William & Camilla INSIDE THEIR COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP

It hasn't been an easy road for Prince William and Queen Camilla. Insiders tell Us where King Charles' two closest allies currently stand

- JAIME HARKIN

Much has been written about the first time Prince William met Camilla Parker Bowles in 1998. The two were introduced by William's father, King Charles, at his Clarence House residence when William then 17 and studying at Eton headed home for a weekend break. "She was shaking like a leaf," royal expert Christopher Andersen, the author of The King: The Life of Charles III, tells Us of the now Queen Consort. "As soon as William left, she said she needed a gin and tonic."

Camilla was previously known to William, his brother, Harry, and the world at large as the Other Woman. She and Charles famously had an affair during his marriage to Princess Diana (and Camilla's marriage to ex Andrew Parker Bowles). After their respective divorces and Diana's tragic passing in 1997 Charles and Camilla officially became a couple. The dynamic between Camilla, 77, and William, 42, has been a layered- and ever-evolving - one since.

In late July, it was revealed William had removed Camilla's sister, Annabel Elliot, from the Duchy of Cornwall payroll-she'd spent nearly two decades serving as Charles' chief interior designer. While Andersen acknowledges some ongoing tension between William and his stepmother, he maintains the decision wasn't a snub and calls it an "inevitable" business move. "William wants his own team in there," he says. Two sources tell Us William and Camilla have come a long way- especially in recent months in light of Charles and Princess Kate's health battles (Charles, 75, revealed his cancer diagnosis in February; Kate, 42, opened up about hers in March). "William has warmed up to Camilla over time," says a Parker Bowles family friend, with a source adding that the duo have "a familial relationship these days."

Fractured Past