as a father, he seems to enjoy being a grandfather.
According to the BBC documentary Prince, Son, & Heir: Charles at 70,
Prince William cannot get enough of King Charles's grandfathering. Prince William told the BBC:
"I would like him to have more time with the children. When he's there, he's brilliant."
In the same documentary, Camilla agreed with Prince William's assessment, saying,
"[King Charles] reads 'Harry Potter' [to his grandkids], and he can do all
the different voices ... He will get down on his knees and crawl about with them for hours,
you know, making funny noises and laughing." Perhaps due to their relationship's rocky start,
Charles and Camilla are careful about maintaining their image as a couple. As a result,
the pair has a history of rehearsing their public appearances behind the scenes. The
most famous incident occurred in 1999 at the 50th birthday celebration of Camilla's sister, Annabel
Elliot. According to The Mirror archives, Camilla and Charles decided to use the festivities as an
excuse to make their first-ever public appearance. Thus, the duo pre-meditated every aspect of their
image and even called their plan "Operation Ritz." The 1999 Mirror article reported,
"During the planning, Charles is said to have joked,
'I am not going to hold her hand or give her a kiss.'"
Nonetheless, despite the couple's history of rehearsals, not all of their public engagements
have gone down without a glitch. One notable scandal occurred in 2017 when Charles and
Camilla were visiting Canada. While there, the duo attended an Inuit throat singing performance.
Unfortunately, the event video shows that the couple began to laugh — presumably at
the singers — in the middle of the performance. King Charles and Camilla's reactions led many
Twitter users to accuse them of disrespecting an indigenous culture. Canadian indigenous
communities have spent years asking the British crown to confront its violent colonial legacy.
King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, love expensive meals and fine jewelry. However,
that doesn't preclude the pair from basking in life's simplest pleasures. Back in the 1980s,
the paparazzi caught the couple catching some rays on board a boat. According to the Channel 5
documentary Camilla Before Charles, neither one of the pair knew that there were cameras nearby. The
documentary shows the leaked photos of the pair soaking up the sun and lounging in bathing suits.
While the days of King Charles and Camilla's seaside trysts have long passed,
the two continue to enjoy small aspects of daily life. In true royal family fashion, one of the
couple's favorite things to enjoy is a well-made alcoholic beverage. Camilla is a passionate wine
drinker who even serves as the president of the UK's Vineyard Association. The outlet also reports
that at the association's 50-year celebration, Camilla gave a speech in which she declared,
"I love wine ... [M]y father was in the wine business,
so I was brought up as a child drinking wine and water rather like the French."
As for King Charles, the rumor is that the current monarch indulges
in a daily cocktail. In an interview for the documentary The Real Windsors,
Count Tibor Kalnoki revealed the king's penchant for gin, saying,
"He likes a martini before dinner, that's for sure."