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How Camilla won over Queen Elizabeth: the Duchess of Cornwall’s journey from ‘wicked woman’ and Princess Diana’s archrival to the British royal family’s future queen consort

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth waves to the crowds with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as they arrive at Royal Ascot in 2013. Photo: AP

Camilla Parker Bowles might be the most recent person to break the internet, after Queen Elizabeth expressed her “sincere wish” that the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles’ second wife, be named queen consort when her eldest son ascends the throne.

The statement represents a complete reversal of the palace’s previous position on the matter. When Charles wed Camilla back in 2005, the couple said that the bride would use the lesser title of HRH the princess consort when her groom took the throne – a position that was reconfirmed to The Times by their representatives in 2020.

It seems that both Camilla’s status as a divorced woman and the controversial nature of her past relationship with the Prince of Wales is well and truly in the past now.

With this recent announcement, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch has paved the way for her daughter-in-law to officially take on the title given to the wife of a reigning monarch and be known as Queen Camilla to his King Charles.

So how did Camilla manage to finally win the queen over?

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A frosty start

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, arrive by horse and carriage at Ascot Racecourse in 2019. Photo: Reuters

Unless you were raised under a rock, you probably already know that Charles’ first wife was Diana Spencer, also known as “The People’s Princess”. Charles famously cheated on Princess Diana with Camilla for years, enraging the public and embarrassing the royal family immensely. As a result, the queen took an instant dislike to her son’s partner, reportedly going so far as to call her “that wicked woman” and saying “I want nothing to do with her” after Charles confided he was dating Camilla again following his divorce from Diana in 1996.

Driving a wedge

Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wait for Queen Elizabeth to deliver her speech in the House of Lords, during the 2015 State Opening of Parliament. Photo: Reuters

By 2002, the queen seemed to have realised that her disapproval alone wouldn’t be enough for Charles to break up with Camilla. The queen enlisted the help of long-standing royal servant Michael Peat, who was hired as private secretary to the Prince of Wales with clear instructions to convince Charles to sever his relationship with Camilla. Ultimately, the move backfired. Peat instead convinced Charles to propose to Camilla, and strongly advocated for the two to wed, finally legitimising their relationship in the eyes of the British public.

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Coming around

Britain’s Prince William and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, share a joke at the 2014 Invictus Games. Photo: Reuters

By 2004, Camilla was basically part of the family. Prince William and Prince Harry slowly built a relationship with her, conceding that she was “not the wicked stepmother” but a “wonderful woman” who had made their father very happy. The queen had thawed considerably towards Camilla since the couple’s early days, but had yet to give her blessing to Charles’ second marriage. That moment came over Christmas in 2004, when the queen finally agreed to let the long-time couple wed.

The bling ring

Camilla Parker Bowles displays her engagement ring as she arrives in the grand reception room of Windsor Castle in February, 2005. Photo: AP

An even more encouraging sign that the queen was starting to welcome Camilla into the fold? She gifted Charles with the epic platinum and diamond engagement ring he used to propose. Worth an estimated US$190,000, the stunning art deco sparkler is considered one of the largest engagement rings owned by a member of the British royal family. Sometimes actions really do speak louder than words …

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The noticeable absence from the wedding

Britain’s Prince Charles and the Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, greet well wishers after their marriage in April 2005. Photo: Reuters

Despite giving the couple the green light (and the bling) to get married, however, the queen still held her reservations. Rather than a church wedding, which might have proved controversial after one divorce each, the couple held a civil ceremony at Windsor Town Hall in 2005 – but the queen did not attend. The mother of the groom – and head of the Church of England – did, however, attend the reception and blessing ceremony afterwards.

A turning point

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth holds a sword to cut a cake next to Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on the sidelines of the G7 summit at the Eden Project in Cornwall, in June 2021. Photo: Reuters

The wedding of Charles and Camilla seems to have been a turning point in the queen’s relationship with her new daughter-in-law. Soon after, the two women started to appear at official events together, openly bonding over shared interests such as horse riding and hunting. Camilla also stepped up as a public figure, becoming actively involved with charity work and gamely accompanying Charles on countless official engagements. The hard work didn’t go unnoticed by the queen, who seemingly grew even more appreciative of her son’s new wife.

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Cracking the inner circle

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Queen Elizabeth on official business. Photo: @british.royall.family/Instagram

In 2016, the queen named Camilla to her Privy Council, a group of the monarch’s most senior advisers and an irrefutable sign of the closeness between the two women. Last December, the queen made Camilla a member of the ancient Order of the Garter – an honour that none of her other children’s spouses have received. She followed that up a few weeks later, using her Platinum Jubilee to request that Camilla be given the title of queen consort.

From a despised “wicked woman” to Queen Elizabeth’s golden girl, it’s been quite the journey for Camilla.

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Royalty
  • The Duchess of Cornwall is expected to be known as Queen Camilla once King Charles ascends the throne – after winning over her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth
  • Once known as the woman Charles cheated on Princess Diana with, Camilla won the favour of the British public, but the queen still skipped out on the couple’s royal wedding