Wedding Bell News
After 34 years and a failed marriage for each, the Prince of Wales and Camilla
Parker Bowles are finally tying the royal knot. How the monarchy is remaking
itself for a world that is increasingly blasé
To read more about the Royals from Edward and Mrs. Simpson to Charles and Camilla, visit our British Royals collection at www.time.com/royals.Subscribers get free access to the TIME Archive, from 1923 to the present.
Posted Sunday, Feb 13, 2005;
17.00 GMT
Though Camilla Parker Bowles has been intimately
involved with Prince Charles for more than three
decades, she has managed to keep a remarkably low
profile. That was partly a public relations necessity,
especially during her affair with the Prince of
Wales while both were married to other people. And
in the aftermath of Diana's death in 1997, Camilla
practically disappeared from view. Rocked by the
outpouring of emotion the tragedy evoked, the royal
family was careful to keep an official distance
from the person many blamed — rightly or wrongly
— for breaking up Charles and Diana's marriage.
But by 1999, as the memory of Diana's death became
less raw, Camilla gradually emerged from the shadows.
When she gave her first public speech, to huge curiosity,
in 2002 on behalf of the National Osteoporosis Society
— her mother died of the disease — it
was seen as another crucial phase in the effort
to transform her from the "other woman"
into the future King's royal consort.
Beyond the royal spin, friends say Camilla is
a straightforward, cheerful, down-to-earth woman
without guile and with plenty of common sense.
She favors country pursuits like fox hunting (now
illegal), gardening and cycling, and she shares
Charles' zany sense of humor — they both
love the Goon Show, the wacky British radio comedy
favorite of the 1950s. "Camilla is very English,
understated and she has charm," says Charles
Mosley, editor in chief of Debrett's, which publishes
the definitive British guides to etiquette and
the aristocracy. "After all, she did ensnare
the prince over a 30-year period and one must
be frank, she's no oil painting — certainly
not as beautiful as Diana. Yet Camilla is socially
and emotionally assured in a way that poor Diana
was not." Charles is said to suffer bouts
of self-doubt and during his first
Camilla is very English, understated and she has charm. After all, she did ensnare the prince over a 30-year period.— ROBERT LACEY, biographer of the queen
marriage often
seemed at a loss as to how to deal with Diana.
But with Camilla, friends say the prince relaxes
and is able to be himself.
Camilla was born in London in 1947, the eldest
child of Major Bruce Shand, an army officer turned
wine merchant, and Rosalind Cubitt, whose ancestor
Thomas Cubitt built much of London's Mayfair and
Belgravia districts in the early 19th century.
She grew up in a country house in Sussex surrounded
by nannies, horses and dogs. Like most young women
of her social class, she "came out"
as a debutante just before turning 18. In 1971,
she met Charles on the polo field at Windsor.
A romance blossomed, but Charles left for an eight-month
tour of duty in the Caribbean with the Royal Navy
without proposing. By the time he returned in
1973, Camilla had married Charles' friend, army
officer Andrew Parker Bowles. The couple had a
son and a daughter, but the marriage, an open,
unconventional one, ended in divorce in 1995.
Charles has always regarded Camilla as his "touchstone"
and "sounding board," as he told his
biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby. As Diana's memory
has faded and Camilla has been seen quietly at
Charles' side at official functions, the public
have softened toward her. It has helped that princes
Harry and William appear to accept Camilla, too.
Dimbleby told the BBC that the couple are "soul
mates." On April 8, she'll complete a transformation
that has been 30 years in the making. In an age
of disposable relationships, she has won a romantic
marathon.
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Camilla is 
