Prince Charles' marriage to Princess Diana publicly fell apart.
So what did Prince Charles' mom think of her son's affair, and the woman at the center of it all?
Here's the truth about Queen Elizabeth's relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles.
It's always a bit tough when your family doesn't warm up to the person you're romantically
involved with, a situation that a lot of us have probably been in.
But what if your mom literally refused to even acknowledge your significant other?
That's pretty brutal, but that's what happened between Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla Parker Bowles.
According to the BBC,
"Mrs Parker Bowles has been a dark figure on the Royal scene since Diana blamed her
friendship with the prince for the failure of their marriage.
[...] The Queen is reported to have refused even to acknowledge her existence."
"I don't know her."
Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family are known for keeping their personal
problems to themselves.
As such, they're fairly tight-lipped in public and rarely give insight into their actual feelings.
However, after a couple of cocktails, the queen reportedly spoke her mind about Camilla
Parker Bowles, and Prince Charles was said to have heard the whole thing.
Journalist Tom Bower claimed in his book "Rebel Prince: The Power and Passion and Defiance
of Prince Charles" that the heir to the throne spoke with the queen about her lack of enthusiasm
when it came to inviting Camilla into the family.
The queen had allegedly downed a couple of martinis when she revealed to Charles, per Bower,
"She would not condone his adultery, nor forgive Camilla for not leaving Charles alone to allow
his marriage to recover."
Then, according to Bower, the Queen said of Camilla,
"That wicked woman [...] I want nothing to do with her."
"I pulled these two off each other."
Camilla Parker Bowles has had a long road to win public approval following her affair
with Prince Charles.
Privately, the story seems to have gone down in a rather similar fashion as well.
Following the death of Princess Diana in 1997, Prince Charles stayed in a relationship with
his longtime lover for a number of years until it became apparent that the only solution
was to marry her.
According to Vanity Fair, Prince Charles knew his reputation had suffered on account of
the affair and his subsequent treatment of his former wife.
The Express cited royal experts who claim that, upon Camilla's arrival into the royal
circle, Queen Elizabeth saw her as a possible liability to the throne.
As reported by Vanity Fair, Sir Michael Peat came to Buckingham Palace in 2002 to occupy
the role of Prince Charles' private secretary.
But instead of keeping tabs on Charles' schedule and organizing his appearances, Peat was allegedly
introduced by the queen to help break Charles and Camilla up.
What the queen probably didn't bank on, however, was that Peat quickly took Charles' side and
was supportive of Charles and Camilla's relationship.
However, Peat also expressed to Charles that he couldn't keep going around town with Camilla
as an unmarried man.
As such, Charles took the plunge and pursued his marital union with Camilla, much to the
reported dismay of his mother.
If we've established anything, it's that Queen Elizabeth initially did not like Camilla Parker Bowles.
Despite the very obvious affection that Camilla had for Charles and vice versa, it probably
wouldn't surprise you to learn that the queen was not the only family member who disapproved of Camilla.
According to Marie Claire, Lord Mountbatten, Charles' uncle, wrote a letter to the heir and said,
"It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage."
If one thing is for sure, it's that Camilla was not a fan favorite.
Camilla Parker Bowles met Prince Charles in 1970, according to The Independent.
The two shared a deep friendship, as well as an on-again, off-again romantic relationship,
interwoven with their marriages to other people.
But even when Charles made it apparent that he'd be pursuing a relationship with Camilla
after his divorce from Princess Diana, it took until 2000 for Queen Elizabeth to finally
be willing to meet the future Duchess of Cornwall.
As noted by the BBC, the queen agreed to formally meet Camilla during the former king of Greece's
60th birthday party, at which members of the royal family were in attendance.
King Constantine of Greece held the party at Charles' home in Gloucestershire, and it
was there that the queen was finally willing to sit down with the woman who, in her mind,
had caused so many problems for the royals.
As the BBC reported at the time,
"Charles, Camilla and the Queen are believed to have sat at the same table and so ended
a much-publicized stand-off since the prince divorced his wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales."
Before Queen Elizabeth and Camilla Parker Bowles came face to face, Elizabeth reportedly
refused to be in the same room as her.
The queen was in fact so adamant about it that she apparently chose to miss Prince Charles'
50th birthday party solely because Camilla was in attendance.
As you can imagine, Charles was reportedly very upset by his mother's stance, but it
certainly seems as though she was unwilling to budge.
Per the BBC,
"The Queen's persistent reluctance to formally acknowledge her son's companion was because
of the problems the relationship could create for the monarchy.
[...] The Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England which has strict laws
on the remarriage of divorcees such as Mrs Parker Bowles."
It can't be a good thing when your future in-laws refuse to come to your wedding, but
that was the situation that Camilla Parker Bowles was in when she married Prince Charles in 2005.
There was a lot of speculation as to why Queen Elizabeth refused to attend the wedding ceremony.
Instead, the queen insisted that she didn't attend the wedding because it would have been
incompatible with her position as the head of the Church of England.
According to The Telegraph, the queen told a friend,
"I am not able to go.
I do not feel that my position [...] permits it."
However, for a good period of time, it was reported that the queen was embarrassed over
the wedding, as it couldn't be held in a church given that both Charles and Camilla had previously been married.
Queen Elizabeth blamed her lack of presence at Camilla Parker Bowles' wedding on religious
reasons, but it appears as though there was some angsty tension between the two as Camilla
and Prince Charles' nuptials approached.
Journalist Tom Bower claimed in his book "Rebel Prince: The Power and Passion and Defiance
of Prince Charles" that Camilla was not extended invites to events from the queen, and it all
feels a little personal.
As noted by the Daily Mail, in a move that seems fairly harsh, the queen also indicated,
"[T]here was very little special Welsh gold left to make Camilla's wedding ring."
According to Great British Life, a special type of Welsh gold has been used to create
royal wedding bands since 1911.
So the fact that the queen didn't want Camilla to have any of the family's gold speaks volumes.
A lot of the tension between Camilla Parker Bowles and Queen Elizabeth begs the question,
why didn't Prince Charles just marry Camilla in the first place?
That certainly would've saved everyone from a lot of drama, and Princess Diana would've
been spared from a marriage that was not in her favor.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
But according to The Sun, when Charles first dated Camilla, she was seen by the queen and
Prince Philip as "unmarriageable," and was reportedly banned from meeting the monarch.
Royal biographer Christopher Wilson said,
"The queen and Prince Philip knew everything about Prince Charles' relationship with Camilla;
the Queen said I will not have that woman in my presence."
As Camilla had dated other men before her relationship with Charles, the queen reportedly
saw her as sordid, and not at all the type of woman who could become a ruler.
Judgemental much?
"I've come to the conclusion that really it would've been far easier to have had two wives."
Things have been pretty rough for Camilla Parker Bowles and Queen Elizabeth.
However, during Camilla and Charles' wedding celebration, the queen apparently used the
occasion as an opportunity to dispel the rumors of animosity between her and the new Duchess of Cornwall.
When it was Elizabeth's turn to speak, she gave some rather touching remarks.
Per Vanity Fair, the Queen said,
"I'm very proud and wish them well.
My son is home and dry with the woman he loves."
There are some truths that even the royal family can't hide, and a lot of what we know
about the dynamic between Queen Elizabeth and Camilla Parker Bowles comes from their
shared body language.
As recently as December 2020, the queen and Camilla have unknowingly provided some insight
into their relationship, and it's all due to how they interact with one another.
As noted by Express, the royal family's Christmas 2020 reunion, which was the first time they
had been in public together since the start of the pandemic, provided an opportunity to
observe Elizabeth and Camilla together.
According to body language expert Judi James,
"Camilla's 'awkward' stance was a stark contrast to the 'confident' queen."
James shared that even though the family was socially distanced, the queen exuded authority
and signaled to the world that she was still in charge.
But in a stark contrast, Camilla seemed far less comfortable during the encounter.
As James told the Express,
"The queen then actively chats to the band, engaging [Prince] Charles in the conversation
while Camilla stands back slightly, with her rigidly-placed arms suggesting an air of tension or awkwardness."
Body language really does speak volumes.
Over the years, the public tension between Camilla Parker Bowles and Queen Elizabeth
has decreased.
It's clear that the two are never going to be the best of friends, but they have been
spotted together on a number of occasions.
Of course, it helps when they get to share a common interest, and the two women just
so happen to be massive fans of all horse-related sports and events.
Elizabeth and Camilla joined each other at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2015, and
appeared to have quite a good time together.
The sighting of the two began with Camilla greeting the queen hello, with the standard
double cheek kiss and curtsy.
Both were seen engaging in what looked like very cordial and happy conversation, and they
even watched one of the queen's horses compete and place in the Novice Heavyweight Hunter contest.
It's always a bit easier to get along with someone when you can share a common interest,
so if we can issue any small piece of advice to the royal family, it's to always get the
queen and Camilla together at a horse show.
Since the royal family bows to public opinion to keep their positions secure, it makes sense
that the Queen had reservations about being connected to her son's former mistress.
Vanity Fair chronicled the intense public relations campaign that Charles and Camilla
underwent to help the public accept their eventual marriage.
In 2005, the outlet noted, Prince Charles asked Camilla to marry him after speaking
with his sons and his mother.
Of course, the debate over her new title, and how the wedding ceremony should be carried
out raged on.
Rather than taking the title Princess of Wales, which the public still associate with Princess
Diana, it was announced that Camilla would be called the Duchess of Cornwall.
Nearly 16 years later, the queen seems as friendly as ever with her daughter-in-law.
As the British people softened in their attitudes towards the duchess, it appears that the Queen followed suit.
Indeed, in March 2021, the two teamed up for a video conferencing call in which they spoke
with people on the front lines of the pandemic, thanking them for their service.
Even though the first years were rocky and uncomfortable, the Queen gave her blessing
to her son's marriage, asked Camilla to sit next to her for the Diamond Jubilee procession,
and has bestowed various honors upon her daughter-in-law throughout the years.
Today, the two seem to get along just fine as the ice has thawed around Prince Charles
and the situation with Princess Diana.
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