Following the announcement of King Charles' shock cancer diagnosis this week, all eyes have turned to his wife, Queen Camilla.
Just days after the pair marked World Cancer Day by sharing a post on X and the Queen opened a new cancer support centre at Royal Free Hospital, the two remain "wholly positive" in light of the unexpected news — as per the Buckingham Palace statement.
“They are an incredibly strong unit. They are each other’s greatest support and she will be a complete rock for Charles as he undergoes treatment and hopefully makes a full and complete recovery,” says Katie Nicholl, author of The New Royals and Vanity Fair Royal Editor, on the distressing news.
Last week the King stepped back from public-facing duties while undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate, which is when the abnormality was first picked up. Since then the Queen has already been taking on a more active role, and will continue to do so for the near-future.
“We’ve already seen her ability to step up to the plate, taking on an increased workload and being visible when the King has not been able to be. We saw that last week with her carrying out engagements in Bath, Cambridge and Windsor,” Nicholl says. “She is standing in for the monarch and her presence is very reassuring for the British public — in the sense that if she was out and about then the King must be fine.”
Still, Nicholl notes that while she will be there to support her husband and keep the royal show on the road, “this will be devastating for her because this is not just the King, this is the man that she loves and adores and she will be deeply worried about this.”
Charles’ cancer diagnosis is yet another blow in the pair’s long and often challenging relationship. Having first met at a polo match at Windsor Great Park in 1970, where the two joked about their sordid family connection, with Camilla saying: “My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common.” They have since found themselves embroiled in one of the biggest royal scandals in modern history.
Despite Camilla marrying army cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, while Charles proposed to Diana Spencer in 1981 (reportedly in Camilla’s garden), the two remained close and firmly in one another’s lives — so much so that Charles is Camilla's son Tom’s godfather.
“They were a relationship that was never really allowed to get off because it wasn't deemed appropriate when she was Camilla Shand, which turned into an adulterous affair during Charles’ marriage to Diana that ultimately threatened to unhinge the monarchy because it was a scandal at the time,” says Nicholl.
According to Charles’ authorised biography, he began an affair with Camilla in 1986, which came to head in Andrew Morton’s explosive 1992 book Diana: Her Story that publicly revealed multiple instances of Charles’ betrayal. The public turned on Camilla, and continued to do so as further now-infamous interviews aired in 1995. Namely, Martin Bashir’s now-discredited BBC Panorama where he asked Diana if Camilla was a factor in the breakdown of her marriage. “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” she responded.
After the death of the Princess Diana in 1997, the now King and Queen faced many hurdles when it came to publicly legitimising their relationship — with the late Queen Elizabeth initially not approving of their relationship, and even declining to attend a private 50th birthday party for Charles because Camilla would be there. It wasn’t until 2000 that the Queen granted her official approval by accepting an invitation to the King of Greece’s 60th birthday party in which Camilla would be in attendance.
In February 2005 Charles and Camilla announced their engagement — 35 years after they first met. Following a civil ceremony, which the Queen did not attend, Camilla gained the title Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall. It was also decided that she would receive the title of Princess Consort instead of Queen once Charles was crowned.
“It has stood the test of time. They have stuck together through thick and thin, and they are each other’s greatest champions and she will be with him every step of the way,” says Nicholl, who adds that it was the late Queen Elizabeth herself who used her own 70th accession anniversary speech to make it publicly known that it was her wish for Camilla to be known as Queen Consort.
“It was certainly always Charles’ intention that Camilla would be Queen. Even though at the time of their wedding we were told she would be styled as Princess Consort, she was always going to be his Queen,” continues Nicholl, who adds that by the time of the coronation she wasn’t crowned Queen Consort Camilla, she was known as Queen Camilla.
“She was the mistress who wreaked havoc within the royal family, who had caused the breakdown of the Wales marriage. It’s not just the metamorphosis of a title, it‘s the metamorphosis of her whole public image,” says Nicholl on the stunning transformation. “Having quietly and diligently worked in the sidelines and being committed to the crown and to duty — to have been like Philip was, one step behind the monarch, but always there for him to lean on. The public has moved on from all the negative connotations of the past which, you know, was 25 years ago.”
In fact, Nicholl argues that today many look at the relationship as “the ultimate love story because it has stood through those challenges and obstacles”, and is certain (as are many) that they will once again overcome this latest challenge.
