Camilla Parker Bowles

Camilla Rosemary Shand was born at King's College Hospital, London, on 17 July 1947. She grew up in The Laines – an 18th-century country house in Plumpton, East Sussex – and a three-storey house in South Kensington, her family's second home. Her parents were British Army officer turned businessman Major Bruce Shand (1917–2006) and his wife, Rosalind (née Cubitt; 1921–1994). She has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot, and had a younger brother, Mark Shand (1951–2014). Her maternal great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was a mistress of King Edward VII from 1898 to 1910. On 1 November 1947, Camilla was baptised at Firle Church, East Sussex. Camilla's mother was a housewife, while her father had various business interests after retiring from the army. He was most notably a partner in Block, Grey and Block, a firm of wine merchants in South Audley Street, Mayfair, later joining Ellis, Son and Vidler of Hastings and London. During her childhood years, Camilla became an avid reader due to the influence of her father, who read to her frequently. She grew up with dogs and cats, and, at a young age, learnt how to ride a pony by joining Pony Club camps which garnered her frequent rosettes at community gymkhanas. According to her, childhood "was perfect in every way". Biographer Gyles Brandreth describes her background and childhood:

At age five, Camilla was sent to Dumbrells, a co-educational school in Ditchling village. She left Dumbrells aged ten to attend Queen's Gate School in Queen's Gate, South Kensington. Her classmates at Queen's Gate knew her as "Milla"; her fellow pupils included the singer Twinkle, who described her as a girl of "inner strength" exuding "magnetism and confidence". One of the teachers at the school was the writer Penelope Fitzgerald, who taught French and remembered Camilla as "bright and lively". Camilla left Queen's Gate with one O-level in 1964; her parents did not make her stay long enough for A-levels. At the age of sixteen, she travelled abroad to attend the Mon Fertile finishing school in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. After completing her course in Switzerland, she made her own decision and travelled to France to study French and French literature at the University of London Institute in Paris for six months.

On 25 March 1965, Camilla was a debutante in London, one of 311 that year. After moving from home, she shared a small flat in Kensington with her friend Jane Wyndham, niece of decorator Nancy Lancaster. She later moved into a larger flat in Belgravia, which she shared with her landlady Lady Moyra Campbell, the daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and later with Virginia Carington, daughter of the politician Lord Carrington. Virginia was married to Camilla's uncle Henry Cubitt from 1973 until 1979 (and in 2005 she would become a special aide to Camilla and Prince Charles). Camilla worked as a secretary for a variety of firms in the West End and was later employed as a receptionist by the decorating firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in Mayfair. In her spare time, she became a passionate horse-rider and frequently attended equestrian activities. She also had a passion for painting, which eventually led to her private tutoring with an artist, although most of her work "ended up in the bin". Other interests were fishing, horticulture and gardening.

Camilla and Prince Charles reportedly met in mid-1971. Andrew Parker Bowles had ended his relationship with Camilla in 1970 and was courting Princess Anne, Charles's sister. Though Camilla and Charles belonged to the same social circle and occasionally attended the same events, they had not formally met. Their biographer Brandreth states the couple did not first meet at a polo match, as it has been commonly believed. Instead, they first met at the home of their friend Lucía Santa Cruz, who formally introduced them. They became close friends and eventually began seeing one another, which was well known within their social circle. When they became a couple, they regularly met at polo matches at Smith's Lawn in Windsor Great Park, where Charles often played polo. They also became part of a set at Annabel's in Berkeley Square. As the relationship grew more serious, Charles met Camilla's family in Plumpton and he introduced her to some members of his family. The relationship was put on hold after Charles travelled overseas to join the Royal Navy in early 1973; however, it ended abruptly afterward.

In the late 1960s, Camilla met Andrew Parker Bowles‍—‌then a Guards officer and lieutenant in the Blues and Royals— through his younger brother, Simon Parker Bowles, who worked for her father's wine firm in Mayfair. After an on and off relationship for years, Andrew and Camilla announced their engagement in The Times in 1973, marrying on 4 July that year in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks in London. Camilla was 25 years old and Parker Bowles 33. Her wedding dress was designed by British fashion house Bellville Sassoon, and the bridesmaids included Parker Bowles' goddaughter Lady Emma Herbert. It was considered the "society wedding of the year" with eight hundred guests in attendance. Royal guests present at the ceremony and reception included Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.

There have been different statements on why the couple's relationship ended in 1973. Robert Lacey wrote in his 2008 book, Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, that Charles had met Camilla too early, and that he had not asked her to wait for him when he went overseas for military duties. Sarah Bradford wrote in her 2007 book, Diana, that a member of the close circle of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten claimed Mountbatten arranged for Charles to be taken overseas to end the relationship with Camilla to make way for an engagement between Charles and his granddaughter Amanda Knatchbull. Some sources suggest Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother did not approve of the marriage because she wanted Charles to marry one of the Spencer family granddaughters of her close friend, Lady Fermoy. Other sources also suggest Camilla did not want to marry Charles but instead wanted to marry Andrew Parker Bowles since she had an on-and-off relationship with Parker Bowles that began in the late 1960s or that Charles had decided he would not marry until he was thirty years old.

The affair became public knowledge in the press a decade later, with the publication of Diana: Her True Story in 1992, followed by the Camillagate tape scandal in 1993, wherein an intimate telephone conversation between Camilla and Charles was secretly recorded and the transcripts were published in the tabloids. The book and tape immediately damaged Charles's public image. Meanwhile, the media vilified Camilla. In 1994, Charles finally spoke about his relationship with Camilla in a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby. He told Dimbleby in the interview, "Mrs. Parker Bowles is a great friend of mine...a friend for a very long time. She will continue to be a friend for a very long time." He later admitted in the interview that the relationship between him and Camilla was rekindled after his marriage had "irretrievably broken down" in 1986.

In December 1994, after 21 years of marriage, Camilla and her husband both issued divorce proceedings on the grounds they had been living separately for years. In July of that year, her mother Rosalind had died from osteoporosis, and her father later described this as a "difficult time for her". Their petition was heard and granted in January 1995 at the High Court Family Division in London. The divorce was finalised in March 1995. A year later, Andrew Parker Bowles married Rosemary Pitman (who died in 2010).

In 1994, the Duchess became a member of the National Osteoporosis Society after her mother died painfully from the disease that year. Her maternal grandmother also died from the disease in 1986. She became patron of the charity in 1997 and was appointed president in 2001 in a highly publicised event, accompanied by the Prince of Wales. In 2002, she launched a mini book, A Skeleton Guide to a Healthy you, Vitamins and Minerals which aims to help women protect themselves from the disease. The following month, she attended the Roundtable of International Women Leaders to Examine Barriers to Reimbursement for Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoporosis conference along with 13 eminent women from around the world. The event was organised by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and hosted by Queen Rania of Jordan and during it, she made her first public speech. The international conference which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together worldwide public figures to focus on osteoporosis treatment and called for government assistance around the world. In 2004, she attended another conference in Dublin, organised by the Irish Osteoporosis Society and the following year visited the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, U.S. to give a presentation on osteoporosis to high-profile health figures.

Following both of their divorces, Prince Charles declared his relationship with Camilla was, and is, "non-negotiable". Charles was aware that the relationship was receiving a lot of negative publicity, and appointed Mark Bolland—whom he had employed in 1995 to refurbish his own image‍—‌to enhance Camilla's public profile. Camilla occasionally became Charles's unofficial companion at events. In 1999, the couple made their first public appearance together at the Ritz Hotel in London, where they attended a birthday party; about two hundred photographers and reporters from around the world were there to witness them together. In 2000, she accompanied Charles to Scotland for a number of official engagements, and in 2001, she became president of the National Osteoporosis Society, which first introduced her to the public.

Camilla later met the Queen, for the first time since the relationship was made public, at the 60th birthday party of the former King of Greece, Constantine II. This meeting was seen as an apparent seal of approval by the Queen on Charles and Camilla's relationship. After a series of appearances at public and private venues, the Queen invited Camilla to her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. She sat in the royal box behind the Queen for one of the concerts at Buckingham Palace. Although Camilla maintained her residence, Ray Mill House, which she purchased in 1995, near Lacock in Wiltshire, she then moved into Clarence House, Charles's household and official residence since 2003. In 2004, Camilla accompanied Charles on almost all of his official events, including a high-profile visit together to the annual highland games in Scotland. Throughout, the media speculated on when they would announce their engagement and as time went by, polls conducted in the UK showed overall support for the marriage.

Overall, the majority of royal biographers have agreed that even if Charles and Camilla wanted to marry or did try for approval to get married, it would have been declined, because according to Charles's cousin and godmother Patricia Mountbatten, some palace courtiers at that time found Camilla unsuitable as a wife for the future king. In 2005, she stated, "With hindsight, you can say that Charles should have married Camilla when he first had the chance. They were ideally suited, we know that now. But it wasn't possible."[...] "it wouldn't have been possible, not then."[...] Nevertheless, they remained friends. In August 1979, Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA. Charles was grief-stricken by his death and allegedly relied heavily on Camilla for solace. During this period, rumours began circulating among close friends of the Parker Bowles and polo playing communities that they had rekindled their intimate relationship. A source close to Camilla confirmed that by 1980 they had indeed rekindled as lovers. However, there are also claims by royal staff it occurred earlier. Reportedly, Camilla's husband approved of the affair, while he had numerous lovers throughout their marriage. In 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.

On 10 February 2005, Clarence House announced that Camilla and the Prince of Wales were engaged; as an engagement ring, Charles gave Camilla a diamond ring that was believed to have been given to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, when she gave birth to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The ring comprises a square-cut diamond with three diamond baguettes on each side. As the future Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the prospect of Charles marrying a divorcée was seen as controversial, but with the consent of the Queen, the government, and the Church of England, the couple were able to wed. The Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, offered their best wishes in statements to the media.

The marriage was to have been on 8 April 2005, and was to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious service of blessing at St George's Chapel. However, to conduct a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue to obtain a licence for civil marriages, which it did not have. A condition of such a licence is that the licensed venue must be available for a period of one year to anyone wishing to be married there, and as the royal family did not wish to make Windsor Castle available to the public for civil marriages, the venue was changed to the town hall at Windsor Guildhall. On 4 April, it was announced that the marriage would be delayed by one day to allow the Prince of Wales and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

The Duchess of Cornwall's first solo engagement was a visit to Southampton General Hospital; she attended the Trooping the Colour for the first time in June 2005, making her appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards. The Duchess made her inaugural overseas tour, to the United States, in November 2005. During their tour in the United States, they met with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House. Afterwards they visited New Orleans to see the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and met with some of the residents whose lives were changed drastically by the hurricane. In March 2006, the couple undertook a visit to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India. She conducted the naming ceremony for HMS Astute on 8 June 2007, and, on 10 December, she did the same for the new Cunard cruise ship, MS Queen Victoria. In November 2007, the Duchess toured with the Prince of Wales on a four-day visit to Turkey. In 2008, she joined the Prince of Wales to tour the Caribbean, Japan, Brunei and Indonesia. In 2009, they embarked on a tour of Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy and Germany. Their visit to the Holy See in Italy included a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. They later visited Canada. In early 2010, they undertook a visit to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. In October 2010, she accompanied the Prince of Wales to Delhi, India for the opening of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

For her work on raising awareness of osteoporosis around the world, the Duchess was honoured with an Ethel LeFrak award in 2005 from an American charity and received the Kohn Foundation Award in 2007 from the National Osteoporosis Society. In July 2007, the Duchess opened the Duchess of Cornwall Centre for Osteoporosis at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro. The same year, King's College London awarded her an honorary fellowship for raising the profile of osteoporosis. In 2009, the National Osteoporosis Society created The Duchess of Cornwall Award, which recognises achievements in the field of osteoporosis. In 2016, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton. In 2019, the National Osteoporosis Society was renamed as the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

Legally, Camilla is Princess of Wales but she has adopted the feminine form of her husband's highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, because the title Princess of Wales became strongly associated with the previous holder of that title, Diana. If Charles becomes king, the Duchess would legally and automatically become queen consort, in accordance with English common law. Clarence House stated on the occasion of their wedding in 2005 that Camilla would adopt the style of Princess Consort instead of that of a queen, but there is no legal or historical precedent for such a title. "Princess Consort" mirrors the style of Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria. In 2018, Clarence House removed the statement regarding Camilla's proposed style from its official website. In 2020, however, Clarence House confirmed that plans for Camilla to adopt the style of Princess Consort remain unchanged.

In 2006, the Duchess launched the Big Bone walk campaign, leading 90 children and osteoporosis sufferers for a 10-mile walk and climb around Loch Muick at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland to raise money for the charity. The campaign raised £200,000 and continues almost every year as one of the fundraisers for the charity. In 2011, she appeared in the BBC Radio drama The Archers, playing herself, to raise the profile of the disease, and in 2013 teamed up with the television series Strictly Come Dancing to raise funds for the National Osteoporosis Society. By 2006 she had spoken at more than 60 functions on the disease in the UK and around the world and had also opened bone scanning units and osteoporosis centres to help sufferers of the disease. Almost every year, the Duchess attends and partakes in World Osteoporosis Day, by attending events around the UK on 20 October. She continues to attend conferences around the world and meets with health experts to further discuss the disease.

After their wedding, Clarence House became the official residence of both the Duchess and the Prince of Wales. The couple also stay at Birkhall for holiday events, and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire for family gatherings. In 2008, they took up residence at Llwynywermod, Wales, where they stay on their visit to Wales every year in the summer and for other occasions. To spend time alone with her children and grandchildren, the Duchess still maintains her home Ray Mill House, in which she resided from 1995 to 2003. The Duchess of Cornwall has three ladies-in-waiting, including long-time friend Amanda MacManus, who is her chief lady-in-waiting and also her assistant private secretary.

After visiting nine rape crisis centres in 2009 and hearing accounts from survivors, the Duchess began raising awareness and advocating ways to help victims of rape and sexual abuse to overcome and move past their trauma. According to The Times, "The stories Her Royal Highness heard on her first visit and the stories she heard subsequently have left her with a strong desire to raise awareness about rape and sexual abuse and to try to help those affected." She often speaks to victims at a rape crisis centre in Croydon and visits other centres to meet staff and victims, around the UK and during overseas tours. In 2010, alongside Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, she opened a centre in Ealing, West London for rape victims. The centre later expanded to other areas including Hillingdon, Fulham, Hounslow, and Hammersmith. In 2011, the Duchess opened the Oakwood Place Essex Sexual Assault Referral Centre at Brentwood Community Hospital in Essex.

In November 2010, the Duchess and her husband were indirectly involved in the 2010 British student protests when their car was attacked by protesters. Clarence House later released a statement on the incident: "A car carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked by protesters but the couple were unharmed." On 9 April 2012, the seventh wedding anniversary of the Duchess and the Prince of Wales, the Queen appointed the Duchess to the Royal Victorian Order. In 2015, the Prince of Wales commissioned a pub to be named after the Duchess situated at Poundbury village. The pub opened in 2016 and is named the Duchess of Cornwall Inn. On 9 June 2016, the Queen appointed the Duchess as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. She is the first British princess by marriage to be appointed in such position.

In March 2011, the Duchess went with the Prince of Wales to undertake visits in Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. The tour began in Lisbon, where the President of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva met them. In Spain, the couple were received in Madrid by the Prince and Princess of Asturias. They later met King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain. The tour finished in Rabat, Morocco, where they met the King of Morocco. In June 2011, the Duchess alone represented the British royal family at the 125th Wimbledon Tennis Championships in Wimbledon. In August 2011, the Duchess accompanied the Prince of Wales to Tottenham to visit the aftermath of the London riots. The couple later went to visit with Tottenham residents in February 2012, meeting with local shop owners six months after the riots to see how they were doing. The Duchess attended the 10th anniversary memorial service of 11 September 2001 attacks along with the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister, David Cameron, on 11 September 2011 in London. In November 2011, the Duchess travelled with the Prince of Wales to tour the Commonwealth and Arab States of the Persian Gulf. They toured South Africa and Tanzania, and met with those countries' respective presidents, Jacob Zuma and Jakaya Kikwete.

Being an avid reader, the Duchess is an advocate for literacy. She is the patron of the National Literacy Trust and other literacy charities. She often visits schools, libraries and children organisations to read to young children. Additionally, she partakes in literacy celebrations, including International Literacy Day and World Book Day. In 2011, she attended the Hay Festival to support children literacy and while there, she donated books to the Oxfam bookshop. The same year, she donated money to support the Evening Standard's literacy campaign. The Duchess has also launched and continues to launch campaigns and programmes to promote literacy. On spreading literacy the Duchess stated during a speech at an event for the National Literacy Trust in 2013, "I firmly believe in the importance of igniting a passion for reading in the next generation. I was lucky enough to have a father who was a fervent bibliophile and a brilliant storyteller too. In a world where the written word competes with so many other calls on our attention, we need more Literacy Heroes to keep inspiring young people to find the pleasure and power of reading for themselves." Since 2015, the Duchess has been involved with 500 Words, a competition launched by BBC Radio 2 for children to write and share their stories and was announced as the competition's honorary judge in 2018.

The Duchess is a supporter of animal welfare and patron of many animal welfare charities including Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and president of Brooke Hospital for Animals. She often visits other animal shelters to show her support and to see how the animals are cared for. In 2011, she adopted a rescue puppy, a Jack Russell Terrier from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and in 2012 adopted another from the shelter. Also in 2012, she opened two veterinary facilities at the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences at Langford, Somerset, which provide treatment to sick animals. In 2015, Camilla worked with department store Fortnum & Mason to sell 250 jars of honey produced by bees in her private garden in Wiltshire; the jars, priced at £20, sold out in two weeks and the proceeds were donated to the Medical Detection Dogs charity, of which she is patron. Since then, the Duchess sends a limited edition of honey every year to Fortnum & Mason, with proceeds donated to her other charities.

In March 2012, the Duchess and the Prince of Wales went to visit Norway, Sweden and Denmark to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. In May 2012, the royal couple undertook a four-day trip to Canada as part of the jubilee celebrations. In November 2012, the Duchess and the Prince of Wales visited Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for a two-week jubilee tour. During the Australian tour, they attended the 2012 Melbourne Cup, where the Duchess presented the Melbourne cup to the winner of the race. In 2013, they went on a tour to Jordan and met with King Abdullah II and his wife, Queen Rania. They visited Syrian refugee camps of the civil war. The Duchess attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in May 2013 and the same month she travelled to Paris on her first solo trip outside the UK. That same year, they attended the Enthronement of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, as well as the preceding celebrations in honour of Queen Beatrix.

She is the honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Medical Service. In this role she visited the training-ship HMS Excellent in January 2012, to award medals to naval medical teams returning from service in Afghanistan. The Duchess is also an honorary member of other patronages and in February 2012, she was elected a bencher of Gray's Inn. In February 2013, she was appointed Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, a role which is ceremonial and involves conferring graduates with their degrees and took up the office in June 2013. She is the first female chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and only member of the royal family to hold the post since it was created in 1860. In 2015, her presidency of WOW (Women of the World Festival), an annual festival that celebrates the achievements of women and girls as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world, notably domestic violence, was announced. In 2020, she became vice-patron of the Royal Academy of Dance, of which the Queen is patron.

In 2013, she held a meeting at Clarence House which brought together rape victims and rape support groups. Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Theresa May were guests at the occasion. At the occasion, she introduced a plan to help the victims: about 750 wash-bags, created by her Clarence House staff and packed with luxury toiletries, were distributed to victims at the centres. The Duchess thought of the gesture after she visited a centre in Derbyshire and asked victims what they would like to help them feel at ease after the trauma and forensic examinations. According to Clarence House, the event was the first meeting of high-profile figures to focus exclusively on rape and sexual abuse subjects. The same year, the Duchess travelled to Northern Ireland and opened The Rowan, a sexual assault and referral centre at Antrim Area Hospital which was the first centre to provide help and comfort to rape and sexual abuse victims in Northern Ireland. In May 2014, during the Royal Tour of Canada, the Duchess privately met with two women who had left violent homes and were provided long-term support and shelter by Alice House of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In March 2016, during a tour to the Western Balkans with her husband, the Duchess visited UNICEF programmes in Montenegro and while there, she discussed child sexual abuse and was shown an exclusive preview of a new app designed to protect children from online sexual abuse. The following year, the Duchess partnered with retail and pharmacy chain Boots to create a line of wash-bags which will be given to sexual assault referral centres around the UK.

The Duchess supports organisations around the world working on poverty and homelessness. She is the patron of Emmaus UK, and in 2013 during her solo trip to Paris, she went to see the work done by the charity in that city. Every year around Christmas, she visits Emmaus communities across the UK. In a similar vein, the Duchess is a staunch supporter of credit unions, which she states are a "real force for change in the financial landscape, serve the people, not profit" and "provide a friendly financial community where members mutually benefit from advice, as well as savings accounts and loans." She also supports healthy-eating, anti-FGM, arts and heritage related organisations and programmes.

In June 2014, the Duchess and the Prince of Wales attended the 70th anniversary celebrations of D-Day in Normandy, France, and embarked on a nine-day tour to Mexico and Colombia in November of that year. In May 2015, the Duchess and the Prince of Wales visited Northern Ireland and undertook their first joint trip to the Republic of Ireland. In April 2018, the couple toured Australia and attended the opening of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. They also toured West African countries, Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria in November 2018. In March 2019, at the request of the British government, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall went on an official tour to Cuba, making them the first British royalty to visit the country. The tour was seen as effort to form a closer relationship between the UK and Cuba.

In the years after her marriage, the Duchess of Cornwall has developed her own style and tried outfits and ensembles by notable fashion designers. She is said to prefer "signature tea and shirt dress styles" and favours "tones of nude, white and navy" and "round necklines". She has also been praised for her jewellery collections. In 2018, Tatler named her on its list of Britain's best dressed people, praising her for her hat choices which have given "millinery a good name".