Long-time royal watchers know full well how Camilla Parker Bowles captured and kept then-Prince Charles, now King Charles. She looks a great deal like Charles’ childhood nanny, and Camilla has always “mothered” Charles and nurtured him like a man-child. Charles was also very close to his grandmother, the Queen Mum, who was more of a mother to him than QEII. Camilla is probably a lot like the Queen Mum as well – a drunk, a snob and a real piece of work with a vicious streak. Royal biographers speak about this openly like it’s a good thing, and like the queen consort should be best known as a “ruthless” side-chick who destroyed the king’s first marriage and ruined his relationships with his sons and family. Well, Christopher Wilson has written a new book about Charles and Camilla’s love story, and wouldn’t you know, we’re hearing all about Camilla’s ruthlessness and viciousness.
Christopher Wilson, author of A Greater Love – Charles and Camilla, insists that the Queen has a secret steely nature and indeed a ‘ruthless streak’.
‘She’s every bit as convincing as the old Queen Mother was when it comes to putting on a sweet smile and saying just the right thing to put people at their ease,’ Wilson said. ‘But – again like the Queen Mum – there’s a ruthless streak to Camilla which she takes care to keep hidden from view. Her job, as she sees it, is to support and protect her man. Her predecessor as Queen Consort, Elizabeth, did just the same during the war years and after with her husband, King George VI.’
‘Monarchy is about survival, and Camilla understands that. She’s read the history books and knows how, when the House of Windsor was brought to its knees in 1936 with the Abdication of King Edward VIII, she put fire in the belly of her reluctant husband, turning him into a successful wartime monarch who did a great double-act with Prime Minister Winston Churchill. King George needed her iron-clad courage, just as King Charles needs Camilla’s today.
‘If Charles has a weakness, it’s that he’s too kind and too forgiving when things go wrong – just as his mother was,’ I was told by an ex-courtier. ‘He’s lucky to have Camilla there to stiffen his backbone when needed.”
‘This weekend it emerged that plans are finally afoot to take Andrew Mountbatten Windsor out of the line of succession, an uncomfortable procedure for Charles to agree to, but one which, according to royal expert Phil Dampier, Camilla is urging him to do. Leading the charge against the old House of York alongside her stepson, Prince William, it’s even likely that her influence will take Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie out of the royal pecking order as well. Royal biographer Andrew Lownie has said that they were complicit in Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein and must pay the price, too.’
‘Camilla agrees. Interestingly, it’s clear that while Charles has some lingering affection for his (ex) York nieces, she has frozen the family out – even though back in the good old polo days at Smith’s Lawn, she was chums with Sarah Ferguson’s mother, Susan Barrantes. But friendship must come second to loyalty to the Crown. Camilla was nowhere to be seen at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, where the House of York stood centre-stage (and William had words with his uncle). Neither was her name attached to the list of names congratulating Eugenie on her pregnancy. As far as she’s concerned, their names need never be mentioned again.’
‘The Queen Mother ensured, after the damage of the Abdication, that her brother-in-law, the Duke of Windsor, went into exile – and stayed there. Camilla is likely to push for the same thing to happen to her brother-in-law, Andrew.’
Funny, I remember when Camilla took credit for bringing Andrew and Fergie in from the cold soon after Charles became king. Camilla made sure to let people know that she invited them both to Christmas at Sandringham, and she was happy enough to have them at family occasions in 2023 and 2024. Camilla only became a York-hater recently and it wasn’t because of any long-standing concerns about Andrew and Sarah’s relationships with Jeffrey Epstein. All that being said, of course Camilla is vicious and ruthless. Of course she sticks her nose into interfamily disputes. Of course she’s got her knives out for multiple royals. She didn’t become the most smug side-chick success story in history by being a good person.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
