But her future would be one of almost nonstop travel, long-haul and short-haul, helicopters, trains, cars. There would be state visits, receptions, and formal dinners, there would be ceremonial events and religious ones, when she would have to be on parade with the Queen and the rest of the royal family, and charity work would take her all over the country.
On all such occasions, she would have to dress and look and behave like a duchess—immaculate hair, immaculate makeup, nails, outfits, and hats. She had already shifted up a gear in her wardrobe, and the outfits for her wedding—both by Antonia Robinson and Anna Valentine—were simply beautiful. But that was just the beginning. As she signed the register in the town hall, Camilla was signing away the rest of her life to obligation, duty, and hard work.
It is only when you follow a member of the royal family around that you realize just how hard it is to do what they do, and to keep on doing it day after day. She was embarking on this at the age of 57, perhaps wishing she were still weeding her flower beds instead.
But on that joyous day in Windsor, she was just happy to have gotten through it without anyone throwing an egg at her. The blessing ceremony in St. Afterward, the big doors of the chapel opened and they came out into afternoon sunshine, bathed in smiles.
Ian Jones, then a royal photographer for The Telegraph who had been on many overseas trips with Charles and sensed the loneliness, was in a prime position in a media pen to see them emerge. She came down the steps and came up and chatted to the crowd, and she chatted to us. There was no formality. Thank you, Arthur. He was happy—he just looked relieved and content that they were together at last. The Queen is passionate about horse racing, and the date coincided with the Grand National, in which she had a horse running.
She began by saying she had two important announcements to make. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves. There was huge relief—and not a little astonishment that both the crowds and, in the main, the media had been so positive. On the contrary, she is hugely supportive of women—and many of the issues and charities she has chosen to put her name to are in support of women.
But she is wary of women who toady to her husband, who flatter him and laugh before he has even made a joke. Charles is very susceptible to flattery, and a few such individuals have gone. Before getting married, both Charles and Camilla were very fixed in their ways.
Diana had discovered this about Charles when she married him, 24 years earlier. And Camilla too. Adjusting to life under one roof was difficult.
Charles is obsessive about order and tidiness. Camilla has always been untidy. Her homes have always felt lived in, full of clutter, dogs, and stuff that children have dumped; his are like country-house hotels with not a photograph or a magazine out of place. He has never had to pick up so much as a dirty sock for himself; she has been chief cook and bottle-washer for a family of four. He has always had household staff to look after his every need; she has had no more than a cleaning lady to help.
He has always had a punishing work ethic; she was new to the concept and found it hard to keep up. He never eats lunch; she needs to, to keep her blood-sugar levels up.
He can succumb to dark lows; she is almost always buoyant. He has a terrible temper and can be moody and difficult; she can get angry, but she is generally very easygoing and cheerful. Inevitably, 13 years as a Royal Highness has changed Camilla, but not fundamentally. She has an escape. She can forget she is a duchess. She can go and be a mum and a grandmother, a sister and an aunt; she can put on old clothes, forget the makeup, ignore the hair, potter about in the garden, watch mindless television, cook everyone some lunch, and be untidy in her own home without feeling that the Prince is itching to send in the butler to straighten the magazine pile or take away the empty glasses.
Camilla spends most weekends at Ray Mill, and usually Mondays too. Laura lives not far away, and after her twins, Gus and Louis, were born, in December —just before the death of her stepmother, Rose—giving Laura three children under three years of age, she was grateful for any help she could get.
And Camilla loves being with them all. The process of trying to change the legal title of the wife of a king would be a constitutional nightmare. In the UK, the House of Commons and the House of Lords would have to work to pass legislation, as would the legislative bodies of other Commonwealth realms, all for the sake of a title. Should this legislation pass, it is possible that we may never see a Queen Consort again, with all future wives of Kings being styled as Princess Consort.
Naturally, this would impact the Duchess of Cambridge who at the moment is destined to become Queen when William becomes King. When Charles dies and William succeeds, there could be an announcement that Catherine will be styled as Princess Consort. The past is the past. She will be the wife of the King and she remains an active member of the royal family. This is very similar to women, when they marry, and they become Mrs. John Smith.
John Smith has changed, but when it comes to the wife of a king, she has the same rank. This would apply to a peeress in her own right or a Queen regnant. Prince William could only become King if Prince Charles chose to abdicate. The line of succession to the throne is regulated by Parliament and cannot be altered by the monarchy. The only other scenario in which The Duke of Cambridge could become King when the Queen dies is if his father, Charles — who is 71 — died before the Queen.
Prince William will be King one day, but not yet. Credit: Getty. If this were to happen then Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, would become take on a role similar to that of a Queen before Camilla. If, when the time comes, Prince George decides he does not want to be King and abdicates, then his sister, Princess Charlotte would take his place on the throne become Queen.
He became the first English monarch to abdicate after the British government and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
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