An easier wife for Charles?
Apr 07, 2005
She has had bread rolls thrown at her, been called a “Rottweilerâ€, “Cowmilla†or “Duchess Dracula†and has smiled through it all
Camilla Parker
She has had bread rolls thrown at her, been called a “Rottweilerâ€, “Cowmilla†or “Duchess Dracula†and has smiled through it all.
Camilla Parker Bowles, soon to be the wife of Prince Charles and the second most senior woman at the British court, has endured her share of humiliation and display of public disaffection.
In the 35 years she has been acquainted with the heir to the British throne, hardly anyone has ever heard her voice. Camilla, 57, while behind the scene might greatly influence the future king.
Nonetheless, Camilla, who is supposed to have greeted her prince on their first encounter with the words: “My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather, so what about it?†Alice Keppel, Camilla’s great-grandmother, was the lover of King Edward VII, before the first World War. Camilla Shand, born in London on July 17, 1947, is of solid middle-class background. Her well-to-do parents sent her to a private school for girls in London, rounding off her education with a socially desirable spell at a Swiss finishing school.
Her 88-year-old widowed father, Maj Bruce Shand, who became a prisoner of war in 1942, is expected to attend the wedding. Camilla never learnt a profession, but involved herself in charity work after her mother’s suffering from osteoporosis, a bone disease. For Charles, Camilla has all the qualities he so sorely missed in his first wife.
Unlike Princess Diana, Camilla does not own 600 pairs of shoes or 400 hats and rather than seeing herself in a competing role, she supports and consoles the man she calls “Charlieâ€. Camilla had already started her affair with Charles when she married Andrew Parker Bowles. They have two children, Tom, 30, and Laura, 25. Bowles remarried a year after his divorce from Camilla in 1995. Since then, Laura and Tom have moved regularly in their mother’s circle and over the years are said to have become close to the Princes William and Harry. While some royal-watchers believe Camilla can’t win the hearts of the British, others say she might have a positive effect on the court after decades of turmoil.
“She will probably be the most sensible person to join the inner circle of the royal family in the last 20 yearsâ€, said one.
dpa
She has had bread rolls thrown at her, been called a “Rottweilerâ€, “Cowmilla†or “Duchess Dracula†and has smiled through it all.
Camilla Parker Bowles, soon to be the wife of Prince Charles and the second most senior woman at the British court, has endured her share of humiliation and display of public disaffection.
In the 35 years she has been acquainted with the heir to the British throne, hardly anyone has ever heard her voice. Camilla, 57, while behind the scene might greatly influence the future king.
Nonetheless, Camilla, who is supposed to have greeted her prince on their first encounter with the words: “My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather, so what about it?†Alice Keppel, Camilla’s great-grandmother, was the lover of King Edward VII, before the first World War. Camilla Shand, born in London on July 17, 1947, is of solid middle-class background. Her well-to-do parents sent her to a private school for girls in London, rounding off her education with a socially desirable spell at a Swiss finishing school.
Her 88-year-old widowed father, Maj Bruce Shand, who became a prisoner of war in 1942, is expected to attend the wedding. Camilla never learnt a profession, but involved herself in charity work after her mother’s suffering from osteoporosis, a bone disease. For Charles, Camilla has all the qualities he so sorely missed in his first wife.
Unlike Princess Diana, Camilla does not own 600 pairs of shoes or 400 hats and rather than seeing herself in a competing role, she supports and consoles the man she calls “Charlieâ€. Camilla had already started her affair with Charles when she married Andrew Parker Bowles. They have two children, Tom, 30, and Laura, 25. Bowles remarried a year after his divorce from Camilla in 1995. Since then, Laura and Tom have moved regularly in their mother’s circle and over the years are said to have become close to the Princes William and Harry. While some royal-watchers believe Camilla can’t win the hearts of the British, others say she might have a positive effect on the court after decades of turmoil.
“She will probably be the most sensible person to join the inner circle of the royal family in the last 20 yearsâ€, said one.
dpa