On May 6, King Charles III will walk down the aisle at Westminster Abbey to be crowned for his coronation. He will wear the imperial state crown—composed of 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls, and 4 rubies. He will hold a bejeweled scepter and, at one point, a golden orb. By his side? Queen Camilla, adorned in full royal regalia.
A look back at the actual events that took place in Prince Charles & Camilla Parker's relationship
It’s an upcoming scene that decades ago felt not just improbable but impossible: Charles was amid a messy divorce from Princess Diana, in large part spurred on by his long-term affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. (“There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” Diana famously said.) The British media called her the most hated woman in Britain. She regularly received angry mail, and for years, the public vehemently opposed the idea of her being named queen.
In The Crown season, five, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’s controversial relationship acts as a central plot point. Wondering what is fact over fiction? Here, is a historical timeline of their relationship over the decades, from the beginning to the middle to the present day.
The Beginning: Sparks Fly—At the Wrong Time
1971: According to Penny Junor's 2018 biography, The Duchess, Prince Charles and then Camilla Shand are introduced by a mutual friend, Lucia Santa Cruz, at her apartment. “Now you two be very careful,” Santa Cruz jokes. “You got genetic antecedence.” (This was a reference to Alice Keppel, Camilla’s great-grandmother who was a mistress to Edward VII.) There is an immediate attraction between the pair, but any potential courtship is complicated by Camilla’s on-and-off relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles.
1972: Charles and Camilla first become romantically involved, with the young prince wooing her at polo matches in Windsor. They strengthen their relationship with weekends at Broadlands, the house of Charles’s uncle Louis Mountbatten. It is widely reported, however, that Camilla still harbors feelings for Andrew, who at the time is seen with other women—including Charles’s sister, Princess Anne.
1973: Prince Charles departs on a six-month tour with the royal navy. Charles and Camilla are said to have a “tearful farewell in his rooms at Buckingham Palace.” One month later, Camilla announces her engagement to Andrew. Charles pleads with her not to go through with the wedding. She does anyway.
1977: Prince Charles meets Lady Diana Spencer for the first time at Althorp House, her 1,500-acre family estate in Northamptonshire, England. At the time, he was dating her older sister Sarah, yet during this time period, it’s said that he still remains involved with Camilla.
1980: Charles and Diana cross paths at Philip de Pass’s family home in Sussex for the weekend. They have a deep conversation about the untimely death of Louis Mountbatten. “The next minute, he leapt on me, practically,” Diana said, according to the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words. “But then it sort of built up from there.”
1981: Prince Charles proposes to Diana—and they wed at St. Paul’s Cathedral six months later. Camilla is in attendance. On their honeymoon, Diana claims Charles wears cuff links that Camilla gave him and spots a photo of her in his diary.
The Middle: A Decades-Long Affair
1986: According to Prince Charles’s authorized biography, Prince of Wales by Jonathan Dimbleby, this is when Charles and Camilla’s affair began. Diana soon discovers the transgression and confronts Camilla at a birthday party in 1989. “The worst day of my life was realizing that Charles had gone back to Camilla,” she told Andrew Morton in his 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story. “And one of the bravest moments of my entire ten years of marriage was when we went to this ghastly party.” Diana recalls telling her husband’s mistress: “I know what’s going on between you and Charles, and I just want you to know that.”
Yet the affair continues and becomes an open secret. Just take a 1991 article from the Los Angeles Times with the headline: “Camilla: Always Ready to Comfort Prince Charles.” In it, the author reports that in May, Prince Charles took a trip to Tuscany without Diana. Staying at a villa 30 minutes away from him? Camilla Parker Bowles.
1992: In June, Andrew Morton publishes Diana: Her True Story—whose main source is Diana herself, who passed Morton taped interviews through an intermediary. She explosively names Camilla Parker Bowles as Charles’s mistress and details their years-long affair. In December, Diana and Charles separate.
1993: First an Australian newspaper, then a German one, then eventually the British tabloids publish a transcript of a leaked, racy 1989 telephone conversation between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. The whole affair is dubbed Camillagate: “Allegations of eavesdropping, adultery and dirty tricks flew Wednesday as Britain’s newspapers rejoiced in a sensational tape that allegedly caught Prince Charles having a smutty conversation with another man’s wife,” wrote the Associated Press on January 13, 1993.
1994: Charles admits to an affair on television. During an interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, the reporter asks the prince if he was “faithful” during his marriage. Charles replies, “Yes,” before a pause. “Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried,” he continues. Some tabloid headlines from the time? “Charles: I Cheated on Diana” and “Di Told You So.”
1995: Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles announce their divorce.
1996: Princess Diana and Prince Charles officially divorce.
1997: Princess Diana tragically dies in a Paris car crash.
Present Day: A Steady Union
1999: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles make their first public appearance together at Camilla’s sister’s birthday party. Although they do not arrive at the same time, cameras capture the couple leaving the Ritz London together.
2002: Camilla attends the Queen Mother’s funeral with Charles—signifying not only the strength of their relationship but the royal family’s growing acceptance of Camilla. Soon after, in 2003, Camilla moves in with Charles at Clarence House.
2005: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles announce their engagement in February and wed in April. She receives the title of the Duchess of Cornwall rather than the Princess of Wales. The queen does not attend their small civil ceremony but does, however, host a reception afterward at Windsor Castle.
2022: After 17 years of royal duties, Queen Elizabeth makes a statement that, upon her death, Camilla will be known as queen consort. “When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” she writes in a statement. “And it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.” This goes against public opinion, which, even in 2021, preferred Camilla to be called the lesser “princess consort” instead.
Finally, when Queen Elizabeth dies in September, Camilla becomes queen consort—51 years after she first met Prince Charles.
Article originally published in Vogue US
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