by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Her Majesty Queen Camilla is the second wife of King Charles III of the United Kingdom. Camilla Rosemary Shand was born at King’s College Hospital in London, England on July 17, 1947. She is the oldest of three children of Major Bruce Shand, a former British Army officer and later a wine merchant (1917-2006) and The Honorable Rosalind Cubitt (1921-1994).

Camilla was christened on November 1, 1947, at Firle Church in Lewes, Sussex, England. Her godparents were:

• The Honourable Harry Cubitt (her maternal uncle, later the 4th Baron Ashcombe)
• Major Neil Speke
• Mrs. Lombard Hobson
• Mrs. Heathcoat Amory
• Miss Vivien Mosley

Camilla’s maternal grandparents were Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Keppel. Sonia Keppel was the daughter of The Honorable George Keppel (son of William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle) and Alice Keppel (née Edmonstone, daughter of Sir William Edmonstone, 4th Baronet). Alice Keppel, Camilla’s great-grandmother, was the mistress of King Edward VII, Prince Charles’ great-great-grandfather, from 1898 until King Edward died in 1910.

Camilla, along with Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, is a descendant of King Charles II of England through one of his illegitimate children, Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, son of Charles II and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. In addition, Camilla is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sir Allan MacNab, who was Premier of the Province of Canada before Confederation in 1867.

Camilla has two younger siblings:

• Sonia Annabel Shand (born 1949), married Simon Elliot, had three children
• Mark Roland Shand (1951 – 2014), married Clio Goldsmith, had one daughter

The Shand family had two homes, The Laines, a former rectory, their country home in East Sussex and a three-story Victorian house in South Kensington, London. Camilla grew up as an avid reader, loved pets, learned to ride at an early age, and also learned to hunt. When she was five years old, Camilla started to attend Dumbrells School in Ditchling, a village in East Sussex. At the age of 10, Camilla went to Queen’s Gate School, an independent day school for girls in South Kensington, London, England, and stayed there until 1964. She then attended Mon Fertile finishing school in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. Camilla then decided to study French and French literature at the University of London Institute in Paris. In 1965, Camilla was a debutante at a party with 150 guests hosted by her parents to mark her coming out in society.

Camilla moved to her own flat in Belgravia, London, and worked as a secretary in the West End and then at Colefax & Fowler, a decorating in Mayfair, London

In 1971, Camilla and Prince Charles were introduced by Lucia Santa Cruz, their mutual friend, considered to be Charles’ first serious girlfriend. The two became friends and began dating, and eventually, Charles met Camilla’s family and Charles introduced her to some of his family. Their relationship was put on hold when Charles was serving aboard Royal Navy ships, and then it ended abruptly in 1973. Various reasons have been suggested for the breakup, but the exact reason has never been revealed.

Camilla had met Andrew Parker Bowles, a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals in the late 1960s. The two had an on-again, off-again relationship for a few years. When it broke up in 1970, Parker Bowles dated Princess Anne for a while and played on Prince Charles’ polo team. After the break-up with Prince Charles, Camilla and Andrew started dating again and their engagement was announced in 1973. They married on July 4, 1973, at the Guards Chapel at the Wellington Barracks in London. The wedding was the society wedding of the year and Princess Anne, The Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret attended. In 1995, Camilla and her husband decided to divorce, stating their divorce was amicable, and claimed it was due to different interests, which eventually led to separate lives.

Camilla and Andrew had two children:

• Thomas Henry Charles Parker Bowles (born 1974 – Charles is his godfather), married Sara Buys, had one daughter and one son
• Laura Rose Parker Bowles (born 1978), married Harry Lopes, had one daughter and twin sons

In 1981, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer and their marriage was not the fairy tale marriage it was expected to be. Within five years, the couple’s incompatibility and age difference of almost 13 years, as well as Diana’s concern about Charles’s previous girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles, became visible and was damaging to their marriage. Diana exposed Charles’s affair with Camilla in a book by Andrew Morton, Diana, Her True Story. Audiotapes showing evidence of her own extramarital affairs also surfaced. In December 1992, British Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales in Parliament. Charles and Diana divorced on August 28, 1996. Tragically, Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

In 1994, two years after the Prince and Princess of Wales had separated, Charles finally spoke about his relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles in a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby. He told Dimbleby, “Mrs. Parker Bowles is a great friend of mine…a friend for a very long time. She will continue to be a friend for a long time.” The same year Charles admitted in The Prince of Wales: A Biography written by Dimbleby that his relationship with Camilla rekindled after his marriage had irretrievably broken down in 1986.

Following both Charles and Camilla’s divorces, Charles let it be known that his relationship with Camilla was “non-negotiable.” Charles knew that the relationship was causing much negative publicity and he had Mark Bolland, his Deputy Private Secretary, work on the rehabilitation of Camilla’s image which occurred from 1999 until 2005. Camilla was occasionally seen with Charles at unofficial events, then at some public events, and then Camilla accompanied Charles on some public engagements. Camilla met the Queen at the 60th birthday party for former King Constantine II of Greece in 2000 and this meeting was seen as the Queen’s approval of the relationship. Camilla attended events related to the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. In 2003, she moved into Clarence House which had become Charles’ official residence that same year. By 2004, Camilla accompanied Charles on almost all of his official engagements.

On February 10, 2005, the couple’s engagement was announced and polls conducted in the United Kingdom showed support for the marriage. Charles and Camilla married on April 9, 2005, in a civil ceremony held at the Guildhall in Windsor. Prince William and Tom Parker Bowles, Camilla’s son, served as the witnesses to the civil wedding ceremony. Later that afternoon, a Service of Prayer and Dedication was held at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, presided over by The Archbishop of Canterbury.

• Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles

After her second marriage, Camilla automatically received the female counterparts of her husband’s titles, including Princess of Wales. However, because the title Princess of Wales is so strongly associated with the previous holder of that title, Diana, Princess of Wales, Camilla adopted the feminine form of her husband’s highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, so she was styled Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. When in Scotland, she is known as The Duchess of Rothesay.  Queen Elizabeth II granted the Duchess of Cornwall a Royal Coat of Arms soon after her marriage. In 2012, The Queen appointed the Duchess of Cornwall to the Royal Victorian Order, an honor made by the Sovereign in recognition of personal service. In 2022, The Duchess was made a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter – the most senior Order within the British Honours, given solely at the gift of the Sovereign.

As The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla traveled widely with The Prince of Wales and on her own solo engagements, meeting people from all over the world and all walks of life. Unofficial Royalty’s Susan Flantzer met the future Queen while on her first official visit to the United States with the Prince of Wales in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States in January 2007.

On February 5, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II released a Platinum Jubilee message to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The highlight of the message was her statement that when her son Charles becomes king, “Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her loyal service.” Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, Charles succeeded to the throne as King Charles III and Camilla automatically became Queen Consort in accordance with English common law. However, after the coronation of Charles and Camilla, she was known as Queen Camilla.

On October 11, 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla would be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey. Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation lasted nearly three hours and had 8,000 guests. King Charles III’s coronation was shorter, more diverse, and had fewer guests.

• Unofficial Royalty: Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla (2023)

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury crowns Queen Camilla

Camilla works with many charities as Patron or President. The links shown below are the official websites of each organization.

• • National Osteoporosis Society, President; Queen Camilla’s mother and grandmother died as a result of osteoporosis
  • Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, President, provides a supportive and caring environment for people with cancer
  • Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, President
  • Arthritis Research UK, Patron
  • Royal National Hospital For Rheumatic Diseases, Patron
  • The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, Patron
  • Trinity Hospice and Helen & Douglas House, Patron, looks after children and young adults with life-shortening conditions
  • National Literacy Trust, Patron, promotes literacy in young people
  • BookTrust, Patron, promotes literacy in young people
  • First Story, Patron, promotes literacy in young people
  • Emmaus, Patron, provides homeless people of all ages with a home, work and the chance to rebuild their self-respect
  • Barnardo’s, President, supports children who have been affected by drug misuse, disability, youth crime, mental health, sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty, and homelessness
  • Royal Voluntary Service, President, supports older people and their families
  • Moorland Mousie Trust, Patron, promotes and conserves the Exmoor Pony
  • Animal Care Trust, Patron, supports the University of Bristol Veterinary School to promote the practice, advancement and teaching of veterinary science
  • Cornwall Community Foundation, Patron
  • Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, Patron
  • Public Catalogue Foundation’s Cornish Catalogue, Patron
  • ShelterBox, President, provides emergency aid for victims of natural and other disasters anywhere in the world
  • Wilts and Berks Canal Trust, Patron
  • Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, Patron
  • Ditchling Museum, Patron
  • Fan Museum, Patron
  • Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, Patron
  • London Chamber Orchestra, Patron
  • St Johns Smith Square, Patron
  • New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, Patron
  • Theatre Royal Bath, Patron

House of Windsor Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Windsor Index
• Birth of the House of Windsor
• British Royal Weddings
• Children, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren, and Great-Great-Grandchildren of King George V
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• First Cousins of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
• History and Traditions: Windsor Weddings Part 1 – Children of King George V
• History and Traditions: Windsor Weddings Part 2 – Later Windsor Weddings
• House of Windsor Christenings
• House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and House of Windsor Burial Sites
• Line of Succession to the British Throne
• Windsor Weddings Part 1 – Children of King George V
• Windsor Weddings Part 2 – Later Windsor Weddings
• When The British Monarch Dies

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