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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Harry Thompson & Malvika Padin

How Queen Camilla met King Charles and who she was married to when Diana was alive

After the Queen's death, Charles has been proclaimed the new king with wife Camilla taking on the role of Queen Consort.

Camilla has risen up the royal ranks through years of diligent service after marrying Charles in 2005, now stepping into her supportive role as King Charles III ascends the throne.

The couple's romance has been long and complicated. After meeting and dating for a short while, Camilla married someone else while Charles was in Royal Navy.

After his return Charles went on to marry Diana Spencer, which broke down years later due to claims of him having an affair with Camilla.

Here's a look at King Charles and Camilla's first meeting and marriage.

How did King Charles and Camilla meet?

Charles and Camilla met during a polo match in the 1970 (Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Charles and Camilla first met in 1970 at a polo match in Windsor Great Park, immediately hitting it off over a common interest in the outdoors.

Camilla Shand was the daughter of an officer in the Army, Major Bruce Shand, and his wife Rosalind. She was an avid horse lover who previously admitted she spent her childhood preoccupied with "charging about on them."

At the time it is understood Camilla had joked about her own great-grandmother having had a relationship with King Edward VII, telling Charles: "My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common.”

Who was Camilla married to when Princess Diana was alive?

Prince Charles and Princess Diana married in 1981 (Getty Images)

After meeting, the pair dated for some time, before Charles left for the Royal Navy.

Upon his return eight months later, Camilla was already engaged to his sister Anne's ex, Andrew Parker Bowles. Camilla and Parker Bowles got married in 1973 and remained so until 1995.

Despite the seemingly awkward nature of the situation, it is believed Charles and Camilla remained friends.

In 1980, when Charles met Diana Spencer, who would go on to become the beloved Princess Diana.

The People's Princess was just 18 at the time, but the two were engaged the following year in 1981.

Their marriage was watched by some 750 million people around the world, with Camilla in attendance.

Camilla and Charles remained friends after they both got married to other people (Getty Images)

Their eldest son Prince William was born the following year in 1982 and his younger brother, Prince Harry, two years later in 1984.

However, their marriage hit the rocks early on, with a biography endorsed by Charles claiming that by 1986 he and Camilla were already having an affair.

In 1992, then-Prime Minister John Major announced Charles and Diana had split up.

Two years later, in 1994, Charles admitted he had been unfaithful to Diana. Asked whether he had remained true to her during a documentary about his life he said: “Yes, yes… Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried."

In January 1995, Camilla and Andrew announced they too were splitting up and in November Diana gave her infamous BBC Panorama with Martin Bashir where she said: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

In 1999, famous images emerged of Prince Charles with his future wife Camilla Parker Bowles as the pair left London's Ritz Hotel together.

How did Camilla and Charles get engaged?

The pair got married in April 2005 after getting engaged in February the same year (Reuters)

Charles and Camilla announced their engagement in February of 2005, triggering widespread speculation about which title she should undertake.

Buckingham Palace announced it would be giving her the title of Duchess of Cornwall, in order to avoid any controversy surrounding the late Princess Diana's title.

The couple got married in April that year, 35 years after meeting, and by 2012 Camilla was showing signs of being fully accepted by the family when the Queen gave her the title of Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian, before riding alongside her during her Diamond Jubilee.

In February 2022, the Queen announced that upon Charles ascension to the throne, Camilla would become Queen Consort.

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here

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