Camilla Parker Bowles with her first husband. Diana is not a hindrance: amazing facts about Camilla Parker Bowles

Camilla and Prince Charles waited for their happiness for more than three decades, and no one suspected that this long-term romance would end in marriage. ABOUT love triangle many knew, but pretended that nothing was happening - each of its participants played their role very well. Most likely, Camilla would have remained in the role of a mistress, but fate had other plans. The day of Princess Diana's death marked the beginning of a new stage in the life of Charles and his longtime lover.

Meeting Camilla and Prince Charles

Camilla Shand and Prince Charles

The couple met in 1972 at a party at the Annabel's club. They were brought together by Lucia Santa Cruz, the daughter of the Chilean ambassador to Great Britain and ex-girlfriend Charles. She quickly became tired of Charles, and she passed him on to her friend Camilla Shand, who had just separated from Andrew Parker-Bowles (their relationship with the officer lasted 7 years). This casual acquaintance quickly grew into a passionate relationship. It was rumored that Camilla once invited Charles to repeat the fate of their ancestors: her great-grandmother Alice Keppel for a long time was a mistress Edward VIII, Charles's great-grandfather.

Future rivals

However, Camilla had no chance of becoming the wife of the heir to the British throne, and she understood this very well. She was not from a noble family - Camilla's father was an ordinary wine merchant. And besides, the girl was not distinguished by modesty and good behavior - she smoked, drank, and there were always crowds of men around her. If Charles had entered into such a marriage, he would have immediately lost his right to the throne.

2. The marriage of the heir to the throne and the marriage of his beloved

Wedding of Charles and Diana

A year after meeting Charles, Camilla married her longtime lover Andrew Parker-Bowles. Soon the couple has a son. There were rumors that this was Charles' child. The prince becomes a regular guest in the couple's house. Andrew did not interfere with this, knowing full well that the heir to the throne was not indifferent to his wife and these feelings were mutual. In 1979, Camilla gave birth to a daughter, and soon the woman’s romance with Charles resumed. However, Andrew himself constantly had affairs with other women, and his wife’s affair on the side did not particularly bother him.

Diana and Charles

Queen Elizabeth II, realizing that Charles had fallen under the influence of Camilla, decided to marry him. The Crown Prince was already 32 years old, and there were still no heirs, and this fact greatly worried the royal family. It was very difficult to choose a candidate, because the sexual revolution, which lasted in the 60s and 70s, did not pass without a trace. Finding a virgin, like a princess should be, was not easy even in high society. Elizabeth II chose an excellent option for her son - Diana Spencer, a 19-year-old beauty who had long been in love with the heir.

Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles on their wedding day

The future princess had heard a lot about the love of Charles and Camilla, but she naively believed that she would be able to win the heart of the heir to the throne, and their family life would be like a fairy tale. Camilla was sure that future wife her lover is a young and inexperienced fool who cannot interfere with their love.

In the summer of 1981, the wedding of Charles and Diana took place. But this did not prevent the heir to the British throne from giving his mistress a gift a couple of days before his own wedding - a bracelet with the initials G and F (these are the first letters of the lovers' secret names - Gladys and Fred). Rumor has it that both Diana and Charles offered to break off the engagement, but the royal family insisted on the marriage.

3. Charles's family life

Family idyll

Despite Princess Diana's youth and beauty, she failed to win the prince's heart. She was admired by the subjects of the British queen, the whole world loved her, but her husband was completely indifferent to her. Even when Diana gave royal family two heirs, her family life did not improve. The rival was always somewhere nearby. Camilla attended the engagement of Charles and Diana. True, her name was crossed out from the list of invitees to the wedding breakfast at the palace. And she decided to take revenge. When the couple went to Honeymoon, Camilla planted her photographs with her lover, which his wife discovered.

Royal Triangle

Diana often caught her husband talking with Camilla, and her mistress repeatedly made it clear legal wife that is aware of everything, even the most intimate details family life royal couple. In the late 1980s, Diana allowed herself to have an affair on the side. Her marriage to Charles becomes clean water formality, but the war between women continues. In the early 1990s, the book “Diana. A true story,” in which, according to the princess, the relationship between Charles and Camilla was described throughout the family life of the royal family. In 1992, it became known that Diana and Charles were no longer together, and in 1996 their marriage was officially dissolved.

Camilla and Charles

Elizabeth II blessed Charles and Camilla

Very little time has passed since the death of Princess Diana in 1997, and Charles begins to take official receptions Camilla as part of his retinue. He probably wanted the public to get used to it and was preparing public opinion. The prince fully provided for his beloved, and in 2003 the topic of legal marriage was raised for the first time. In 2005, Elizabeth II blessed Charles and Camilla, and the wedding took place. After the marriage, the woman received all the titles that Diana had. But either as a sign of respect for the deceased, or for some other reason, Camilla does not use the title “Princess of Wales”.

Naughty Parker

Time passed, and people came to terms with Prince Charles's new wife. Unlike Diana, Camilla stays away from her husband in public and tries not to attract attention to herself, highlighting her husband.

The cold wind and rain increased a hundredfold...

It would seem that the 35-year-old waiting story ended with a happy ending, if not for one thing. Recently, the English media caused a stir - after 10 years of marriage, the Duchess of Cornwall is demanding a divorce and $360 million in compensation from Charles. Otherwise, Camilla threatens to bring all the skeletons out of the closets into the light of day. Buckingham Palace. Is it really possible that the most turbulent romance in the history of the British monarchy will end so ingloriously?

How can I still distort the facts! For many years, Camilla Parker Bowles was considered a dishonest, worthless woman who destroyed the marriage of Prince Charles and his wife Diana. I read a book written by Diana, as soon as she did not shower her rival Camilla with any harsh words she spoke to her! It is, of course, understandable: Camilla is a secret lover, and such persons a priori cannot be angels. Diana - legal wife, but does this mean that the truth can only be on the side of the dead princess?

20 years after Diana’s death, Camilla spoke to the press, she was tired of being constantly accused of something, idolizing Diana and considering only his secret lover to be involved in the collapse of Charles’s first marriage. Did Camilla make Diana's happiness impossible? If it weren’t for her, would the couple still be together? No matter how it was, the husband and wife were completely incompatible, there was nothing in common between them: the gap in intellectual development, education, worldview, age difference of 12 years, dissimilarity of interests and temperaments.

Diana Spencer was a rather eccentric and selfish person, she very often had nervous breakdowns, she was terrible in a rage - she broke and destroyed everything in her path, injured herself, in addition, she suffered from bouts of bulimia: initially she consumed all the food that found nearby, and then caused herself to vomit. With what ecstasy in her book Diana tells how she hated and tormented her stepmother, although she went out of her way to please her stepdaughters, but they plotted intrigues for her and spoiled her in every possible way. Diana describes this with pride, complaining that she was deprived of the attention of her parents after the divorce and at the same time reports that she was the favorite of her father, who once even gave the capricious girl a camel for her birthday. Diana didn’t need this animal, she was just checking how important she was to her father.

Diana expected love and adoration from the prince, she always considered herself incredible, of course, it seemed to her that Charles would fall madly in love with her and forget all his previous hobbies, abandon his friends and spend all his time with her.

But Charles was 33 years old at the time of his marriage, he was already a mature personality, moreover, he sincerely wanted to improve relations with his young wife, he broke all ties with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and for five years did not start any connectionson the side, trying in every possible way to please his wife. Diana herself let it slip, from her words Charles often repeated to her in his hearts: “Well, what’s wrong NOW, Diana? What have I done wrong to you again?” This suggests that the prince really made an effort, and did not just let everything take its course.

Well, yes, there was a time when Charles sent farewell gifts to former women who meant a lot to him before his wedding (there were four such lucky women, among them Camilla Parker-Bowles). Diana found out about this and created an incredible scandal. Any self-respecting girl would be shocked by this behavior of the groom before the wedding. Diana was 20 years old, where would wisdom come from in such a young girl, who grew up without a mother from the age of six? Before the wedding, Diana tore and tore, and Charles slipped away from her into the night garden and dropped bitter tears on the neatly trimmed lawns, he was dumbfounded and puzzled. The relationship between Charles and Diana was doomed to failure, every year they did not become closer to each other, the prince needed support and he found it from his ex-lover Camilla, she became his vest on long years. There is no one to blame here, it’s an ordinary everyday story. But now, being already a 35-year-old woman, Diana wrote a book that was extremely degrading to Camilla’s dignity, in addition to the fact that the “princess of hearts” was very harsh on her appearance, she screamed on almost every page about how she hated her rival, they say, and The spots under her armpits are yellow, and she doesn’t brush her teeth, doesn’t wash, her underwear is stale, her skin is saggy, her limbs are short, her jaw is square, her face is scary. Diana took revenge on her husband well; she had 5 official lovers and 8 unofficial ones. Not at the same time, it's over. And Prince Charles still suffered one by one, next to whom he found his peace.

8 years after the death of Princess Diana, Charles and Camilla got married. Let's count, since 1973, Prince Charles and Camilla were in a relationship, there were a sufficient number of breaks, then she got married and gave birth to children, then he got married, but the lovers still did not forget about each other, and the moment came when these two again started their communication. As of this writing, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have been a couple for 45 years. In his youth, Charles was a heartbreaker, he had many affairs, and Camilla was not distinguished by chastity, but nevertheless, everything went to the conclusion that these two needed only each other’s attention and nothing more to be completely happy.

You look at these photos of Camilla, in her youth she was very pretty, then she somehow suddenly turned ugly, she really didn’t take care of herself, unlike the fashionista Diana, but after she became the wife of Prince Charles, stylists took up her appearance and again They made candy out of this granny, wrinkled by time and experience.

This photo shows Camilla Parker-Bowles with her first husband Andrew and their children together.

On the left is Camilla in her youth.

Camilla with her first husband.

Camilla Parker Bowles in her youth. Beautiful! Is not it?

This photo shows Prince Charles as a young man, with his sister Anne to his right.

According to Diana herself, Prince Charles is a wonderful father. Pictured is Charles with his son William.

This is how Prince Charles was in his youth.

In this photo, Camilla is with her daughter Laura.

On the left is little Camilla.

Camilla's daughter Laura.

Prince Charles in his youth.

April 9th ​​marks ten years since the wedding Prince Charles And Camilla Shand, better known by the name of her first husband, Parker-Bowles. The official marriage was preceded by many years of close relationships, which more than once became the reason for scandals. The couple walked down the aisle when the prince was 56 and his chosen one was 57 years old. AiF.ru remembers complicated story the love of the heir to the British throne, which, as it seemed at first, had no chance of a happy ending.

Genes take their toll

Life in a palace next to the heir to the British throne is something most girls don’t even dream of. But Camilla Shand lived with this thought for more than 30 years. Perhaps it's all due to genes, her great-grandmother Alice Keppel was a mistress King Edward VII. This fact was often discussed in the girl’s family, not without pride. According to legend, when Milla first met Charles while playing polo, she jokingly told him: “Your Highness, did you know that my great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather’s mistress? So why don’t we try it?” And Your Highness could not refuse such an obscene offer from an unfamiliar blonde. Yes, she could not be called a beauty, but she attracted men with her lightness, emancipation and cheerful disposition.

Camilla Shand and Prince Charles. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Life before the prince

Charles is not Milla's first lover. At the age of 17, her head was turned by the heir of an entrepreneur Kevin Burcom. Together, the couple partied at fashionable parties and had fun until they dropped. However, this relationship did not last long, because the girl’s attention was seriously attracted by Officer Andrew Parker-Bowles. The lovers dated for three years. All this time, Camilla was not the only hobby young man. “Kind” people often brought her information about her betrothed’s infidelities. She turned a blind eye to them until she caught Parker-Bowles red-handed. Soon after this incident, the girl met the prince.

Andrew Parker-Bowles. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Next to Milla, the closed and silent Charles literally “blossomed”. They had common interests and could chat for hours. But the prince's mother did not share her son's delight. Firstly, the girl had previously had a number of affairs, which means that after marriage her lovers could tell the press juicy details, defaming good name royal family. Secondly, Elizabeth was not satisfied with Camilla’s origins. The daughter of a wine merchant and an aristocrat is not the most best game for the future heir to the British throne. Instead of a wedding, the lovers faced separation. Charles went to serve in the navy, making it clear to Milla that the search for a worthy bride for him, initiated by the queen herself, was continuing.

Andrew and Diana

After the prince’s departure, Camilla’s former boyfriend, Andrew Parker-Bowles, appeared on the horizon. Unlike Charles, he was not bound by obligations and could easily marry his ex-lover. Moreover, after the connection with the scion of the royal family, in his eyes Milla became even more attractive than before. Either out of great resentment, or out of great love, the girl agreed to become Mrs. Parker-Bowles. There was one more important nuance that pushed her to the altar: in fact, a match with such a womanizer as Andrew gave Camilla herself a free hand. If the husband walks, then why can’t the wife allow herself the same behavior?

That's exactly what she continued to do. Even after her marriage, Milla actively communicated with Prince Charles. However, as the years passed, the heir to the throne could not remain a bachelor. The prince's parents insisted that their son start a family and give them heirs, especially since Elizabeth had by that time found a young lady suitable for her requirements - Diana Spencer. At first the prince dated her sister Sarah. But it was Diana who received the approval of her mother and, oddly enough, Camilla, who was invisibly nearby all this time.

Error

Already before entering into legal marriage, the future Princess of Wales realized that she was committing huge mistake. From the first days of their acquaintance, Charles played a double game: he proposed to one, and loved the other. The girl could not come to terms with this, just as she could not cancel the wedding. In 1981, Diana Spencer became part of the royal family. Relations between the spouses were always tense, and after the birth of their second son, they actually began to live separately from each other. Diana and the boys moved to Kensington Palace. Charles - to the Highgrove country estate. Camilla and her family immediately moved to a mansion that was “accidentally” located a ten-minute drive from the prince’s house. Officer Parker-Bowles was often away; these days Charles sat in the old broken car(so as not to attract attention) and went to his mistress. She also often visited the married heir to the throne at his estate, and at the same time behaved there like at home, not embarrassed not only by the servants, but also by Charles’s friends. Sometimes lovers had dinners, collecting small companies friends.

End of deception

Diana, like Camilla’s legal husband, knew about what was happening. But if Andrew did not pay attention to his wife’s infidelities, since he himself had a “stigma in the cannon,” then for Lady Di, constant worries resulted in bulimia and several suicide attempts. Of course, this situation could not last forever. One “beautiful” day, the press received telephone conversations between the cooing lovebirds - Camilla and Charles. 6 minutes of playful conversation excited Foggy Albion, trampling on the reputation of the heir to the throne: “In order not to part with you, I would like to live, for example, in your trousers!” - “And what would you have to turn into then?” - “...I would prefer to become a tampon.”

This short excerpt from the dialogue between Milla and the prince “rewarded” the latter with the humiliating nickname “Mr. Tampon.” The whole world laughed at Charles. Only Diana had no time for laughter. After the scandal, continue to pretend family idyll there was no strength, no sense. Camilla was the first to dissolve her marriage. Charles waited a year and a half for permission to divorce from his mother, the queen. And even having received the desired liberation from his unloved wife, he could not marry a second time overnight. He again needed his mother's permission. Diana's death in 1997 alienated the prince from marriage for several more years. In the eyes of people, Camilla was a heartless destroyer of the family and the source of all the troubles of the deceased. Not the most enviable reputation for the future wife of a prince.

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Happy ending or new divorce?

And yet, in 2000, the woman was officially presented to the Queen. Four years later, the lovers were able to move in together for the first time. But Camilla still did not have the right to accompany Charles to receptions and social events, of which there were countless numbers on the prince’s schedule. In December 2004, after much thought about the fate of his son Elizabeth II blessed him for marriage. On February 10, Charles and Camilla celebrated their engagement with a dinner party at Windsor Castle. On April 9, 2005, the couple got married. Today their official marriage marks exactly ten years. However, rumors still surround this novel. Last summer, the media reported about a possible divorce and gigantic compensation that Camilla allegedly asked for her silence about the secrets of the royal family. Despite this, there was no official confirmation of the breakup. There's no time for this yet secret romance there is every chance of becoming one of the few such stories with a happy ending.

Duchess of Cornwall Camilla became famous general public in the early 90s, thanks to an extramarital affair love affair with the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles. This article is dedicated to her life story.

Duchess of Cornwall Camilla: who is she (origin)

The current wife of Prince Charles comes from a noble family, one step below the peerage. Her father, Bruce Shand, rose to the rank of major in the British Army, and her mother, Rosalind Cubitt, was a baroness.

After birth eldest daughter Camilla gave birth to two more girls. The father was very sad about the lack of an heir, but he saw that his favorite Milla, thanks to her courage and self-confidence, would outshine any boy.

Childhood

Camilla Parker Bowles' journey from tomboy to duchess took almost half a century. Surely the boys, whose company she preferred to playing with girls her own age, would never have believed that Milla would one day become “Her Highness,” riding around in the queen’s landau and greeting people from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The girl liked to dress up in shorts and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and could hardly be persuaded to wear a dress for the traditional Sunday church visit.

At the age of 5, Milla Shand was sent to primary school Dumbrells, where corporal punishment was common. However, if Charles Windsor, who at the same period studied at a privileged boarding school for boys, wrote tearful letters home with complaints about teachers, then the parents did not hear a single complaint from Camilla. Moreover, she did not even allow herself to cry in front of her classmates.

At the age of 10, the girl was transferred to Queens Gate School, where she was friends mainly with the boys, taking part in all their pranks. Around this time, Milla learned that her great-grandmother Alice Keppel was an "adviser" to King Edward the Seventh. She was terribly proud of her “great-grandmother,” and asked adults for details of this “chaste” romance.

First novel

At seventeen, the future Duchess of Cornwall Camilla met Kevin Burke at her first ball. This 19-year-old Eton University student was the heir of a wealthy businessman. Although this was not welcomed in those days, the young people became lovers within a couple of days. According to Camilla, she did this out of pure curiosity to find out “what all the fuss is about.” The couple did not even hide their too “close” relationship, which shocked all their acquaintances.

First marriage

The affair with Burke did not last long, as the handsome officer Andrew Parker-Bowles appeared on the horizon for Miss Shand. He was always surrounded by girls who dreamed of getting this heartthrob as their husband. Camilla also found herself under Andrew's spell. However, this romance also turned out to be short-lived, as she found the young man in the arms of another.

Meet Charles

As already mentioned, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was not a beauty in her youth, but she knew how to attract the attention of men. They say that when she was introduced to Charles, she asked him if the prince knew about the connection between his ancestor and her great-grandmother, and also joked, suggesting that he try to follow their example. The meeting of young people took place on the initiative ex-girlfriend Prince, Lucia Santa Cruz, who was the daughter of the Chilean Ambassador in London. Shortly before this, this sultry Latina told Charles that she had found the perfect girlfriend for him, who, like him, loves fishing, hunting, horse riding and gardening.

The prince and Camilla’s romance was supported by the young man’s relative, Lord Mountbatten. He encouraged this connection in every possible way, as he dreamed of marrying the prince to his 14-year-old granddaughter in the future. According to the lord, Camilla was an ideal “temporary girl” for the heir to the throne, since she could not lay claim to his hand and heart.

Marriage

Despite Mountbatten's confidence in Charles's prudence, he nevertheless proposed to Camilla, but it did not even require the intervention of the Queen and Duke Philip to prevent this marriage from taking place. The fact is that Camilla was not going to exchange freedom for golden cage, so she refused the most eligible bachelor in Europe. Immediately after this, Charles was forced to leave on business, and Andrew Parker-Bowles, who was on a business trip in Germany, returned to London. Rumors that Camilla refused herself crown prince, made her desirable in Andrew's eyes.

In 1973, the wedding took place, which marked the beginning strange marriage, which lasted for 22 years. Charles grieved for a long time, and 6 years later, when the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, already had two children, he proposed to her again. He could not help but know that if such a wedding took place, he would be excluded from the list of heirs to the throne. After all, his grandfather’s brother once paid with the crown for his marriage to a “divorcee.” However, this did not stop the prince, who again received a refusal from his beloved, who had no intention of leaving her husband.

Lady Diana

When Charles turned 30, his parents began to insist on marriage, especially since they had an ideal bride in mind for him - Diana Spencer. The young people did not have a romance as such, especially since only Camilla reigned in Charles’s heart. Shortly before the wedding, Diana found out about what connected her fiancé and Mrs. Parker-Bowles, but she could not cancel the celebration.

After the marriage, the Princess of Wales constantly tormented herself with suspicions of her husband’s infidelity and created scandals for him. Charles, of course, found consolation from family hardships in the arms of the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, whose life story resembles a love story.

Love triangle

Many years after her second marriage, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, admitted that she considered herself guilty of the divorce of Charles and Diana. Although their marriage was officially dissolved in 1996, the couple began living separately from each other after the birth of Prince Harry. It was then that Charles moved from Kensington Palace to the Highgrove estate and, according to servants, regularly met with Camilla. The Parker-Bowles family lived 10 minutes' drive from the prince's home, and on the days when its head was away on business, the prince visited his beloved. The visits stopped only when Camilla's children came for the holidays.

Scandal

Over time, the lovers became so bold that Milla went to visit Charles to paint with watercolors and sunbathe in a bikini. The situation got out of control, as the yellow press began to write about the relationship between the prince and a married woman. Diana was not satisfied with the status of a rejected and deceived wife, so she persuaded one of the security officers to give her a recording of a very frivolous conversation between Charles and Camilla. His printout got into the press, and the prince was disgraced throughout the world. They say that he even thought about suicide. However, after much deliberation, Charles decided to admit his relationship with Camilla, which was perceived as a courageous act. As a result, the Parker-Bowles family fell apart. Moreover, Andrew got married almost immediately. Things turned out completely differently for Diana. The Queen did not give her consent to her divorce from her son for a long time. It was received only after the princess spoke about the current situation in an interview, which had the effect of a bomb exploding.

Second marriage

When Charles finally got his divorce, the future Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, finally felt that her dream of uniting with the love of her life was finally close to coming true. However, all her plans collapsed, after tragic death Diana. In the eyes of the public, Charles and Camilla were indirectly responsible for the death of the princess, who had millions of fans around the world.

Only a year and a half later, the Prince of Wales risked turning to his royal mother for permission for a second marriage. However, Elizabeth the Second stated that she did not even want to hear about “this woman.” Almost another 7 years had to pass for the queen to change her mind.

The civil wedding ceremony took place on April 9, 2005. Since then, Milla Shand has become known as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The biography of this strong woman in subsequent years is a story about a quiet family happiness, charity and participation in various official events. Most likely, her life will continue to be like this in the future.

Now you know who the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla is. The biography and family of this woman more than once became the subject of discussion in the press, but she stubbornly pursued her goal, not paying attention to public opinion.

You can have different attitudes towards Lady Camilla, but it is impossible not to admire her intelligence and ability to be the mistress of her destiny.

Few living members of the British royal family have aroused as much hatred as Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles. But no one has ever managed to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the public as successfully as she has. But it seems that the changeable fate of the Duchess of Cornwall has not yet presented her with all its surprises...

It seemed that nothing foreshadowed the problems that Camilla had at the end of last year. But 2012, the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, was marked by a real triumph for the Duchess of Cornwall.

She was finally at the top, to which she had been going for so many years. During the celebrations, Elizabeth II gave her the most honorable place in her royal landau - next to her. And the people greeted Camilla as warmly as they greeted their monarch. At the anniversary concert, Elizabeth again honored her - she allocated a seat for the Duchess of Cornwall next to her chair, hinting to everyone that from now on Camilla was her favorite. And in the same year, Elizabeth - in recognition of her services - awarded Camilla the Royal Victorian Order of the highest degree.

But it was not only about honors. Camilla managed to find a unique niche for herself in the system of informal court hierarchy.

Parker-Bowles became the link in the so-called “magnificent seven”, consisting of Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry, the Duchess Cambridge Catherine and herself. The Queen became close to Camilla after the death of her beloved sister Margaret. For William and Harry, she became a kind stepmother. For Kate, Camilla managed to become almost her best friend. In any case, it seemed so for a long time. She instructed Kate on the intricacies of court etiquette and, what was no less valuable, told her about the pitfalls in communicating with some of the queen's relatives. In addition, the Duchess of Cornwall became a “connecting bridge” that made it possible to establish mutual understanding between Elizabeth and Kate, which did not develop immediately. In short, Camilla became indispensable, that is, she decided so.

Who would have thought that Kate's pregnancy would change everything?!

From the moment the queen learned about the interesting position of William's wife, she began to treat Camilla much more coolly. And after the birth of Prince George, it seemed that she completely forgot about her existence. Now, always and everywhere, the place next to the queen belonged to Kate with the prince in her arms. And then there was talk that Elizabeth was going to bypass Charles and his wife, having achieved the transfer of the throne directly to William and his wife! And then the “iron” Camilla, who had bravely endured the vicissitudes of fate all her life, trembled and broke down. IN British press There were reports that Camilla spent most of this fall in a clinic for the treatment of alcohol addiction...

Little Milla's parents - Major Shand and Lady Rosalind - could not foresee unusual fate to his daughter, the eldest of their three children.

But they knew that their daughter’s fearlessness and willpower would be more than enough for several boys. The children always recognized Milla's right to rule in all games. She preferred to play with boys. And none of them could beat Milla either in a race or in a competition to see who could climb the tree highest. And she herself looked more like a boy. It was difficult for Milla to dress up in a dress only once a week - to go to church for Sunday service. And the rest of the time, her favorite shorts and a shirt with rolled up sleeves did not prevent her from seeing her eternally skinned elbows and broken knees. When the girl turned five years old, she was sent to a private preparatory school Dumbrells, located about five kilometers from the house.

And Milla, in any weather, accompanied by her nanny, covered this distance on foot - a considerable distance for such a little girl. She never complained that it was difficult for her, and she never asked for a ride in her father's car. At the same time, at Dumbrells, as incredible as it sounds, in the 50s they still used it on students physical punishment! The order at the school was reminiscent of the draconian education system in the boarding school, where Milla’s future chosen one, Prince Charles, once studied. But they reacted to harsh conditions differently. Vulnerable Charles wrote tearful letters home, begging to be taken away from “this terrible place.” And Camilla’s parents found out about what was happening at school only many years later, and then completely by accident.

When Milla was first whipped for some offense, the girl not only didn’t tell her parents about it, she didn’t even allow herself to cry in public! One of the classmates of the future Duchess of Cornwall said: “When the punished Milla returned to class, her lips were trembling and tears were shining in her eyes. But she pulled herself together and held back her sobs.” In such conditions, and even in classrooms that were almost not heated in winter (as the school administration claimed, solely out of concern for the health of the students), Milla lasted five years. She was transferred to Queens Gate School when she turned ten.

A worthy heir to the king's mistress

IN new school Milla quickly achieved success, becoming one of the most popular girls, although she was not the first beauty, and she was also an excellent student.

Milla's excellent abilities allowed her to become one of the best, but she did not need it at all. She already knew very well that she was smart, and she had no need to increase her self-esteem with the help of grades. It was much more interesting to go out onto the school roof with the boys to smoke - which, of course, was strictly prohibited. Or tell her favorite family legend for the thousandth time to her admiring and slightly shocked classmates.

Milla was proud of the fact that she happened to become the great-granddaughter of Alice Keppel, the mistress of King Edward VII, and dreamed of becoming like Alice. Even when the girl was very little, she, sitting on her mother’s lap, begged her to tell the story of “great-grandmother Alice” one more time.

And Lady Rosalind again began to retell the family legend about how the king's maid of honor became not only his great love(the word “mistress,” of course, was not for children’s ears), but also an adviser in all matters. Edward showered her with jewelry, and at court she enjoyed such honor and respect that when the king died, the legitimate wife of the monarch demanded that Alice be sent for. The king's wife considered it unthinkable that her husband would pass away without saying goodbye to Keppel...

True, the mother risked telling Mrs. Keppel’s favorite joke to her daughter only when Milla became an adult. “What exactly are your responsibilities as a maid of honor?” - one of the new courtiers, who had not yet been enlightened about her special relationship with the monarch, once asked Alice.

“First of all, when meeting the king,” Alice began seriously, “I should make a deep curtsey... And then quickly jump into his bed!” - Keppel finished with a laugh. Milla fully inherited her great-grandmother's peculiar sense of humor. “Your Highness, do you know that my great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather’s mistress? So why don’t we try it!” - with this phrase, according to legend, 23-year-old Milla addressed 22-year-old Charles at their first meeting. And it was none other than Charles’s ex-girlfriend, Lucia Santa Cruz, the daughter of the Chilean ambassador in London, who brought them together. “I want to introduce you to a great girl, it’s as if she was specially created for you!” - Lucia said that day.

Senorita Santa Cruz had no idea how prophetic her words would be. Camilla adored everything Charles liked: fishing, hunting, horses, dogs, with which her house was always full. She loved to tinker in the garden no less than Charles. Milla always knew how to tell something interesting and funny to make Charles laugh. And most importantly, she knew how to listen and empathize, that is, she had the talent that the prince needed most. After all, Charles, the son of a busy mother, Queen Elizabeth, and an overly strict Prince Philip with his son, suffered from loneliness and misunderstanding. He could never forget how in childhood, even on his birthday, his parents often did not find time to be with their son. Camilla was always ready to change her plans for his sake and was on his side in all troubles.

Sexual revolution

Charles was not Camilla's first boyfriend. When she was just seventeen, she met 19-year-old Eton student and entrepreneurial heir Kevin Burke. This happened at her first ball, where Milla, according to tradition, was introduced to high society as a debutante. And just a couple of days later, according to the author of the book “Camilla: her real story» Caroline Graham, Milla and Kevin became lovers. It wasn't that Miss Shand was crazy about Kevin. She liked him, of course. First of all, she wanted to satisfy her curiosity. “I would like to know what all the fuss is about (she meant sex) and whether you can really enjoy it?” - Milla admitted shortly before the “historical” event to her friend (and she, in turn, told Caroline about it

Graham).

Camilla was pleased with the result of the experiment, and Burke was simply delighted with the girl. “We had such a good time together! Milla could hardly be called a beauty, but she was so cheerful, attractive and sexy! - Kevin still can’t forget. - We drove around everywhere in my bright yellow car, Milla gave it a funny nickname - Egg. We moved from one party to another, and so on until the morning...” Milla did not even think about hiding her relationship with Kevin. On the contrary, she was heartily amused if one of the friends who dropped in on Burke on Saturday morning caught her “grand entrance” when she appeared in the kitchen, dressed only in Kevin’s shirt, and sat down on its owner’s lap... The idyll ended suddenly. "I thought we had real love, and she left me...” - Burke admitted bitterly.

The reason for the sudden collapse of Kevin's relationship with Milla was that Miss Shand had fallen in love. At least that's what she thought at the time. Her imagination was captured by the brilliant officer Andrew Parker-Bowles. She met him at one of the social events. Handsome Andrew, among others, turned out to be partial to Miss Shand's charms. The problem was that Parker-Bowles was extremely popular and never dated just one girl. During the three years that Milla was Andrew's girlfriend, she suspected that she had "understudies." And then one day, appearing unannounced in Andrew’s apartment, she discovered an unfamiliar girl in his bedroom. Milla didn't make a scene - that wasn't her style. All that Camilla allowed herself was to ask, without hiding her contempt: “Couldn’t you find someone better than this cheap girl?”

And then she turned around and left... Soon after that, she met Charles.

Temporary girlfriend for the prince

Charles's friends were amazed at how the prince changed shortly after he started dating Camilla. Insecure and suffering from bouts of depression, he suddenly turned into a cheerful young man. “Camilla showed him the bright side of life, showed him that you can enjoy every moment!” - said one of the prince’s friends. They often appeared together in London nightclubs, where they danced hugging each other, not caring at all about being looked at, and often visited Lord Mountbatten's Broadlands estate together.

Since childhood, Charles had a much more cordial relationship with Lord Mountbatten, a relative on his father’s side, than with his own father. When Charles introduced Camilla to the lord, he approved of the prince's new girlfriend and invited them to his place almost every weekend. He provided the lovers with a room called the Portico Room. True, only Camilla was officially placed there. But this was a pure formality - after all, the rooms of Camilla and Charles were connected by an internal door. And one of the beds, according to the servants, remained unmade... Charles and Camilla were extremely grateful to the lord for his hospitality. However, as it turned out later, Mountbatten’s behavior was not completely disinterested. He planned to marry Charles in the future to his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull. But at that time she was only 14 years old, and the lord believed that Camilla was just the woman who could keep the prince busy until Amanda came of age and at the same time keep him from risky adventures...

But Charles at that time knew nothing about the lord's plans.

It was at Mountbatten's estate that Charles, as one of his friends said, proposed to Camilla for the first time. But Milla rejected him: “I love you, but I won’t marry you. I don’t want to live in a golden cage!” Life in the palace did not appeal to her at all. And soon Charles had to leave England for almost six months - the prince, who had completed a course in naval college, called up for service in the navy.

The prince's departure coincided with the return to London of Andrew Parker-Bowles, who had served for several years in Germany.

Friends, of course, told Andrew about his affair ex-girlfriend with Charles. New " social status"made Camilla unusually attractive in the eyes of Parker-Bowles, and he attacked her with his advances with such pressure that Camilla could not resist. After all, she considered Andrew her first love. In addition, Milla hoped that she could build a free from conventions, open marriage with him, in which they would both be happy. Therefore, after hesitating a little, she accepted Parker-Bowles’s offer to become his wife. Charles learned of his beloved's engagement when his ship was far out to sea. According to fellow officers, he locked himself in his cabin, and when he finally came out, his eyes were red and swollen, as if he had been sobbing inconsolably all this time...

However, Charles was not going to give up on Camilla. He continued to bombard her with letters full of vows to eternal love, and never parted with her photograph. After the death of Lord Mountbatten, who died in 1979 as a result of an assassination attempt by Irish terrorists, Charles proposed to Camilla again. But she refused him again! Camilla loved Charles, but at that time she did not even think about leaving her husband and abandoning her children...

Meanwhile, Charles had already celebrated his 30th birthday, and his parents - Elizabeth and Prince Philip - insisted that he choose a suitable bride for himself and finally secure the dynasty with a legitimate heir. By an unfortunate coincidence, Diana fell in love with two women whose opinions Charles valued most.

The Queen Mother promoted her candidacy because she knew Diana's family and considered the daughter of Earl Spencer a worthy choice for her grandson. And Camilla hoped that Diana would become an obedient wife for Charles and would not interfere with his enjoyment of life... Subsequently, Camilla admitted: she still cannot get rid of the feeling that responsibility for bad marriage Charles lies on it.

Already a week before the wedding, both Charles and Diana realized that they were making a “terrible mistake.” This is exactly what Charles called his upcoming wedding in a conversation with a friend just a few days before the celebration. Diana realized that Camilla is Charles' mistress and he is not going to part with her. And Charles became convinced: Diana did not suit him at all, either in character or tastes...

But it was impossible to cancel the announced wedding. All the groom could hope for was to learn over time to love the bride. However, hope was very weak. Everything turned out worse than the prince imagined in his darkest fantasies. Tormented by bulimia and jealousy of Camilla, Diana tormented herself and her husband with endless scenes. And Charles had no choice but to seek consolation from his beloved.

In Camilla's company, Charles found everything he lacked at home - support, understanding. Camilla, unlike Diana, who was not too interested in state affairs, was always ready to give Charles useful advice. She helped him write the speeches he gave at various kinds events.

And after every serious quarrel with his wife, it was Camilla who did everything to calm him down.

The prince's relationship with Diana became more and more painful for both of them. By the time he was born younger brother Prince William - Harry, Charles and his wife actually lived separately. Diana and her children moved to Kensington Palace, and Charles settled in the Highgrove country estate. Camilla and Charles, according to the servants, spent three to four days a week together. Camilla and her family had by that time moved to the Middlewick House mansion, located just a ten-minute drive from the prince's house. On Sunday evening, when Camilla's husband left for London until the next weekend, Charles went to Middlewick House in an old, broken down car - for camouflage.

Of course, if the children - Laura and Tom, who studied in boarding schools - came home, Charles's visits stopped. But when neither their husband nor their son and daughter were at home, Charles and Camilla felt completely free. According to the gardener, who shared his memories with the writer Caroline Graham, one evening he stayed at the estate longer than usual and became an involuntary witness to the picture that struck him. Through the illuminated window of the living room, on which they did not bother to draw the curtains, he noticed Charles and Camilla dancing in an embrace. And then he saw her Evening Dress slid to the floor... The embarrassed and shocked gardener hastened to retreat so as not to witness the obvious continuation of the scene.

When Camilla visited Highgrove, she felt almost full mistress. Openly, without being embarrassed by the servants, Charles and his beloved dined together. In the garden in front of the house, Camilla planted several bushes of her favorite roses and competed with Charles to see whose roses were better. She felt so at ease at the estate that one day a friend of Charles’s who dropped by there during the day found her sunbathing in the garden in a bikini swimsuit. In the same garden, Charles and Camilla spent hours painting: she shared his passion for watercolors. They even hired a teacher for themselves - the artist Neil Forster, who lived next door... And in the evenings, Camilla, like a real mistress of the house, received their mutual friends. Charles enjoyed the conversation on topics that he had missed so much during the years of marriage, because Camilla, no worse than he, knew how to keep up a conversation about painting, about “smart” books, about philosophy - in a word, about everything that Diana was not interested in.

Well-wishers reported to Charles’s legal wife about “gatherings” in Highgrove. It wasn't that she didn't care - she was still jealous of Charles and Camilla. But Diana and Charles were living by that time parallel lives. In addition, she absolutely did not want to be at the same table with Charles’s guests - she had nothing in common with them. It was not for nothing that Diana came up with a not very flattering nickname for the company gathering at the estate - “high-browed old men.”

Camilla's legal husband, Andrew, was also aware of what was happening, of course, in general outline. But he had no complaints against his wife until it came to an open scandal. After all, they had, as Camilla planned, an open marriage. While Charles enjoyed Camilla's company, Andrew was not bored either.

Among his many girlfriends were, for example, his daughter former boss and Camilla's friend. The situation looked almost like an idyll. But a scandal was brewing inside her, which almost crushed the British monarchy.

A blow to reputation

Gradually the situation began to get out of control. The most unpleasant thing was the increasingly widespread rumors about Charles's affair with Camilla, a married lady. The prince was increasingly compared to his grandfather's brother Edward - the same one who had to give up the throne because of an affair with the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. Ill-wishers hinted that the affair with Camilla was no less, if not more, unacceptable for the future king than the story of Edward...

And this was already a direct threat to the fate of the monarchy. In turn, Diana began to lose patience - her position became more and more humiliating for her. Not to mention that her status married lady didn't let her start new life. It's hard to say what Diana really wanted when she persuaded one of the security officers to plant a bug in her husband's phone and record his conversation with Camilla. She then told the officer that she wanted to put pressure on Charles in this way and return him to the family... But most likely Diana needed this recording as material evidence for a future divorce. And the further it went, the more inevitable it became. But everything would not have been so terrible if this entry had somehow not ended up in the newspapers...

January 1993 remains forever in the history of the British royal family as “black”. A printout appeared in two tabloids at once telephone conversation Prince Charles and Camilla. The conversation began with Camilla and Charles exchanging tenderness and assurances of love for a long time. And then their conversation took on a much more playful character.

Charles: I can't live without you - not even a single day! In order not to part with you, I would like to live, for example... in your trousers!

Camilla (laughing): And what would you have to turn into then?

Charles: Well, maybe... Tampax?

Camilla (laughing): Well, you're just a fool! What's an idea?

Charles: Yes, because then I might end up in the toilet...

This scandalous recording, which Caroline Graham reproduces in her book “Camilla: Her True Story,” was reprinted by fifty-three British and foreign publications around the planet. The whole world made fun of Charles.

The prince was crushed and destroyed. He was despised by everyone, and worse, a terrible blow was dealt to the reputation of the entire royal family. "You're an idiot! - Prince Philip shouted at Charles, not caring that his voice carried through the palace. - Not only are you sleeping with married woman, you still allowed yourself to be caught by this!” Friends of the prince later said that Charles was close to committing suicide. He suffered from insomnia and lost his appetite. He was afraid to appear in public after the crowd at one event greeted him with shouts of “Shame!”

Camilla saved Charles - she spent hours consoled her unlucky lover on the phone... A lot of time passed before this story was forgotten...

Camilla was no stranger to pulling Charles out of his depression. She managed to become an expert in this matter. When he broke his right arm while playing polo in 1990, it was Camilla who took him out. After several unsuccessful operations, doctors told the prince that most likely he would right hand will never become a “worker” again. Charles, exhausted from pain, felt like a helpless invalid. And if it weren’t for Camilla, he might have remained that way. She helped him with everything - dressing, eating, even cutting food on his plate. I read to him for hours to distract him from gloomy thoughts, and forced him to do exercises.

And, contrary to the doctors' expectations, Camilla's perseverance was rewarded - after a few months, Charles fully recovered...

The scandal that erupted after the publication of a recording of a conversation between two lovebirds was just the beginning of an avalanche of troubles that befell the British royal family. To begin with, Charles again indulged in an act that shocked Elizabeth. The Prince, after consulting with Camilla, decided to publicly acknowledge their relationship! To pretend further, after the publication of the scandalous recording, would, as he decided, be undignified. It was a desperate act, because never before had any member of the royal family, except for the abdicated Edward VIII, spoken publicly about their problems in their personal lives.

However, the difficult decision for the prince and Camilla bore fruit. According to surveys conducted by journalists, sympathy for Charles after his well-structured (of course, not without the help of Camilla) appearances on television increased sharply.

For Camilla, Charles' interview meant the end of her marriage. The scandal became truly public, and her husband decided that it was time to dot the i’s. They divorced relatively amicably, and Andrew soon remarried. Charles had to wait another year and a half for freedom. The Queen could not bring herself to grant permission for the divorce, fearing a constitutional crisis. And without Diana’s help, the situation could drag on for an unbearably long time. But after the princess, following Charles, in an interview with journalist Martin Bashir told her version of the story of the collapse of her marriage with the prince from the television screen, the queen was forced to allow the divorce.

Camilla has never looked as happy as she did at her 50th birthday party hosted by Charles in July 1997.

More than one and a half hundred guests gathered at Highgrove admired the rejuvenated and prettier Camilla and the radiant prince, who did not leave his beloved. It seemed that finally nothing was stopping Charles from being legally married to his chosen one, something he had been dreaming about for more than a quarter of a century! All that remained was to convince the queen to agree to her son’s remarriage. The terrible news of Diana's death in August of the same year, 1997, crossed out all their plans...

The main woman in his life

Shocked Charles recovered peace of mind- at least partially - only 18 months later. All this time he tormented himself with belated remorse. After all, if he had not divorced Diana, who knows, maybe she would still be alive... And Camilla again consoled him, convincing him that such was the fate of the princess. More than a year he met with his beloved in the deepest secrecy, fearing public opinion. And all this time he did not even dare to think about talking to his mother about marrying Camilla. Finally Charles made up his mind. “I don’t even want to hear about this woman!” - the queen said then. But the prince was no less stubborn than his mother. "Camilla - main woman in my life, and it’s not even discussed!” - he answered. Charles knew that he and his beloved had enough

Wait patiently for Elizabeth to give in...

Later, the Queen admitted that she would never have given her son permission to marry if society had been as hostile towards Camilla as it was after Diana’s death.

She received hundreds of threatening letters - they were sent to her by those who blamed Camilla for Diana's death. The future Duchess of Cornwall then had to double the security of the estate and not appear in public without a couple of bodyguards.

Charles, along with his assistants, and Camilla herself, had to work hard for the public’s attitude towards her to begin to change. It is unlikely that anyone else, except Diana, gave as much time to charity as Camilla. What did she not do!

Society for the Fight against Osteoporosis, of which she became the chief and main sponsor; Association of Widows of Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; working with the homeless and orphans. She accompanied Charles on every tour. Even when Camilla broke her leg, she did not miss the award ceremony for hero soldiers who returned from hot spots. Camilla arrived at the awards ceremony in wheelchair! Working to improve her image, she began to follow fashion; at Charles’ request, she began visiting a cosmetologist... And gradually the attitude towards her changed. In any case, when her wedding to Charles was announced in 2005, it did not cause, as previously feared, an explosion of indignation. The British accepted her as the wife of the heir to the throne...

And now, after the birth of Prince George and undeserved disgrace, Camilla, it seems, will have to start all over again. To win the attention of the public, to regain the sympathy of the queen. But will she have enough strength for this? And if not, she will only have to live out her life quietly on a country estate, occasionally bringing into the world Charles’ gifts. He presented her with all the jewelry that had once belonged to Alice Keppel that he could find. And, admiring them, remember your difficult life...