How King Charles and Queen Camilla Celebrate Their Wedding Anniversary

King Charles and his second wife, Queen Camilla, were married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005. A Service of Prayer and Dedication at St. George’s Chapel followed. Now, as the pair mark their 21st wedding anniversary, someone who worked for the couple for several years is sharing that they will likely to mark the occasion this year just how they did in years past.

Jack Stooks is a British horticultural expert and was King Charles’ senior gardener at the royal’s Highgrove House estate for more than two decades. He played a key role in maintaining and developing the monarch’s vision for sustainable and organic gardening. As part of the royal family’s trusted team, he was a key part of daily life and attended King Charles’ wedding to Camilla, as well as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s celebrations. These days, Stooks shares his gardening knowledge and tips, as well as royal commentary.

Speaking on behalf of Smooth Spins, he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet, “Their anniversaries tend to be up in Birkhall near the Balmoral Estate [in Scotland]. It’s just them and if they have a few guests or family members, it’s nothing too extravagant. It might be a quiet meal.

“Birkhall is lovely. It’s steeped in history, and the king loves it, and it’s not ostentatious. It’s not a huge house, and there’s a nice drawing room. There’s a small dining room. They might even just have like a crab souffle or something completely simple.” 

Stooks added that option makes sense because the couple can’t just head out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, pointing out that “It’s not that easy that they can go and have a nice meal in a restaurant and be left alone because it’s the king and the queen. It’s so difficult. 

“The king is also quite specific about his eating pattern, and they don’t eat huge amounts as well. They’re not like these sort of people that will go and have a full on meal and a starter and a main course and the pudding. The food is not gluttenous at all. I think they would just rather have their chef prepare a really nice meal at home that they’re used to and that they enjoy.” 

The former head gardener also dished on who is the more romantic of the two: the monarch or his wife?

“The king is romantic in the sense he gave Camilla that engagement ring that was once the Queen Mother’s, and he absolutely adored everything about his grandma. There’s also that sort of romanticised idea within him of wanting things from his garden for people that he loves around him.

“For instance, when they got married in 2005, there were flowers from his garden and there were flowers from her garden used. It’s the small things he does. They’re very comfortable in each other’s company, and they sort of seem to fit so perfectly together. He obviously dotes on her, and she dotes on him.”