How King Charles and his ‚darling‘ Queen Camilla have navigated their 50-year love affair as they mark 20th wedding anniversary | UK News

Exactly 20 years ago today, the now King and Queen were married in a small, private civil ceremony in Windsor.

The wedding, which was eight years after Princess Diana’s death, divided the nation – with royal aides even fearing the newlyweds might have things thrown at them.

But on 9 April 2025, life is very different for the couple, who have appeared relaxed and happy this week on their first royal visit to Italy as King and Queen.

In recent years, they have navigated the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the King’s ill-health, increasing Republican sentiment across the Commonwealth, and strained relationships with family members at home and abroad.

Here we look at their five-decade relationship – and how things have changed since they got married.

‚They hold each other up‘

The late Queen Elizabeth II famously referred to the Duke of Edinburgh as her „strength and stay“ during their 73-year marriage.

In Charles and Camilla’s relationship, humour plays a big role in coping with the demands of royal life, Kristina Kyriacou, who served as the King’s communications secretary from 2009 to 2018, tells Sky News.

„I would often see them laughing with one another – at some engagements they’d even take to the dance floor together,“ she says.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are like „bookends“ to one another, former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole tells Sky News.

„They hold each other up. They’re very devoted to one another,“ he says.

Fears eggs would be thrown at wedding

But it hasn’t always been easy – as many longstanding royal watchers will remember.

When they were married, in the eyes of some, Camilla was still the „third person“ in her husband’s previous marriage to Princess Diana.

With the late Queen’s blessing to take her title when she died in 2022, Queen Camilla is now part of the „bedrock“ of the Royal Family, according to royal experts.

During a rare interview with British Vogue to mark her 75th birthday in 2022, the Queen recalled: „I was scrutinised for such a long time that you just have to find a way to live with it.

„Nobody likes to be looked at all the time and criticised. But I think in the end, I sort of rise above it and get on with it.“

Amid lingering public discontent over the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, his second wedding was a muted affair.

It was held at the Windsor Guildhall and not broadcast live on television. Charles didn’t wear his military garb and Camilla didn’t wear white.

The late Queen didn’t attend the ceremony but was there for the reception at Windsor Castle.

Mr Cole says: „Buckingham Palace had a real fear they would have eggs thrown at them, so the ceremonial parades were kept to a minimum.“

Camilla, out of respect for Diana, took Duchess of Cornwall as her title, not Princess of Wales. Almost two decades later, however, she received the ultimate symbol of approval when the late Queen ruled that Camilla would replace her as Queen when she died.

„They’ve just gone out there consistently and done their job and I think they’ve earned respect for that,“ Ms Kyriacou says. „Eventually memories fade and people instead accept people for who they are.“

„It was all done gradually,“ Mr Cole says. „Step by step, the idea that they were together was introduced to the public.“

So how did it all begin?

Failed first relationship

The relationship stretches back 55 years, to when Prince Charles and Camilla Shand are thought to have met for the first time at a polo match in London in 1970.

Camilla, the daughter of an esteemed military officer, had been in an on-off relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, a captain with The Blues and Royals regiment of the British Army.

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Charles had only been officially invested with the title of the Prince of Wales a year earlier and was fresh out of Cambridge University and RAF training.

Having bonded over a shared love of polo and countryside pursuits, they dated for around two years before the prince left to join the Navy and Camilla rekindled her romance with Mr Parker Bowles, marrying him a year later in 1973.

Over the years, many have cited the now King’s military commitments as the reason their initial relationship broke down.

But Mr Cole recalls it differently. „It would be wrong to say that he ‚missed the bus‘ and could have married her then, but hesitated,“ he says. „The fact was she loved Andrew Parker Bowles.“

He adds that at that point, Camilla would not have been considered by the Queen and her advisers to be a suitable bride for the heir to the throne because she had a „past“ (as it was put then) – meaning earlier relationships before meeting Charles.

‚Third person‘ in Charles and Diana’s marriage

In the years that followed, the young Prince Charles was under pressure to marry and began dating Lady Diana Spencer, the younger sister of his ex-girlfriend Sarah.

By that stage, Camilla had given birth to two children, Tom in 1974 and Laura in 1978.

Diana famously told Newsnight in 1995 that „there were three of us in this marriage“ – the third person being Camilla.

Charles admitted adultery in a 1994 interview with Jonathan Dimbleby – a precursor to Diana’s explosive Newsnight interview. He confessed he had been unfaithful after their marriage „irretrievably broke down“.

Further evidence came in the form of the „Tampongate“ tape, a recording of a phone call between Charles and Camilla in which they exchanged sexual innuendos.

While the contents of the call weren’t leaked until 1993 – a year after Charles and Diana announced their separation – the conversation reportedly took place in 1989, when they were both married to other people.

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Charles Anson, former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 1990 to 1997, says that while it wasn’t palace business to be commenting on private relationships, it was an „issue“ that had to be navigated carefully.

„It was a feature of life at that time and therefore something that needed to be handled,“ he says. „Prince Charles and Camilla were part of the landscape.“

According to Mr Cole, it was always Charles driving their relationship in the early days.

„She was happy with her life in the countryside, with her children, and would have been quite happy to remain his mistress – she didn’t expect anything else,“ he says. „But for Charles it was non-negotiable, he had to have her.“

Going public

The breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage dominated headlines as one of the biggest news stories of its time.

It wasn’t until after Diana died that Charles and Camilla officially appeared in public together – at a birthday party for Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot at the Ritz Hotel in early 1999.

However, a month before Diana’s death in Paris in the summer of 1997, Charles threw a birthday party for Camilla at his Gloucestershire country home, Highgrove.

The late Queen did not attend. She reportedly only agreed to formally meet Camilla in 2000.

Standing the test of time

Mr Anson, former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II from 1990 to 1997, now describes their relationship as the „bedrock of the monarchy“.

Ultimately, it’s their love for one another which has seen their „partnership stand the test of time“, Ms Kyriacou says.

„I remember King Charles consistently referring to Queen Camilla as his ‚darling wife‘. And that’s very touching – and it’s how I will remember them on their 20th wedding anniversary.“

In her Vogue interview, the Queen revealed they always try to make quality time for one another.

„It’s not easy sometimes, but we do always try to have a point in the day when we meet,“ she said. „Sometimes it’s like ships passing in the night, but we always sit down together and have a cup of tea and discuss the day.“

Ms Kyriacou remembers this, telling Sky News: „They don’t do every single engagement together, but no matter what, they will try to share breakfast or dinner.

„Being a member of the Royal Family is a privileged position but my impression was that it must also be very lonely when you are constantly under intense public scrutiny – your inner circle is so small. So to have someone you can trust implicitly, who you can share everything with and who understands that is what carries them through.“

This has likely been even more important as the King navigates his cancer treatment, she adds.

„For over 50 years of public life he has been indefatigable in terms of how many engagements he takes on,“ Ms Kyriacou says.

„So he tries not to draw attention to himself. He tells people just enough, but he’s still trying to be humorous, compassionate, affable. And the Queen understands this – that he cannot let his emotions come first – that his public persona has to stay very neutral.“

But she will also use that „mutual respect“ to be firm with him about what he needs.

„Particularly in these times of ill-health, I should imagine the Queen can temper the King’s workaholic nature and make strong suggestions to him to take more time to relax,“ she says.

„Everything challenging they’ve been through will almost certainly have been halved because they’ve gone through it together.“