Prince Charles and Camilla had been married for 15 years, but they have been together for a long time before tying the knot in 2005. A lot of royal fans hated the Duchess of Cornwall for “ruining” the future King and Princess Diana’s marriage. Although she was not the sole reason why the Prince and Princess of Wales ended up in divorce, Camilla still gets most of the public scrutiny.
But despite all the hate thrown her way, Camilla stayed by her now husband’s side throughout these years, earning her praise slowly but surely from the public. Their love also survived all the hardships and criticisms.
But before she earned respect from royal fans, many believed that Camilla was just after the title of being the Princess of Wales. However, according to royal biographer Christopher Wilson, it was never her intention to marry Prince Charles when they started their affair.
“Camilla saw life as Charles’ mistress as a bit of fun and a thing that would never be made public, and would continue for as long as she was sexually active,” he said in a 2017 Channel 4 documentary The Royal House of Windsor. “I don’t think there was ever any ambition on her part to advance herself to become the wife of the Prince of Wales.”
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles became lovers while the latter was having a break from her then-on-off boyfriend army officer Andrew Parker-Bowles. Camilla eventually got married to Andrew in 1973, and Prince Charles started dating Diana in 1980. A year later, Prince Charles proposed to Diana on February 6 and got married on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul's Cathedral.
Although Camilla was married to Andrew and Prince Charles tied the knot with Princess Diana, the two allegedly never stopped seeing each other. The Princess of Wales famously said in a 1995 interview with Martin Bashir, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
In 1993, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, officially, announced their split. After the Prince and Princess of Wales’ divorce, Lady Elsa Bowker said that “Camilla started plotting to become the next queen. She thought the most she could hope for was to someday be the King’s mistress, but now Diana was out of the way, and Camilla wanted more.”
In 2005, Prince Charles married Camilla. With the Prince of Wales being the next in line to the throne, Camilla was said to be only a step closer to fulfilling her dream. However, reports about her intentions contradict almost all the time.
