King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort's relationship was a source of contention for decades before they married. As one of the highest profile romances in the Western World, the public has had front row seats for every missed step the couple has made.
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00:00King Charles III and Camilla, queen consort's relationship, was a source of contention for
00:05decades before they married. As one of the highest-profile romances in the Western world,
00:11the public has had front-row seats for every misstep the couple has made.
00:16From the moment they met, Charles and Camilla have been like magnets. The two had a brief
00:21fling in the late 70s after dating each other earlier in the decade, and they resumed their
00:25affair in the late 80s while both were married to other people. In 1992, Charles and Princess
00:31Diana separated, with rumors flying that Charles had been unfaithful. Those rumors were all
00:37but corroborated when British outlets released a transcript of one of Charles and Camilla's
00:41phone calls. The conversation, which originally took place in 1989, hit tabloids in 1993.
00:49Before the transcript was leaked, the public was already less than thrilled with the idea
00:53of Charles cheating on the People's Princess. The explicit nature of the call took things
00:57to the next level.
00:58I'm in the bedroom.
00:59In bed?
01:00On top of it.
01:01Lucky old bed.
01:05The leaked phone call, which Netflix dramatized for The Crown, has since been referred to
01:09as Tampongate, because of a comment Charles made to Camilla expressing his wish to live
01:14in Camilla's pants and be reincarnated as her tampon. There are multiple theories as
01:20to how the media got a hold of the transcript and why it was kept under wraps for years
01:24before being published. But what is certain is that the public was shocked and disgusted.
01:30As Diana's former bodyguard Ken Wharfe wrote in Guarding Diana,
01:34"...the backlash was savage. Establishment figures normally loyal to future king and
01:39country were appalled, and some questioned the prince's suitability to role."
01:44When Tampongate rocked newsstands, Charles and Camilla still had a lot of personal matters
01:49to iron out. At the time, Charles was only separated from Princess Diana, and Camilla
01:54was still married to Andrew Parker Bowles. It would be a few years before Camilla and
01:59Andrew would formally end their marriage, and even longer before Charles and Diana's
02:03divorce was made final.
02:05Then, on August 31, 1997, just one year after her divorce from Charles was official, Princess
02:13Diana tragically died at the age of 36. Although they had reportedly been seen together at
02:18private events not long after the dissolutions of their respective marriages, Charles and
02:23Camilla made their first public appearance as a couple in January 1999 when they visited
02:28the London Ritz Hotel for a birthday party.
02:31Perhaps unsurprisingly, the public was divided over Charles and Camilla's first public outing
02:36as a pair. As the Daily Telegraph reported at the time,
02:40"...the decision of the Prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles to be photographed in public will be
02:44regarded by many as long overdue. It will also bring renewed criticism from some quarters
02:50of the Church of England and the more partisan followers of the late Diana."
02:54While many were uncomfortable with Charles and Camilla's date, the future queen consort
02:59was also lauded for her courage in the face of intense public scrutiny.
03:04More so than most, King Charles and Camilla played the long game in their relationship.
03:08It wasn't until 2001, over 30 years after they first met, that the duo made a public
03:13display of affection. That year, while at a charity event at the
03:17London Somerset House, Charles kissed Camilla and it got the public talking. At the time,
03:23the public was becoming more accepting of Charles and Camilla's relationship, and those
03:27in favor were pleased to see the two kissing. However, others were staunchly against it
03:32and found the kiss inappropriate for a senior member of the royal family.
03:36While PDA among members of the royal family is certainly rare, it's not technically against
03:41any royal rule. As royal etiquette expert Micah Meyer told People magazine,
03:46"...senior members of the royal family would likely not be told how to interact or when
03:51they can or cannot show PDA, and would be trusted to use their better judgment as to
03:55when it's appropriate."
03:57Meyer went on to explain that royals are often deliberate about the level of affection they
04:01show at public events based on how formal they are. She explained,
04:06At a somber or more formal event, we are less likely to see PDA than at a casual event where
04:11it would be deemed more fitting. Though Charles and Camilla's kiss was unexpected, they likely
04:16weren't reprimanded for it.
04:19In 2005, after a decades-long romance, Charles and Camilla finally got married. Although
04:25the event wasn't a surprise, some members of the public were upset. Evidently, there
04:30were many who thought that she was unfit to become Queen Consort one day. As one member
04:34of the British public told CNN,
04:36"...I do not think she is the person you would want to be on the throne. He could do better.
04:41I do not think it should go ahead, definitely not. How could she possibly be Queen?"
04:46Others were still upset that Charles and Camilla had gotten together after their affairs, and
04:50some thought the wedding was simply too soon.
04:52What, of course, has been so difficult is the suspicion at the back of her mind that
04:57actually they don't like me."
04:59Like anything the royals do, the reaction to the news of Charles and Camilla's wedding
05:02was mixed. More of the public had come around to the idea of Camilla as future Queen Consort,
05:08and some felt the hatred toward Camilla was unwarranted. As another British citizen said,
05:13"...Times change. If you really love someone, why should you live your life in misery when
05:17you have got something that makes you happy? It's not really any of our business."
05:22Not all of Charles and Camilla's awkward moments have been quite so amusing, and the media
05:27and public haven't been so forgiving of every gap. In December 2022, Charles, who had recently
05:33ascended the throne, was seen having a public outburst. It was reportedly over Camilla taking
05:38too long while speaking with some people after the couple met Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham AFC.
05:44In response, the king apparently asked his handlers to get his wife's attention rather
05:48than doing so himself.
05:50Body language expert Judy James reviewed the clip and told Express that the little flare-up
05:55was exemplary of Charles' poor attitude. She explained,
05:58"...There are no signs of good humor here, just a man pleading to his entourage to get
06:03him out of his situation and onto his next booking."
06:07James added that while many members of the public were trying to show Charles grace at
06:10the time, due to his new royal circumstances, the king should have been kinder and more
06:15loving toward Camilla.