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The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are set to depart for the Republic of Ireland next week. The pair will visit the country between March 23 and 25, as announced last month. This tour represents one of the four being undertaken by senior royals as part of celebrations to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Queen has not taken part in overseas trips for several years and has recently recovered after testing positive for COVID-19.
Charles and Camilla will also be travelling to Rwanda in June to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The royal couple are taking on more responsibility as the Queen eases her schedule of in-person royal engagements.
However, the Duchess of Cornwall had to work hard for her place next to Charles.
Charles and Camilla first met in the early 1970s but, despite clicking immediately, their relationship did not progress in the way they had hoped.
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Katie Nicholl, royal editor at Vanity Fair, claimed Charles sought “the approval” of the senior royals, particularly the Queen Mother, but was let down when Camilla was deemed unsuitable as a royal bride.
Speaking during the 2020 Channel 5 documentary, ‘Charles & Camilla: King and Queen in Waiting’, she said: “They clicked immediately. There was a chemistry between the two of them and really, I think probably Charles fell in love with Camilla from the moment that he met her.
“In many ways, she did tick the right boxes for a future consort for the Prince of Wales.”
However, this was not enough, as the Queen, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother did not approve.
Ms Nicholl continued: “It’s fair to say that the senior royals and certainly the important figures in Charles’ life — his mother, his father and the Queen Mother, who Charles was incredibly close to, he always turned to for advice and would certainly have wanted the seal of approval from — they certainly didn’t think that she was suitable royal bride material.”
Despite their feelings for each other, Charles and Camilla went their separate ways.
Journalist and broadcaster Emily Andrews added: “The heir to the throne nearly always was encouraged to go for a wife who was whiter than white.
“And it was viewed very much that Camilla did have too much of a colourful past and therefore was too much of a potential embarrassment.”
Both Charles and Camilla went on to marry other people — the Prince of Wales married Princess Diana and the Duchess married Andrew Parker Bowles.
Prince Charles’ marriage to Princess Diana famously fell apart in the 1990s, and Camilla’s marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles also ended in divorce.
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However, it would be several years before Charles would call Camilla his wife, as the couple did not tie the knot until 2005.
Upon her marriage, Camilla took on a royal title as Duchess of Cornwall, and she became a working member of the Royal Family.
The Queen Mother passed away in 2002 and did not get to see his grandson marry Camilla.
Soon after, the Daily Mail reported that the Duchess would have the Queen Mother’s priceless platinum and diamond crown placed on her head during the coronation.
Camilla has worked to make her own role within the Royal Family by championing her own causes and interests, including helping victims of domestic abuse.
Speaking on an episode of Woman’s Hour last month, Camilla said she would continue to give a voice to the victims of abuse as Queen Consort.
She said: “I hope I shall be doing it for a lifetime.”
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