Last October 2018, the big wedding day of York's Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank was marred by controversy. The absence of Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles' wife, was seen as a huge snub, which ignited talks that seemingly confirmed she wasn't fond of the York family.
However, royal correspondent Richard Kay stated via his column in the Daily Mail that Camilla's "snub" was not deliberate. The duchess reportedly wrote a handwritten letter addressed to Princess Eugenie to apologize and explain why she could not be at her wedding.
Camilla had a prior royal engagement at a local school that clashed with Princess Eugenie's wedding day. Sources told Kay that Camilla didn't want to cancel this event because it would be disappointing to the school children.
However, reports from The Telegraph seemed to challenge Camilla's official reason. Sources said that the Duchess of Cornwall scheduled a house party on the day of Princess Eugenie's wedding when she knew the date of her big day eight months in advance.
A friend said, however, that Camilla is quite fond of Princess Eugenie and her sister, Princess Beatrice, and she was disappointed, as much as anyone, not to witness the wedding of her niece-in-law. However, even if she's fond of the York sisters, it's not a secret that Camilla is not in good terms with the girls' parents, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York.
Speculations are that Camilla might also choose not to attend Princess Beatrice's upcoming wedding to her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in early 2020 because of her strained relationship with Prince Andrew and Sarah. According to New Idea, Camilla and Sarah have a "complicated relationship."
Meanwhile, Daily Express reported that Camilla could never forget how Prince Andrew treated her and Prince Charles when they were the ones one smacked in the middle of a royal scandal. The Duke of York played politics and influenced Queen Elizabeth; thus, Prince Charles, and Camilla didn't have much of an ally in the royal family back then nor sympathy from the public.
Interestingly, Camilla and Sarah share plenty of things in common, including being shunned and treated as royal outsiders in the '90s. Royal observers said that these women could have been allies given what they've been through to belong to the royal family, and while Camilla tried to help out Sarah one time, their friendship never apparently blossomed.
