How King Charles Met Camilla: A Timeline of Their Relationship
King Charles and Camilla tied the knot in 2005, years after their relationship first began.
After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles acceded to the throne and his wife Camilla became queen consort. But when did their relationship start and what was the controversy surrounding it?
From young lovers to happily ever after, here's Charles and Camilla's relationship timeline.
YOUNG LOVE
Charles and Camilla's relationship began in 1971 when the couple was introduced by mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz.
At the age of 23, they quickly became good friends who would spend hours on the phone and spend as much time together as possible.
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Charles reportedly quickly fell for her, but their relationship never progressed after warnings from his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten that she was not aristocratic enough, causing the couple to eventually go their separate ways.
After they started, Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy. He returned to find her engaged to another man: Andrew Parker Bowles, who himself had been in a relationship with Charles' sister, Princess Anne.
Camilla became engaged to Andrew and married in 1973, while Charles married Princess Diana on July 29, 1981.
THREE IS A CROWD
But it seems neither Charles nor Camilla could stay apart.
Diana opened up about her 'difficult' relationship with Andrew Morton for the 1992 biography Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words.
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She claimed that before her wedding she found out that Charles had had a bracelet made with the initials “G” and “F” for Gladys and Fred – pet names Camilla and Charles had for each other.
She also found photos of Camilla in Charles' diary during their honeymoon, as well as cufflinks with the initials “C” and “C” intertwined.
CONTROVERSIAL COUPLE
Five years after their spectacular wedding, Charles and Diana's marriage was lost – with Camilla firmly back in the picture.
In 1994, Charles admitted to Jonathan Dimbleby in a TV documentary that although he had initially been faithful to Diana, he had not been until his marriage had “broken down beyond repair”.
Diana discovered the affair and confronted Camilla about it at a party in 1989.
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Diana and Charles separated completely in 1991 and divorced five years later.
The Princess of Wales famously revealed their affair to Martin Bashir in an interview that shocked the world.
“There were three of us in this wedding, so it was a little busy,” she said.
REUNITED
It was only two years after the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997 that Charles and Camilla publicly came out as a couple.
In 1999, after throwing a party for Camilla's sister at The Ritz in London, the pair were photographed together as an item.
But following a public outcry, the pair kept their romance on the down-low, with Camilla describing the reaction as “hell” and something she “wouldn't wish on her worst enemy.”
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In fact, Camilla waited until 2000 to meet the Queen and the couple didn't share their first kiss in public until 2001.
In 2003, the couple moved to their current home, Clarence House, and two years later the couple announced their engagement.
LONG AND HAPPY
When the then Prince of Wales married Camilla Parker-Bowles, they were a couple in their 50s who had both experienced divorce.
The couple married on April 9, 2005 in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
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“It's always great to have someone who understands you and wants to encourage you,” Charles said, the Telegraph reported.
“Although she definitely makes jokes when I take things too seriously. And that all helps.”
The couple celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary in April this year and Camilla was by Charles' side as he settled into his role as king.
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