His great-uncle walked away from his destiny as king because he couldn’t be with the woman he loved. Thankfully, Charles III has not had to make the tough choice between the throne and the divorced love of his life like Edward VIII did.
Thanks to changing attitudes and rules, our King has started his reign with Queen Camilla by his side, and with her support, he has vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to duty. It could have been a different story had the Monarch (who in this case happens to be divorced himself) still been banned from marrying a divorcée.
It’s impossible to say what Charles, 74, would have done had he been forced to choose between Camilla and the Crown like Edward had to opt for either Wallis Simpson or being Sovereign back in 1936. It’s just fortunate that he can get on with the job without having to worry about rules that dictate who a monarch can and can’t marry.
Those who know Charles well say he’ll be a better king with Camilla, 75, as his queen.
“Camilla is a great source of strength for the King,” says royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. “They have been through so much together and she can provide him with reassurance when he needs it. She makes him very happy and that’s good for everyone.”
The King acknowledged the important role his wife will play in the speech he gave after becoming monarch following the death of his mother Elizabeth II in September last year.
“I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla,” he said. “I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.”
The time between accession to the throne and the coronation – eight months in this case – can often feel like waiting in a holding pattern. While Charles did hit the ground running after he became monarch, now that he and Camilla have been crowned, they can really start putting their mark on this reign. It’s likely to be very different to anything we’ve previously seen, say royal insiders, because Charles has some very definite ideas about the monarchy he wants to head and he’s had a very long time to figure out what changes he’ll need to make.
The King has been very open about the fact he wants to streamline the monarchy and make it more cost effective. That means cutting down the number of working royals to a bare minimum – apart from himself and Camilla, those shouldering the weight of responsibility will be the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, the Princess Royal, Anne, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward and Sophie.
It also means introducing wide-ranging efficiencies. According to biographer Christopher Andersen, Buckingham Palace staff will be reduced, responsibilities reassigned and many of the King’s tasks will be delegated to others, so he has more time to “plough through the red boxes of state that consume so much of the Sovereign’s time”.
Camilla will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the monarchy. “That’s an area where Charles will take the lead,” says royal writer Angela Levin. “Camilla will not interfere.”
But it is likely she will be a sounding board for the King. While he’ll seek advice on constitutional matters from experienced aides, he’s bound to ask his wife’s opinion on other topics.
Camilla is a wise and down-to-earth person who is a great foil to her husband because she did not grow up with the same background of extreme privilege, says Angela. She led a relatively normal life until she married into the royal family aged 57, making it easier for her to understand “how ordinary people live and the problems they face”.
“She’s at ease talking to people of all ages and from all backgrounds. She can speak effortlessly with people who are destitute, poor or seriously ill.”
To get to where she is today, Camilla has had to overcome very negative public perceptions of her due to having had an affair with Charles while he was still married to his first wife, the late Princess Diana. But the public has warmed to her over the years, impressed by her dedication to the job and how genuinely caring she is.
“With Camilla, you don’t get the feeling that she chooses what she does to try to boost her image,” says Angela. “She is not a snob and doesn’t apologise for who she is and what she likes. Together, she and the King make a great team.”
