Sleeping in separate beds, public spats with family members — even rumors of divorce! These
are just a few of the reasons why King Charles III and Queen Camilla may soon be calling it quits.
Camilla and Charles's unconventional love story might seem like a strength to some. However,
their unusual beginning could also be regarded as a weakness. For decades,
the couple did not build their relationship as a conventional partnership. Instead,
they enjoyed all the adrenaline of sneaking off together and hiding their trysts from the world.
Because of this, when Charles and Camilla did eventually get married,
things supposedly started to cool off. As someone close to Camilla remarked to the Daily Mail,
"When a woman's been a man's mistress for thirty years and then marries him,
the relationship is bound to change."
Apparently, this transition has particularly impacted the duo's physical interactions,
with the anonymous insider adding,
"There's a certain electricity about sex between
lovers which is bound to dissipate after several years of marriage."
Of course, it is worth noting that said source also told the
Daily Mail that the couple still loves each other.
"She's dedicated to the monarchy and she's made Charles a very happy man."
That being said, Charles and Camilla's marriage is not free of the many ghosts of their past.
The queen consort is believed to be extremely jealous of other women. According to at least
one royal expert, Camilla worries that Charles will cheat on her as he did with
Princess Diana. Writing for Vanity Fair, royal correspondent Penny Junor explained,
"She is wary of women who [fawn over] her husband,
who flatter him and laugh before he has even made a joke."
The honeymoon phase of a relationship doesn't last forever. At least, that seems to have been the
case for Charles and Camilla. Sometime around the couple's eight-year marriage anniversary,
the duo headed to Scotland, where they went on a romantic walk near Loch Muick. Unfortunately,
this outing resulted in injury. As the couple's former spokesperson told The Guardian,
"Her Royal Highness had an x-ray which showed a twisted fracture of
the fibula. [...] Her Royal Highness is wearing a plaster cast and will be for
six weeks. She has been advised not to put weight on her leg."
In light of this situation, it seems Charles did not exactly step up. Rather than putting
in the time and effort to care for his wife, the future king conveyed that he was sick of tending
to Camilla's physical needs. Speaking with the Daily Mail, a friend of the couple divulged,
"Charles was brilliant with her at first, but he's never been very good at looking after others."
Apparently, when one of Charles' acquaintances asked him how his wife's recovery was going,
the king-to-be was apparently annoyed by her current state.
They say that a marriage is not just the joining of two people — it is also the joining of two
families. However, when it comes to Camilla and Charles's relationship, that old saying is not
exactly true. According to various reports, one of the biggest stressors in their marriage has
been the fact that they apparently don't get along well with every member of each other's families.
On top of rumors that Camilla has long had a feud with Prince Harry,
it is understood that the queen consort does not feel fully comfortable embracing the
royal family's unique traditions. Neither the intensity nor the ceremoniousness of
royal life have been natural for her. As an insider told the Daily Mail,
"She finds the formality [at Highgrove House] rather claustrophobic, especially
with all the servants. There are so many of them,
and it's all so polished that it's rather like living in a museum."
Charles, meanwhile, has been said to have a difficult time dealing with
Camilla's many grandchildren. Speaking to the Daily Mail, a royal aide noted,
"Camilla absolutely adores having her grandchildren around her and is always talking
about them, but Charles simply cannot stand the noise and mess that small children make."
Rumor has it that Charles' attitude has not been easy for Camilla to accept,
as the queen consort loves helping her daughter take care of the three little ones.
On April 9, 2021, Charles's beloved father, Prince Philip, died at Windsor Castle.
"My dear papa, was a, was a very special person."
Following this tragic loss, many people expected Camilla to step up and support
her husband in his grief. As one royal insider told the Australian tabloid New Idea,
"Most would think Camilla, who stands to be the queen consort one day,
would be very much beside him for that."
If the rumors are to be believed, it appears this did not exactly happen. Per the outlet's reports,
Charles and Camilla did not spend the week leading up to Philip's funeral
in each other's company. Instead, the couple decided to stay a few days apart, with Camilla
choosing to remain in the countryside, while Charles was left to grieve alone in London.
Later, on the day of Philip's burial, Charles and Camilla arrived at the event separately.
Afterwards, they parted ways once more. The future king set off to Wales, where he spent some time
contemplating the impact his father had on the Commonwealth. Camilla, meanwhile, stayed behind.
Overall, this sequence of events puts into question the overall state of Charles and
Camilla's marriage. Rather than sticking together in the tough times, the pair
seemed to crumble under pressure. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and William, Prince of Wales,
also steered clear of their dad during this tough moment. Speaking to New Idea, an insider said,
"Charles can't help but feel like he's been dumped by his entire family in his hour of need."
Although it might sound odd for Charles and Camilla to lead such separate lives,
there is a reason that the pair spend such little time together,
as they essentially live in two different residences. While Charles splits the majority
of his time between Clarence House and Highgrove House, Camilla prefers to stay
at her own private residence, known as Ray Mill House. As a friend of Camilla's told the Mirror,
"The [king] hardly ever stays and she's secretly delighted. She dotes on her
grandchildren and is never happier than when she entertains them there."
Interestingly, however, Camilla did not originally intend to use Ray
Mill House as a way to take breaks from her royal husband. In fact,
the queen consort purchased the property in the mid-1990s — long before she married
Charles — as a way to establish a sense of independence following her divorce from
Andrew Parker-Bowles. That being said, when it came time for Camilla and Charles to wed,
the royal bride thought that she would maintain the residence to keep a bit of non-royal normalcy
in her life. Writing for the Daily Mail, royal experts Richard Kay and Geoffrey Levy claimed,
"[Camilla] knew she would need to get away — and get
away often — from the starchy formality of the Prince's world at Highgrove."
Queen Camilla may use her residence at Ray Mill House as a royal hideaway, but that's probably not
the only reason why she spends so much time away from King Charles. Back in 2010, royal
servants and aides told the Daily Mail that the duo was constantly "bickering," raising tensions
all around them. One royal chauffeur even told the outlet that he stopped spending the night in
the Highgrove servants' quarters because Charles and Camilla's fighting had grown "so unpleasant."
Perhaps as a result of all these negative interactions, it has been posited that Charles
and Camilla almost separated in 2018. Although the king and queen consort ultimately chose
to stay together, Radar claims that they almost parted ways in a "fast-track divorce." According
to the outlet, a royal insider stated that an unknown incident motivated Camilla to feel so
upset with her husband that she tried to break up with him. And, apparently, things got really
ugly between the former star-crossed lovers. The source also claimed that
Camilla "threatened to reveal" the royal family's "darkest secrets." The unnamed tipster continued,
"There are frantic talks going on behind closed doors at Buckingham
Palace, trying to negotiate some sort of face-saving compromise."
As if all the normal pressures of daily life were not enough to put a strain on their marriage,
Charles and Camilla have also struggled following the publication of Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare."
Released in January 2023, the prince's tell-all made several accusations against the couple,
particularly Camilla, whom the text referred to as an "evil stepmother."
According to Harry's account, the queen consort leaked negative stories about
him and Prince William to the press in order to gain public popularity. He wrote:
"I had complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who,
I believed, had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar. But I saw Pa's smile
and it was harder to argue with that, and harder still to deny the cause: Camilla."
The queen consort is said to be pretty upset about everything that Harry wrote about her,
making it difficult for Charles to make peace with his son. As a result,
the couple are believed to argue quite a bit about the Harry situation, with royal
expert Christopher Andersen telling Fox News that the king feels "caught in the middle."
"Unless that stops, they're not going to be able to heal."
As a result of the allegations that Harry made about Camilla in "Spare," it is understood that
the queen consort did not want the prince to be invited to the coronation. However,
despite all the bad blood between Camilla and Harry, Charles still
apparently felt that his youngest son should attend the momentous event.
"I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan."
Ultimately, Charles got his way — on May 6, 2023, the rebellious prince sat in the pews
of Westminster Abbey and watched his father become the next King of England. In the end,
though, it seems that Camilla was less than pleased to learn that her estranged stepson
was included in the festivities. As one royal insider told Radar,
"Camilla agrees with Prince William this was a spineless move,
and Charles should have banished Harry and Meghan from the kingdom instead."
Her reasoning was supposedly that excluding the Sussexes from the coronation would be a
firm but necessary stance. The source went on to add,
"She believes that Charles' decision has weakened their popularity."
Unfortunately, however, it is believed that Charles had little patience for his
wife's opinions about Harry's role in the event. According to the same inside source,
the king felt that the queen consort was being inappropriate — a sentiment that
has weighed on Charles and Camilla's marriage. As the royal source noted,
"They can't sit and have a meal without arguing."
For the most part, King Charles and Queen Camilla have managed
to keep their marital problems behind palace walls. However,
in the middle of a walkabout in Wrexham, Wales, Charles grew snippy with Camilla,
bringing their tension into the public eye. As the queen consort greeted the enthusiastic crowds,
Charles complained that his wife was taking too long. Speaking to his aides, the king asked,
"Can we try and get her back again? Please. We need to go.
I was trying to wait for her, but she goes on."
According to the body language expert Judi James,
there's a lot to pull from this brief moment. In an interview with Express, James explained,
"Proving he is still on a short fuse [...] Charles displays not
just a bad temper but also disloyalty here."
According to James, the biggest issue with Charles' frustration was
that he did not treat her like the royal woman that she is. She said to Express:
"His wife is the new queen and he is making a very public scene about her that lowers her status."
Indeed, this interaction reflected poorly on Charles and Camilla's marriage,
demonstrating a lack of self control from the king. James went on to say,
"This is one example of [irritability] that is taken too far."