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 Camilla Parker Bowles is the second wife of the heir to the
British throne, Prince Charles of Wales. Together with her royal spouse, Parker
Bowles, nee Shand, has automatically taken all the titles inherent to her new
status, - the Duchess of Cornwall and of Rothesay, and Princess of Wales. The
last title is almost never used in reference to Camilla in order to avoid
confusion with the title closely identified with the Prince of Wales's first
wife, the late Lady Diana. Also, Camilla will never be crowned as the Queen of
England, when her husband succeeds Her Majesty Elizabeth II, as this is against
the conventional monarchical practices (her reputation as the ultimate "the
other woman" of the British Isles will be a major inconvenience, among
other factors). However, it has been indicated that when the Prince of Wales
accedes to the throne, Camilla will remain styled as Her Royal Highness, with
the title of The Princess Consort. This title was introduced in the XVI century
by the amorous Henry VIII, and means that Camilla's offspring will not be able
to claim the crown, and the next in the line to the English throne is Prince
William of Wales.
As it turned out, the ancestors of the royal couple were
romantically involved: Alice Keppel (Camilla's great-grandmother) was a mistress
of King Edward VII (Charles' great-great-grandfather). Born in 1947, the future
Princess of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall learned of this romantic story as a
little girl: her parents, Major Bruce Shand (a British Army officer turned wine
merchant) and the Honorable Rosalind Cubitt, made sure Camilla early understood
the honor of being a royal paramour. Her parents were somehow aware that their
daughter's life will in many ways be similar to that of Alice Keppel.
The Shands were a respectable family, and very close to the
British court. From a very early age, Camilla Shand socialized with members of
Britain's royal circles, attending the fashionable Queens Gate School in South
Kensington before leaving for finishing schools in France and Switzerland. Following
her education, she worked for a year at the offices of designers Sibyl Colefax
& John Fowler. She also became an avid equestrienne and participated in fox
hunting.
In due time, Camilla was presented to the court. Though many
noted that Camilla Shand was never a dazzling beauty, men were attracted to her
like moths to flame, probably, because of the heady combination of the
brilliant mind, a sense of humor and the rare ability to be genuinely interested
in her company. In addition, Camilla's hobbies were untypically male: she liked
swimming, horseback riding, and hockey. The royal cavalry officer Andrew Parker
Bowles was among those who could not resist the charms of the feisty Camilla. However,
his advances were not returned for some time as Camilla met Charles, Prince of
Wales.
The relationship between Camilla and Prince Charles began
when they met at a polo match at Windsor Great Park in 1970. Though she became
one of the numerous girlfriends of Charles, and he was said to have wanted to
marry her, Camilla was seen by royal courtiers as an unsuitable match for the
future king. Two years later, in 1972, Charles allegedly did propose to
Camilla, but she didn't accept, and married Andrew Parker Bowles. However,
their relationship continued, and at Charles's request, Camilla Parker Bowles
helped him settle on a suitable wife, Lady Diana Spencer, whom the Prince wed
in 1981. After Charles' wedding, their liaison was discontinued only to be resumed
in three years.
The affair became public knowledge a decade later, with the
publication of Diana: Her True Story, followed by the Camillagate scandal,
wherein an intimate telephone conversation between Camilla and Charles was
secretly recorded and the transcripts published in the tabloids. With the
extra-marital relationship in the open, Diana gave an interview, in which she
blamed the relationship between Camilla and the Prince of Wales as the reason
for the breakup of her own marriage. Though Camilla kept a low profile at this
time, she became unpopular by these revelations to the point that indignant housewives
were throwing food at her to show their support of Lady Di.
However, it was confirmed by Charles that the relationship
between him and Camilla resumed during their respective marriages. Following
this, the Parker Bowleses announced their own divorce in 1995; they had been
living apart for some time, and a year later Andrew Parker Bowles married
Rosemary Pitman.
Camilla occasionally became Charles's unofficial companion
at events. This temporarily ceased at the time of Diana's death, but Camilla
and Charles were photographed in public together in 1999. Only in 2000, Camilla
was officially presented to Her Majesty the Queen. Over the years, Camilla
Parker Bowles' relationship with Prince Charles has gained acceptance from the
general public. In 2005, she married Prince Charles on April 9 in a civil
ceremony in Windsor.
Since then, the couple has become more public, and Camilla
Parker Bowles often assists her husband in fulfilling his duties as prince. She
has accompanied her husband on many trips, including on a royal visit to the
United States in 2005. She also supports his charitable efforts as well as
engages in her own social work. Parker Bowles is the patron of the National
Osteoporosis Society and a trustee of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust.
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