Camilla, Queen Consort
Camilla Rosemary Shand was born at King's College Hospital, London,
on 17 July 1947. She grew up in The Laines - an 18th-century
country house in Plumpton, East Sussex—and a three-storey house
in South Kensington, her family's second home.
Family
Her parents were British Army officer-turned-businessman
Major Bruce Shand and his wife Rosalind, the daughter of
Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe.
She has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot, and had a
younger brother, Mark Shand.
One of her maternal great-grandmothers, Alice Keppel,
was a mistress of King Edward VII from 1898 to 1910.
Camilla's mother was a housewife, while her father had various
business interests after retiring from the army. He was most notably
a partner in Block, Grey and Block, a firm of wine merchants in
South Audley Street, Mayfair, later joining Ellis, Son and Vidler
of Hastings and London.
Childhood
During her childhood, Camilla became an avid reader through the influence
of her father, who read to her frequently. She grew up with dogs and cats,
and, at a young age, learnt how to ride a pony by joining Pony Club camps,
going on to win rosettes at community gymkhanas.
Education
When she was five, Camilla was sent to Dumbrells, a co-educational school
in Ditchling village. She left Dumbrells at the age of 10 to attend
Queen's Gate School in Queen's Gate, South Kensington.
Her classmates at Queen's Gate knew her as "Milla"; her fellow pupils included
the singer Twinkle, who described her as a girl of "inner strength" exuding
"magnetism and confidence".
Camilla left Queen's Gate with one O-level in 1964; her parents did
not make her stay long enough for A-levels. Aged 16, she travelled to attend
the Mon Fertile finishing school in Tolochenaz, Switzerland.
After completing her course in Switzerland, she made her own decision and
travelled to France to study French and French literature at the
University of London Institute in Paris for six months.
A debutante
On 25 March 1965, Camilla was a debutante in London, one of 311 that year.
After moving from home, she shared a small flat in Kensington with her friend
Jane Wyndham, niece of decorator Nancy Lancaster. She later moved into a
larger flat in Belgravia, which she shared with her landlady Lady Moyra Campbell,
the daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and later with Virginia Carington,
daughter of the politician Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington.
A job
Virginia was married to Camilla's uncle Henry Cubitt from 1973 until 1979
(and in 2005 became a special aide to Camilla and Prince Charles).
Camilla worked as a secretary for a variety of firms in the West End,
and was later employed as a receptionist by the decorating firm Sibyl
Colefax & John Fowler in Mayfair.
She was reportedly fired from the job after "she came in late having
been to a dance". She became a passionate horse-rider, and frequently
attended equestrian activities. She also had a passion for painting,
which eventually led to her private tutoring with an artist, although
most of her work "ended up in the bin".
Other interests were fishing, horticulture and gardening.
Love and marriage 1
and lieutenant in the Blues and Royals through his younger brother,
Simon Parker Bowles, who worked for her father's wine firm in Mayfair.
After an on-and-off relationship for years, Andrew and Camilla's engagement
was announced in The Times in 1973.
designed by British fashion house Bellville Sassoon,and the bridesmaids
included Parker Bowles' goddaughter Lady Emma Herbert.
Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and Princess
Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
Allington and later Middlewick House in Corsham. They had two children:
Tom (born 18 December 1974), who is a godson of Prince Charles,
and Laura (born 1 January 1978).
both issued divorce proceedings on the grounds they had been living
separately for years. In July of that year, her mother Rosalind had died
from osteoporosis, and her father later described this as a "difficult time
for her".
Family Division in London.The divorce was finalised in March 1995.
A year later, Andrew Parker Bowles married Rosemary Pitman (who died in 2010)
Love and marriage 2
Parker Bowles had ended his relationship with Camilla in 1970
and was courting Princess Anne, Charles's sister.
circle and occasionally attended the same events, they had
not formally met. They became close friends and eventually
began a romantic relationship, which was well known
within their social circle. As a couple, they regularly met at polo
often played polo.
As the relationship grew more serious, Charles met Camilla's
family in Plumpton and he introduced her to some members of his
family.The relationship was put on hold after Charles
travelled overseas to join the Royal Navy in early 1973, and ended
abruptly afterward.
Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA. Charles was
grief-stricken by his death, and reportedly relied heavily on Camilla
for solace. During this period rumours began circulating,
among close friends of the Parker Bowleses and in polo-playing
communities, that they had rekindled their intimate relationship.
Reportedly, Camilla's husband approved of the affair,while he had
numerous lovers throughout their marriage. Nevertheless, Charles
soon began a relationship with Lady Diana Spencer, and
the two married in 1981.
with the publication of Diana: Her True Story in 1992, followed
by the "Camillagate" tape scandal in 1993, wherein an intimate
telephone conversation between Camilla and Charles was secretly
recorded and the transcripts were published in the tabloids. The book
and tape immediately damaged Charles's public image.
with Camilla was, and is, "non-negotiable". Charles was aware that the
relationship was receiving a lot of negative publicity, and appointed
Mark Bolland—whom he had employed in 1995 to refurbish
his own image—to enhance Camilla's public profile.
In 1999, the couple made their first public appearance together at the
Ritz Hotel in London, where they attended a birthday party; about two
hundred photographers and reporters from around the world were
there to witness them together.
engagements, and in 2001, she became president of the National
Osteoporosis Society, which first introduced her to the public.
Meeting with the Queen
relationship was made public, at the 60th birthday party of the former
King of Greece, Constantine II, in 2000.
This meeting was seen as an apparent seal of approval
by the Queen on Charles and Camilla's relationship.
the Queen invited Camilla to her Golden Jubilee celebrations
in 2002. She sat in the royal box behind the Queen for one
of the concerts at Buckingham Palace.
which she purchased in 1995, near Lacock in Wiltshire, she
then moved into Clarence House, Charles's household and
official residence since 2003.
of his official events, including a high-profile visit together
to the annual highland games in Scotland
announce their engagement and as time went by, polls conducted
in the UK showed overall support for the marriage.
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Second marriage
and the Prince of Wales were engaged; as an engagement ring,
Charles gave Camilla a diamond ring that was believed to have
been given to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,
when she gave birth to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
each side. As the future Supreme Governor of the Church of England,
the prospect of Charles marrying a divorcée was seen as controversial,
but with the consent of the Queen, the government, and the Church of England,
the couple were able to wed. The Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair,
and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offered their best
wishes in statements to the media.
a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious service of blessing
at St George's Chapel. However, to conduct a civil marriage at Windsor Castle
would oblige the venue to obtain a licence for civil marriages, which it did not have.
A condition of such a licence is that the licensed venue must be available for a
period of one year to anyone wishing to be married there, and as the royal family
did not wish to make Windsor Castle available to the public for civil marriages,
the venue was changed to the town hall at Windsor Guildhall.
to allow the Prince of Wales and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the
funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Charles and Camilla did not attend;instead, Camilla's son Tom and
Charles's son Prince William acted as witnesses to the union.
a reception was held by the Queen for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle.
Royal life
as the second highest woman in the British order of precedence (after Queen
Elizabeth II), and as typically fifth or sixth in the orders of precedence of her
other realms, following the Queen, the relevant viceroy, the Duke of Edinburgh,
and the Prince of Wales. It was revealed that the Queen altered the royal order
of precedence for private occasions, placing the duchess fourth, after the
Queen, the Princess Royal, and Princess Alexandra.
tokens of membership in the royal family; she lent her the Greville Tiara,
which previously belonged to the Queen Mother, and granted her the badge
of the Royal Family Order of Elizabeth II.
Duchess and the Prince of Wales. The couple also stay at Birkhall for holiday
events, and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire for family gatherings.
on their visit to Wales every year in the summer and for other occasions.
maintains her home Ray Mill House, in which she resided from 1995 to 2003.
Amanda MacManus, who is her chief lady-in-waiting and also her assistant
private secretary.
Prince of Wales, the Queen appointed the Duchess to the Royal Victorian Order.
situated at Poundbury village. The pub opened in 2016 and is named the Duchess of
Cornwall Inn.
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
the Garter.
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Titles
royal peer. She uses the title of Duchess of Cornwall, one of her husband's titles.
In Scotland, she uses the title of Duchess of Rothesay, from one of her husband's
Scottish titles.
Duke of Edinburgh upon the death of his father, making her the Duchess of
Edinburgh.
of her husband's highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall,
because the title Princess of Wales became strongly associated with the
previous holder of that title, Diana.
become queen consort, in accordance with English common law.
adopt the style of princess consort instead of that of a queen, but there is no legal
or historical precedent for such a title.
style from its official website.
to adopt the style of princess consort remained unchanged.
of her reign, Elizabeth II stated that it was her "sincere wish" for Camilla to be
known as queen consort upon Charles's accession to the throne.
Camilla took the title Queen.
Celebrations 🎉🥳🎉
Jubilee in 2022, Princess Charlotte looked into the handbag of Camilla,
Duchess of Cornwall.
British magazine Country Life, which Camilla, who will mark her 75th
birthday on July 17, is guest editing. Calukka claimed that she is a real
country girl.
private, although the palace has released some amazing pictures.
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