Lip Reader Reveals What Queen Elizabeth Warned Camilla About the Day She Married Charles
There was some controversy several years back when now-King Charles married his second wife (formerly known as Camilla Parker Bowles). The couple’s romance was criticized after the death of Charles’ first wife, Princess Diana, in 1997.
The public opinion of Charles’ former mistress began to soften a bit when it was announced that they were engaged in 2005. But there was still controversy on their wedding day and a warning that was given to the bride by her mother-in-law. Here’s what a lip-reading expert observed the late queen saying that day.
Queen Elizabeth did not attend Charles and Camilla’s civil wedding ceremony
On April 9, 2005, then-Prince Charles and Camilla were married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall. Although Queen Elizabeth granted her son permission to get remarried, she didn’t attend his wedding. That’s because according to the Church of England, marriage is indissoluble. Therefore, as the head of the Church, she felt it would be inappropriate to attend the civil wedding of two divorcees.
Writer for The Telegraph Andrew Alderson reported on Queen Elizabeth’s decision at the time to skip the civil service, stating: “The queen has let it be known that the reason she will not be attending the wedding of [Prince Charles] is because she is putting her duties as the head of the Church of England before family feelings.”
The queen and Prince Philip instead attended a religious blessing that followed at St. George’s Chapel and later hosted a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle.
Charles’s mother delivered a speech at the reception which reportedly included a few sentimental remarks.
In her book The New Royals, author Katie Nicholl reflected on the queen’s words, noting: “It was an unusually sentimental speech from the monarch, and it captured the visceral sense of relief the couple had, in their 50s, being able to make their enduring love official.”
Lip-reading expert decoded what Queen Elizabeth said she warned Camilla about
After the couple wed and walked outside the chapel, they were greeted by gusts of wind. Several snaps from that day show Camilla holding onto her gold-feathered Philip Treacy headpiece as the wind blew. And when she saw what was happening, Queen Elizabeth informed her son that she tried to warn his bride not to wear feathers.
According to a lip reader for the Daily Mail, in the footage from that day the queen could be seen saying to Charles: “I did warn her about wearing feathers.”
The lip-reading expert revealed that Charles then told his bride, “Hold on tight” to which a worried Camilla replied, “I need to.”
Four seconds later, the wind died down and Charles exclaimed, “All well done.” He then told his wife, “You made it down/now.”
And after observing the crowd, Camilla noted: “They’re carrying on regardless.”
