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The now Duchess of Cornwall has grown in popularity inside the Royal Family and the country over the past decades, after showing her dedication to the Crown and Prince Charles. However, her relationship with the Queen was initially troubled, according to royal commentator and biographer Andrew Morton.
In an extract from his new book The Queen, Mr Morton detailed the evolving ties between Camilla and the sovereign.
He claimed that, in the late 1970s, while Prince Charles was looking for a suitable wife to one day become Queen Consort, the monarch gave the order not to invite Camilla to any royal event.
At the time, Mr Morton wrote, Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles – a major in the Blues and Royals regiment – but was also entertaining a relationship with the Prince of Wales.
The author claimed the Queen was told members of the regiment were “unhappy” about Charles being in a relationship with the wife of one of their majors.
While a direct confrontation with Charles or Camilla would have been “totally out of character” for the Queen, according to courtiers reported by Mr Morton, the sovereign did act to put a distance between the Royal Household and the then Mrs Parker Bowles.
In an extract from his upcoming biography published by the Mail on Sunday, Mr Morton wrote: “She did, however, put out the word that Mrs Parker Bowles was not to be invited to any Royal events, and that included Charles’s 30th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 1978. The Queen Mother followed suit.
“Camilla had, in effect, been ‘cancelled’ by the highest in the land, and there was nothing her Royal lover could do about it.”
Prince Charles and Camilla’s relationship reportedly cooled down during the first years of marriage between the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana.
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Even after both the marriages of Camilla and Charles ended, in 1995 and 1996 respectively, the ban on Mrs Parker Bowles’ attendance at royal events at Buckingham Palace had remained in place.
Camilla was not invited to Prince Charles’s official 50th birthday party at the Queen’s London residence, Mr Morton claimed, and both the sovereign and Prince Philip “declined to attend” the bash the prince’s future wife co-hosted at Highgrove on the night of his birthday in November 1998.
The ice between the Queen and Camilla eventually started to thaw between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In April 2005, Camilla and Prince Charles married during a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall after receiving the blessing from the Queen.
Since becoming Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla has embraced her royal role in support of the Crown, the Prince of Wales and her patronages.
Her royal work focuses on, among other topics on literacy, supporting victims of domestic abuse.
Last week, Camilla became patron of Book Aid International, an association which had been previously supported by the late Duke of Edinburgh.
In recent months, the Queen made two clear demonstrations of her affection and admiration for the Duchess.
Camilla was appointed Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter at the end of last year, the highest-possible honour she could have been awarded from the sovereign.
This order, founded by Edward III in 1348, is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system and sees the sovereign appointing its members on the basis of their extraordinary work.
Moreover, on February 5, the monarch released a statement ahead of the beginning of her Platinum Jubilee year.
This message included the monarch’s wish for Camilla to be one day appointed Queen Consort.
This announcement put an end to the speculation that started in 2005 regarding which title the Duchess would have when Prince Charles accedes to the throne after his mother.
Ahead of her second marriage, Clarence House had said Camilla would be known as Princess Consort.
But Her Majesty has since expressed her “sincere wish” Camilla would take on the title of Queen Consort. Camilla spoke about the major privilege handed to her by the sovereign.
She said: “I feel very honoured, very honoured and very touched.”
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