Crowning Camilla: Her transformation from ‘other woman’ scorn to queen consort | World news

When Camilla, Britain’s beloved queen, is crowned alongside her husband next week, the moment will mark the end of a dramatic – and emotional – transformation in five decades of a figure once scorned as another woman and considered a liability. great to England. monarchy.

With the coronation of King Charles III days away and her first seven months on the throne under her belt, many in Britain have grown to accept Camilla, although some experts and observers say she will always walk in the shadow of her predecessor.

“Without really trying, but by giving it time and going slowly, slowly, he has managed to show the real person that he is – that he is not this bad character, and that he is there to do hard work,” Ingrid Seward, editor -head of Majesty magazine. “But the most important thing about Camilla is the way she appears to support her husband and support him.”

Camilla, 75, has been relentlessly singled out by the tabloids for years. Seward said he earned respect by keeping his head down and willingly getting on with his duties. She won over much of the British public with her attitude to the earth and her charity work, particularly against domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse – causes she said she would continue to support as queen.

But some say he will never fully shake his name as the third man in the marriage between Charles and Princess Diana.

“I would really argue that she is another woman, and she will be another woman,” said Arianne Chernock, a professor specializing in modern British history at Boston University. “Diana will be very much a presence in the room at Westminster. Abbey on May 6 – I think it’s hard not to see it when you look at Charles and Camilla.

“And the challenge is still ahead, especially as Queen Camilla, which is unexpected at one point.”

Camilla Rosemary Shand – born on July 17, 1947 to a family with long ties to the British royal family – reportedly first met Charles at a polo match in 1970, when she was 23. The couple quickly became close, but their love stopped when Charles left. on boat service.

In his absence, Camilla married her longtime boyfriend, Andrew Parker-Bowles, in 1973. Charles married Diana in 1981. In the early 90s, Diana went public with her displeasure of Charles and Camilla’s relationship. The following extraordinary details caused the royal family to be insulted.

Camilla and her husband divorced in 1995, shortly after Charles gave an explosive television interview admitting the affair. Charles and Diana divorced the following year. In 1997, Diana died in a car accident; An international outpouring of grief followed. Camilla and Charles waited until 2005 to marry in a private city ceremony.

Mindful of the public hostility towards Camilla, palace officials carefully controlled her public appearances over the decades. Camilla makes dozens of official visits with charities each year, and her warm and easy-going personality in connecting with people no doubt helps to improve her image; those who have met him often describe him as warm, innocent and loving.

“When you meet him, he doesn’t seem like he’s outside in any way,” Seward said. “It’s always the same as it is. And I think this is one of the greatest assets. “

The sensitivity of Camilla’s position as Charles’ second wife long made the question of what title she would take when she became king a subject of debate. Queen Elizabeth II resolved the issue last year, when she blessed Camilla to be known as Queen. The approval was widely seen as a formal sign that the royal family had finally accepted Camilla as a respected senior member.

Earlier this month, royal invitations from Buckingham Palace referred to Camilla as “Queen Camilla” for the first time. Queen consorts don’t exactly share royal powers, and dropping the “consort” part of the title won’t change that. However, the change marks another step in Camilla’s long road to revamping her image.

But the change in its title “doesn’t necessarily suggest full public approval,” Chernock said. “Camilla, no matter what she does, will always be different.”

In March, Camilla stunned the crowd on her first state visit as queen, donning the Queen Mother’s diamond tiara and a diamond necklace from Elizabeth II for a state party in Berlin.

Her image overhaul hit a snag when her son-in-law, Prince Harry, stirred up old grievances and painted her as a “long game” activist, with a campaign aimed at “marriage and coronation.”

In his memoir “Spare” and in interviews promoting the book, Harry accused Camilla of trading private information about him and others to the media as part of a drive to make friendly relations with the press and improve his reputation. .

Harry said he and his brother, Prince William, had urged their father not to marry Camilla, but they both slowly accepted her into their lives.

Camilla’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, hit out at Harry’s claims last week: “I don’t care what anyone says – this is not any kind of end game. He married the one he loved, and this is what happened.”

Camilla rarely talks about her private life. In an interview with British Vogue last year, she admitted that “we were diagnosed for so long that you just had to find a way to live with it.”

“No one likes to be looked at all the time and, you know, criticized,” he said. “But I think in the end, I’ve risen above it and got on with it.”

She focuses her energy on the causes she champions: promoting children’s literacy and animal welfare, and speaking out about domestic sexual abuse and gender-based violence.

Chernock said that while Camilla and Charles’ years of advancement meant they had limited time to reshape views of the monarchy, it was not too late for him to tackle more complex subjects and win big.

He said, “You have this amazing world before you, this great platform.” He suggested that the couple could “provide a space for some more challenging conversations that not just British, but global audiences want the royal family to have.” now – especially questions about the legacies of racism, slavery, elitism.”

But Seward believed that he could be too sensitive for a woman who believed she had no hope of becoming queen.

“He’s going to continue with all these charities, but he’s going to get bombarded with a lot more,” he said. “He wouldn’t be able to comment much and he wouldn’t really want to be because, you know, everyone who cares knows what he already thinks.

“He’s just going to get on with it. And that’s really his mantra. “