Camilla Parker Bowles’ Crowning: A History-Making Moment and a Scandalous Legacy
Camilla Parker Bowles will be crowned Queen Consort alongside her husband, King Charles III, in May 2023. However, this moment has not come without its challenges. Camilla will make history for this titular moment, but not without a scandalous legacy.
Camilla’s Relationship with King Charles III evolved from friend to lovers
The relationship between Camilla Parker Bowles and King Charles III began as lovers and later turned into a secret affair. They briefly dated in the early 1970s. However, During Charles’ deployment as a member of the royal navy, Camilla wed Andrew Parker Bowles in February 1973.
In 1981, Charles announced his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer. They wed in July of that year, effectively making Diana Princess of Wales. The pair welcomed Prince William in 1982 and Prince Harry in 1984. By 1986, Charles had rekindled his not-so-quiet romance with Camilla, a relationship known by both their spouses.
However, friends and family members knew about Charles and Camilla’s affair. In late 1992, Charles and Diana separated. Secret tapes of a conversation between Camilla and Charles known as “tampon-gate” were published one year later.
In June 1994, Prince Charles admitted to his affair. According to The New York Times, he didn’t name his mistress in an interview with documentary filmmaker Jonathan Dimbleby. One year later, Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced.
In 1995, Princess Diana sat down for an interview with the BBC’s Martin Bashir. “There were three of us in this marriage. So it was a bit crowded,” the princess famously said, referencing Camilla without naming her. Charles and Diana divorced one year later. Diana died in 1997.
Charles and Camilla began appearing together in public in the late 1990s. In 2005, they were granted permission to marry by Queen Elizabeth II. Upon the queen’s death, Charles became King, and Camilla, Queen Consort. They will be crowned together, but Camilla’s ascension is making history for the wrong reasons.
Camilla’s history-making crowning is preceded by a scandalous legacy
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will be known as Queen Consort after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The title came with Queen Elizabeth II’s blessing after many years of contention, although it gives her none of the sovereign’s powers. https://t.co/7b8m2f61P8
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 9, 2022
Camilla Parker Bowles’ crowning places her in a different position than the queen consorts of the past. She will be the first divorcee to be crowned.
When she married Charles in 2005, the palace announced she would be known as “princess consort.” However, in February 2022, Queen Elizabeth released a statement ahead of her Platinum Jubilee, expressing her “sincere wish” for Camilla to be known as queen consort.
Per ABC 13, royal contribution Victoria Murphy broke down how Camilla has been “styled” to become queen consort. She explained, “Historically, the wives of kings have always technically been queen consort, which is different than a reigning queen, but they’ve still been known as the queen.”
“So the way Camilla has been styled from the beginning as queen consort. There is a difference there,” said the ABC News royal contributor.
“There was still a lot of negativity toward the relationship, and one of the sticking points was that the marriage would make her one day queen,” Murphy explained. “And so the palace came up with this totally different, lesser title: ‘princess consort,’ to shut down than argument.”
Royal insiders predict Camilla Parker Bowles will become queen after King Charles’ Coronation
Royal insiders predict Camilla Parker Bowles will become queen after the coronation of her husband, King Charles III. The title change will likely come after the ceremony, the Daily Mail cited.
This switch goes against the dictate of the late queen. A signal of an impending change came when Camilla’s charity was rebranded as the “Queen’s Reading Room” rather than the “Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room.”
“There’s a view in the Palace that Queen Consort is cumbersome, and it might be simpler for Camilla to be known just as the Queen when the time is right,” a source told the Daily Mail.
Camilla Parker Bowles and King Charles III will be crowned together on May 6, 2023. The ceremony will be held at Westminister Abbey. The British royal family website notes that a queen consort “is crowned with the king, in a similar but simpler ceremony.”
