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1. She was born Camilla Rosemary Shand on July 17, 1947. She
was the first of the three children of Major Bruce Shand and Rosalind Cubitt.
2. Describing the Duchess of Cornwall’s childhood,
biographer Gyles Brandreth wrote, “Camilla is often described as having had an
"Enid Blyton sort of Childhood". In fact, it was much grander than
that.”
3. Her classmates at South Kensington’s Queens Gate School
fondly called her “Milla”. Highly revered Offshore
author Penelope Fitzgerald, who became Camilla’s French teacher at the said
school, described her as “bright and lively”.
4. After graduating from Tolochenaz, Switzerland’s Mon
Fertile finishing school, she travelled to France to further her knowledge on
the French language and literature, attending University of London Institute in
Paris for six months.
5. Camilla was first introduced to the British society on
March 25th 1965 as a debutante. It was the night she met her first
husband, a Blues and Royals lieutenant named Andrew Parker Bowles. The
gentleman was seven years her senior, and was known to date multiple ladies at
once, a habit of which the future duchess was fully aware.
6. The 26-year-old Camilla married 33-year-old Andrew on
July 4, 1973 at London’s Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, this
after quite a tumultuous, on-and-off courtship. The union produced two
children—food writer and critic Thomas Henry Charles and Laura Rose.
7. Camilla first met Prince Charles at a polo match in 1971,
two years before tying the knot with her first husband. They were introduced by
the latter’s then girlfriend, Lucia Santa Cruz. The two began dating soon
after, but Charles had to leave for eight months to serve for the Royal Navy.
By the time he returned from duty, Camilla was already betrothed to Andrew.
8. When he received news of Camilla’s engagement to Andrew,
Prince Charles wrote to Lord Mountbatten: "I suppose the feeling of
emptiness will pass eventually."
9. A vast majority of royal biographers acquiesce on the
theory that even if Charles and Camilla decided to marry the first time around,
it still would not have been possible as the palace did not see Camilla as a
worthy wife for the future king.
10. It was after the assassination of Lord Mountbatten by
the Irish Republican Army in 1979 that Charles purportedly found comfort in
Camilla. The two allegedly rekindled their romance in 1980, a year before
Charles married Diana and while Camilla was still married to Andrew.
11. The Charles and Camilla affair only became public
knowledge after the 1992 publication of Diana:
Her True Story, and the 1993 leakage of the two lovers’ intimate phone
conversations, which has been infamously known as the Camillagate scandal.
12. In a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby in 1994,
Charles finally opened up about her relationship with Camilla. It was the first
time the prince ever spoke about her.
13. Camilla and Andrew filed for divorced in January 1995
after 21 years of marriage. It was finalized March of the same year. Charles
and Diana divorced the following year.
14. Charles and Camilla made their first public appearance
together at a party at London’s Ritz Hotel in 1999. There were at least 200
photographers waiting outside the hotel, waiting to take a snap of the couple.
15. Camilla never met the Queen until 2001, when both were
attendees during the 6oth birthday of Constantine II, former King of Greece.
The following year, the Queen personally invited Camilla to join the royal
family in celebrating the Golden Jubilee.
16. Charles and Camilla announced their engagement on
February 10, 2005. The ring consists a square-cut diamond that has three
diamond baguettes on each side, and it was reportedly given to Queen Elizabeth
The Queen Mother when she gave birth to Queen Elizabeth II.
17. Charles and Camilla wedded on April 9, 2005 in a civil
ceremony held at the Windsor Guildhall’s town hall. The two were supposed to be
married the day prior at the Windsor Castle, however the said venue did not
have the license for civil marriages.
18. Her being the Duchess of Cornwall makes her the second
highest ranking woman—next to the Queen—in the United Kingdom Order of
Precedence and sixth overall. The rankings, however, is believed to have been
altered by the Queen especially for private occasions, wherein Camilla comes
fourth right after Her Majesty The Queen, the Princess Royal, and Princess
Alexandra.
19. Camilla, Charles and the late Diana share ancestry
dating back to King Charles II.
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