CROWNED TOGETHER - Against all odds

The path to the throne has not been smooth for Charles and Camilla. Woman looks at the unconventional love story of the King and his Queen Consort

- ANNA MATHESON

For the then Prince Charles, it was love at first sight when he met Camilla Shand at a charity polo match in 1970. The pair, both in their early 20s, are said to have hit it off immediately, but the course of their love has not run smoothly. More than half a century on, they are King and Queen Consort, but marriage and a joint reign was not always on the cards.

Star-crossed lovers

Charles, now 74, may have been smitten with Camilla, 75, when they met, but she wasn’t deemed a suitable match for the young Prince. Camilla was in the midst of an affair with Andrew Parker Bowles and was thought too experienced to be Princess of Wales. Charles’ godfather, Lord Mountbatten, is said to have written in a letter to Charles, ‘I think it is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage.’ Charles was shipped off for Navy service overseas, while in 1973, Camilla married Parker Bowles, going on to have two children. Charles’ marriage to Diana followed in 1981.

Clandestine affair