Camilla & Charles: A love with obstacles
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles married 14 years ago. On the occasion of the anniversary, we look back at the not so easy love story between the two of them.
It all began in 1970 at a polo game in Windsor. Heir to the throne Prince Charles, 70, and one year older Camilla Rosemary Shand, 71, meet for the first time. A mutual friend arranged the meeting, the two find each other attractive and are drawn to each other. A little later the first date follows and with it the beginning of a love - full of obstacles.
The relationship lasted a year until Charles was drafted into the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and had to spend a few months at sea. She no longer hopes to have a relationship with the Queen's son and in 1973 married Andrew Parker Bowles, 78, a high-ranking officer in the British Army. While Charles remains single, to the displeasure of the Queen, Camilla crowns her marriage with two children. In the summer of 1980, however, the tide seems to turn and the hopes that the bachelor can finally father an heir to the throne flare up again: Charles enters into a liaison with Lady Diana Spencer, † 36, which he had three years earlier got to know, but at the time still had no feelings for the 16-year-old - also because he was with Diana's older sister, Lady Sarah, at the time.
Both doubt
On July 29, 1981, the Royals and with them millions of people around the world finally celebrate the long-awaited dream wedding between Charles and the shy kindergarten teacher Diana. Camilla seems far away and yet she is present - in Diana's head and in the church, despite the bride's contradiction. Shortly before the wedding, Diana discovers a farewell present from Charles for the "good old friend" he introduced to Diana to his former lover. A backtrack, as much as she wishes for it at this moment, is not an option. Her sister Jane shows her this: "You can't go back, your face is on all the tea towels!"
Charles, too, suddenly had doubts - apparently not because of his affection for Camilla, but because of Diana's temperament, as a newly published biography shows. But he considers the consequences of a withdrawal to be “catastrophic” and finally says yes.
They let their feelings run free
A few years later, Camilla and Charles, who are also still married, can no longer suppress their affection and finally give in to their feelings. How much they love each other and desire each other becomes clear in a conversation known as a “tampon phone call”. In it, Charles wishes to be Camilla's tampon, so that he can always be with - and in - her. Diana knows about her husband's affair and, according to tape recordings published in the 1990s, confronts Camilla at a party. “I said to Camilla, I'm sorry I'm in the way and it must be hell for both of you. But I know what's going on, so don't treat me like an idiot. " Camilla replies: «You have everything one can have. You have all the men in the world who fall in love with you and two beautiful children, what more could you want? " The princess's answer is clear: "I want my husband." That was in 1989.
Five years later, when Charles and Diana's marriage is officially ended, Prince Charles speaks of the breakdown of their relationship. He was loyal to Diana “until it became clear that nothing could be saved”. He emphasizes that he said yes, believing that he would be happily married to Diana. But separations do happen, he sums up. As unpleasant as it is.
In 1996 the divorce became final and the marriage, which for many began with a dream wedding, is definitely history. The way for Charles and his lover, who separated from her husband a year earlier, is far from clear. For a long time, Camilla is considered to be guilty and responsible for the failure of Diana's marriage, she is publicly ostracized and despised, with the result that the mother of two withdraws and almost never leaves her house for a year. “I don't even wish this to my worst enemy,” she said in an interview with “Mail on Sunday” on the occasion of her 70th birthday last year. "I would not have survived this without my family." The press siege in front of her house was at times unbearable.
A public relationship between Charles and Camilla is not possible even after Diana's fatal car accident. The shock at the tragic demise of the Queen of Hearts and the pain associated with the affair that happened to Diana is too deep. It wasn't until 1999 that the first joint photo was taken. And it took another six years before Camilla's reputation was largely rehabilitated and Charles was able to give his Camilla the long-awaited vow. On April 9th, the marriage was officially consummated. Since Camilla's ex-husband is still alive at the time of the wedding, the couple are forbidden to have a church wedding and receive a church blessing.
The marriage has lasted ever since and the adversities seem - at least outwardly - to be forgotten.
