King Charles III's coronation invites were released on April 4. The invite marks Camilla's transition from Queen consort to Queen. The invitation sent out to 2,000 guests is from "King Charles III and Queen Camilla".
Tumultuous as it may be, Camilla's rise and rise from 'other woman' to Queen is an interesting tale. So, where did it all begin? Camilla Shand was born to Rosalind Cubitt and Bruce Shand. A little-known fact: Camilla is related to Alice Keppel, a mistress of Edward VII. She is also related to Thomas Cubitt, the master builder after whom so many pubs are named.
The Shands were wealthy, with homes in East Sussex and South Kensington. Camilla was educated at Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington, and then at Mon Fertile, a finishing school. Her family already had connections with the Royal family.
She met Charles at a polo match in 1970, when she was 23. The duo quickly became close and a romance blossomed. But, it was interrupted when Charles went on naval duty.
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In his absence, Camilla started dating and finally married army officer Andrew Parker-Bowles, in 1973. Reportedly, her marriage with Parker-Bowles wasn't a happy one. After her marriage, Camilla moved to Bolehyde in Wiltshire and had two children. She and Charles remained friends, though. Charles and Camilla got back together in 1979, but Charles married Diana in 1981. He chose Highgrove as his residence, which is about 10 miles away from Bolehyde.
Then came the infamous Camillagate tapes, in which, Prince Charles expressed he wished to be a 'Tampax' and 'live in her pants'! The British press transcribed the tapes in 1993 and soon after, Diana blew the lid off the thing by quoting in an interview with BBC journalist Martin Basheer that 'there were three of us in this marriage'.
Camilla and her husband divorced in 1995, and Charles and Diana divorced in 1996.
In 1997, Diana died in a car crash, and a global outpouring of grief followed.
Camilla and Charles waited until 2005 to marry in a private civil ceremony.
Thanks to the public adoration Diana garnered, Camilla was mercilessly torn apart by British tabloids for years.
It will be difficult for her to fully shake off her reputation as the third person in the marriage between Charles and Diana. Especially, since Prince Harry, in his biography titled 'Spare', recalled how he and William urged their father not to marry Camilla and accused her of trading private information about him and others to the media as part of a drive to forge friendly relationships with journalists and improve her reputation.
While it isn't clear whether these accusations are true, Camilla surely has over the years, has earned respect by keeping her head down and continuing to perfom her duties. She seems to have abided by the 'keep calm, carry on' mantra. She's won over much of the British public with her down-to-earth personality and her charitable work, notably against domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse causes. She says she will continue to support them as queen, too.
(With PTI inputs)
