King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles Have 1 Secret to a ‘Healthy’ Relationship, Says Royal Expert
King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles have one secret to their “healthy relationship,” according to a former royal butler. They’ve been together for decades despite how anyone, including Queen Elizabeth II, felt about it. Their former employee dished on what he believes to be a key component to their romantic longevity.
King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles met in 1970
Charles and Camilla met through a mutual friend in 1970, and they dated before they both went on to marry other people. They became enamored but split after he joined the royal navy. That she didn’t check all the required boxes for a potential royal wife and future queen didn’t help their young love (People).
They rekindled their romance while still married to others sometime in the late ’70s. They went public after their divorces but leaked calls between them had already exposed their affair. Furthermore, Princess Diana mentioned it in her famous Panorama interview.
One person who was supposedly none too pleased with their romance, other than their spouses, was the queen. According to Tom Bower’s book Rebel Prince, Queen Elizabeth told Charles she would neither “condone” her son’s adultery nor forgive Camilla for “not leaving Charles alone to allow his marriage to recover” (People).
Despite those sentiments, the queen eventually accepted Charles and Camilla. She skipped their low-key wedding ceremony in 2005 but joined them afterward. She also offered them some words of advice on their big day.
Former royal butler says the secret to success for King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles is time apart
In an interview with Slingo, former royal butler Grant Harrold explained that Charles and Camilla have a successful “healthy relationship” because they are comfortable being apart. He noted how the queen consort has a private life with her children and grandchildren from her first marriage.
“She’s also got her own house, Ray Mill, which she’s maintained as her own residence,” Harrold explained. “It’s her own space, so when she’s not doing royal duties, she’s still got her own space for her and her family from her first marriage, and I think it’s nice that she’s got that.”
He added, “She spends a lot of time with the king, of course. They share the same homes and everything, but she’s got that little bolthole, somewhere she can go and have her own space, especially if he’s away and doing things overseas on his own.”
Camilla Parker Bowles dropped consort for the title ‘Queen Camilla’ on Charles’ coronation invitation
Charles’ coronation invitation refers to “Queen Camilla,” the first time the family officially dropped “consort” from her title (NPR). Some observers found the move noteworthy because Queen Elizabeth reportedly had other wishes.
Nicoletta Gullace, an associate professor of British history at the University of New Hampshire, told NPR, “Like everyone else, I was surprised to see Camilla announced as Queen Camilla, as opposed to Queen Consort Camilla, which Queen Elizabeth had indicated was how she expected Camilla to be addressed once she became the monarch.”
