Love against ALL ODDS

In a time for romance, we take a look at the royal couples who almost didn’t get their happily ever after

Fred and Gladys

In May, KingCharles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned alongside one another, but their love match wasn’t always on the cards. Though Charles is said to have fallen head over heels with Camilla Shand when he first laid eyes on her at a polo match in 1970, when they were both in their early 20s, their relationship wasn’t plain sailing. A young Charles wasn’t ready to settle down, and Camilla – who wasn’t deemed a suitable match – was in the midst of an on-again, off-again relationship with her future husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. While love still blossomed, its course didn’t run smooth; Charles’ Navy service and Camilla’s wedding to Andrew Parker Bowles, plus the future King’s betrothal to Lady Diana Spencer, saw the lovers torn apart. But by the time Charles, now 74, wed Diana in 1981, Camilla is reported to have been very much back in the picture. Or as the late Diana described it, ‘There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.’ In 1992, the then Prince and Princess of Wales separated; finalising their divorce just a year before Diana’s tragic death in 1997. Camilla’s own divorce was finalised in 1995, and in 1998, Charles and Camilla were, finally, officially recognised as a couple, marrying in 2005. Fred and Gladys, as they affectionately call one another, have stood by each other, and the country, ever since.