The Inscrutable, Unsinkable Camilla Parker Bowles

The young adulterous days of Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles remind me of Daisy and Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby – an entitled, rich couple who put their needs first, ruining other’s lives in the process without a care. In Tina Brown’s book, “The Palace Papers,” the author states that Charles and Camilla were found making out on the dance floor at a summer ball right in front of everyone. No one was fazed, including Camilla’s husband who comment that “HRH is very fond of my wife, and she appears to be very fond of him.” I never understood what they saw in each other while they were married to other people, and having the critical glare of the press following them, but entitlement seemed to have blinded them both. 

 Diana famously revealed to Andrew Morton that their marriage had three people in it, making it a bit crowded. The fairy tale marriage of Diana and Charles was doomed not only by Prince Charles’s blatant infidelity, but also by Camilla’s own role in not caring what Diana said or how she felt. Pictures from the 70’s show a tan, handsome Prince and a breezy Camilla at a tennis or polo match, her long, shag haircut blowing about in the wind, looking for all the world like free love, royalty style. How did Camilla felt about being the “other woman” while Princess Diana was the country’s clear favorite? Action, or in this case, inaction, spoke louder than words, and the fact that she continued her role in the affair sent the message to Diana that a Princess of the Royal family was in fact less important in the face of the “true” love between Charles and Camilla.

 Immediately after Diana’s tragic death, a year after their divorce, Charles was purportedly upset about one, his garden not doing well, and two, how poorly people thought of him. This implies that he felt, like a narcissist, annoyed and blameless about her death – but how did Camilla feel about Diana’s death? She was appropriately out of sight during the funeral process – forever unknowable -- whereas Charles took his part seriously, folding himself back into the role of father of princes and the sad ex-husband as they solemnly marched in the funeral procession. 

 Perhaps some wondered if Charles and Camilla would stay together for the long haul. Maybe the tragedy of Diana’s death and its aftermath would cause them to rethink, to allow everyone some space and time, especially two young boys who were grieving this loss of their loving mom and needed support. Well. Kind-of. They deserve credit for waiting as long as they did, but it was still jarring to see the inscrutable Camilla Bowles, now firmly middle-aged, actually getting married to her lifelong boyfriend eight years after Diana’s death. 

 But we adjust. Seeing them at Meghan and Harry’s wedding was oddly comforting. Camilla smiled with her fancy hat, looked happy, and probably enjoyed the notion of being at a large royal wedding, out in the open at last. It was adorable to see Prince Charles give his arm to Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland – what a gentleman! All seemed normal enough, and Camilla got through it by staying close to her husband with the cozy knowledge that there is nothing untoward about her presence at this affair – in fact, it made the event a little more motherly having her staid presence.

 The death of Queen Elizabeth II, however, tested the inscrutable Camilla again, as it propelled her once again from “that woman” into someone who lives with the King and has her own, official title.  I watched her on television taking on her new duties as the Queen Consort during the walkabout, and she looked entirely uncomfortable. Was she reminded of the mass, public outpouring of grief for Diana, whose divorce she bore at least some of the blame?  I can only surmise by her forced smile, practically a grimace, that her hurried walk down the line, far away from the crowds, her avoidance of facing the “fans” to shake hands, or God forbid, hug someone, as Meghan did, was something to get over with as soon as possible. She doesn’t WANT herself, the perennial “other woman,” to be suddenly up close and personal when she has been used to lurking in the background or quietly standing beside her second husband. Camilla was more interested in looking down at the bundles of plastic-wrapped flowers that were placed near the Palace gate instead of facing the iPhones and eyes boring into her, all desperately wanting a closer look of the seldom-seen-lady turned-Queen-consort as a lady in her 70s. 

 Seeing a recent photo of the King and the Queen Consort dressed in robes and crowns, holding scepters, sitting on their thrones, looks odd – like a community theater play with senior citizens playing the roles of King and Queen. Camilla’s smile is, as usual, uneasy and forced, and Charles looks dazed. With her happy family upbringing and easy, sporty life, she strikes me as one who generally does as she pleases, but now she enters the higher echelon of high definition camera lenses.  To give her some credit for her what could be her humility, it seems as if she is stepping into the role gingerly with no fanfare. She recently stated that she does not want to wear the Koh-I-Nor diamond at the coronation, because she doesn’t want to hurt India’s feelings, the country where it was mined and who now wants the diamond back. She seems aware that her title is “Consort,” which simply means she is the spouse of the King, not a co-ruler or decision maker, so we shall see what the royal officials themselves decide about the diamond being worn or not. I’ve watched “The Crown”; I know one’s decisions are rarely made on one’s own.   

 Perhaps most British citizens have in fact moved beyond the sadness of the Diana era and are fully ready to accept Camilla as the Queen figurehead to Charles’s new role as (finally, he must be thinking) the King of England. Right after the Queen’s death, audiences who caught a glimpse of Camilla in a motorcade were excited to see her drive by, and some subjects had good feelings about the new monarchy with C and C at the helm. However, protestors threw eggs at both of them during their recent visit to York, representing that still-progressive side of England that rejects the excesses of the monarchy and really are not too keen with tradition picking up where it left off. With the monarchy still holding strong, however, it is hard to tell what direction the firm will finally go, but I think it is safe to say for now, Camilla will continue on enjoying her luxurious lifestyle for the rest of her life, dodging the cameras, and smiling when she must.  

 Sources:

Adam, K. and N. Masih.  (2022). “Will Camilla wear the diamond that India – and others – want  back?” The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/13/queen-camilla-kohinoordiamond-crown-india/

 Knight, S. (2022). “The collateral damage of Queen Elizabeth’s glorious reign.” The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/the-collateral-damage-of-queenelizabeths-glorious-reign

 Lyall, S. (2022) “How time softened the judgment of Camilla and the fury over Diana's death.” The New York Times.  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/world/europe/princess-dianacamilla-queen-elizabeth.html.