On April 9, 2025, King Charles and Queen Camilla will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.
In honour of the momentous occasion, we’re looking back at how the royal couple first met as well as how their infamous affair turned into a 20-year long marriage.
How did Charles and Camilla meet?
In 1970, the then-Prince Charles and the then-Camilla Rosemary Shand first crossed paths at a polo match in Windsor.
The two quickly became friends and went on to date.
But the romance was short lived.
This is because Charles faced mounting pressure from the royal family to marry someone deemed ‘appropriate,’ and it’s widely believed that Queen Elizabeth II didn’t view Camilla as a fitting choice – mainly because her background wasn’t traditionally aristocratic.
Plus, in 1971, Charles departed to serve in the Royal Navy.
The long distance, as well as the aforementioned pressure, broke Charles and Camilla up.
And so, in 1973, Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, and in 1981, Charles married Diana Spencer.
Of course, Charles and Camilla ended up having a now-infamous affair.
According to Charles’ authorised biography, The Prince of Wales: A Biography by Johnathan Dimbleby, the affair began in 1986.
However, the news of the affair didn’t break until seven years later.
A very intimate phone call the two of them had in 1989 was secretly recorded, and the audio and transcript was made public in 1993.
However, Charles and Diana had already separated by this point; the then-Prime Minister John Major officially announced their split in 1992.
Charles and Diana’s divorce was formalised in 1996, a year after Camilla and Andrew formally divorced in 1995.
When did Charles and Camilla get married?
It’s not known when Charles and Camilla got back together after their respective divorces.
But they made their first public appearance together in 1999.
Four years later, in 2003, Charles and Camilla moved into Clarence House, located in Westminster, London.
And in February 2005, the couple announced their engagement.
On April 9, 2005, Charles and Camilla tied the knot in a small civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
Prince William, Charles’ eldest son, was the best man.
After the wedding, Camilla took the title ‘Duchess of Cornwall.’
She was entitled to take ‘Princess of Wales,’ but out of respect for Diana, who died in a tragic car crash in 1997, opted not to.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, Charles and Camilla became the King and Queen Consort of England.
And after the coronation in May 2023, the palace officially dropped ‘consort’ from Camilla’s title.
Why did the Queen not attend Charles and Camilla’s wedding?
Queen Elizabeth did not attend Charles and Camilla’s wedding.
At the time, the palace released a statement that read:
“The Queen decided not to attend the civil ceremony at Windsor’s Guildhall because the couple wanted to keep the ceremony low-key and her presence would not allow that to happen.”
Queen Elizabeth did attend the reception held after the wedding ceremony though. In fact, she hosted it.
