To have warmed to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

[octonaught]

I am old enough to remember the Diana years really clearly, including Charles & Diana’s wedding.
At the time I thought Camilla was awful “there were 3 of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded” said Diana, the media minx.
All 3 players, Diana, Charles & Camilla were victims of the protocols of the time, ie the future Queen needed to basically be a Virgin, & Charles & Diana basically had an arranged marriage, which just didn’t work out, but due to their position they weren’t allowed to quietly go their separate ways.
Charles & Camilla have —officially— been together over 20 years. Camilla has kept her head down & they look like a very happy couple.

I don’t know about the political ramifications of Camilla being queen or not. But as a person, she seems ok.

Charles and Camilla had a civil ceremony, its legal

For an "ordinary citizen" perhaps, but not necessarily for the heir to the throne. I don't pretend to have any legal expertise, but Charlie Falconer - the Lord Chancellor at the time - undoubtably does, and it's his report which is now (conveniently?) sealed

Then there's Charles's embarrassing interview with NBC as reported by Reuters, when on being asked if Camilla would be queen, he stuttered “We’ll see and if I’ll if I’ll still be alive, but that -- that could be"

Call me picky, but it seems to me that if it's come down to "um, we'll see" on the matter of the future queen, then the whole institution's on very rocky ground; in fact I'm reminded of A. N. Wilson's quote: "the biggest threat to the continued existence of the House of Windsor is the continued existence of Prince Charles"

I have to say from looking at them both you’d rather have a a few glasses with Camilla . She is earthy and tough ! All the shit that’s been thrown at her

I like Camilla and I admit to never liking Diana, although I know she was badly treated. She also treated a lot of others very badly and wasn’t the saint many people would have us believe. So many people seem to attack Camilla and conveniently forget how many married men Diana went with.

I find the Diana slating really sad . She was a vulnerable human being who does tragically young. Maybe she would have mellowed with Age too . She was such a baby in a ducked up sitaation . I find how people can slag of a dead unhappy woman reallly ungracious

Would. William and Harry have been on such amicable terms with Camilla if Diana hadent died? Sometimes the ex partner is so bitter they cant help but show their bitterness to the kids? However if she had lived she may well have married gain who knows!

Octonought - looking at Prince Andrews daughters titles they are princesses

I havent and dont think i ever will And agree with setphasers she has bad taste in men.

Camilla for queen! The marriage was blessed by the Church of England so all above board.

Let’s not forget the press were gunning for Diana just before she died. The front pages had to be pulled IRC. Had she lived it would have been a very different story. I reckon in that case Camilla would have been accepted far quicker.

I’ve never dislike Camilla. However I’m too young to have been caught up the Diana mania. I was 8 when she died. In the years since there has of course still been much written about her.

Diana seemed to be a deeply flawed, troubled woman. Certainly not a saint but probably much of her behaviour was related to how she was treated and weight of expectation to put on a good show about it all.

Coming back to this thread after a few hours so it's a bit late to say it, but I just had to comment on this post.

The Parker-Bowles lived near my parents and when all the Camillagate stuff came out in the papers, she was apparently 'pelted with buns' at our local Sainsburys

Let them who are without sin cast the first scone!

I'll get me coat...

Camilla for queen! The marriage was blessed by the Church of England so all above board

You might want to look a little closer at how this all works, Bluelady ... I think you'll find it's not quite that simple

I like her too and she looked amazing on her wedding day. Really radiant.

I hated Diana's wedding dress.

Camilla didn't cheat on Diana. She cheated on her first husband. All 4 people involved seem to have been merrily cheating. Camilla probably cheated with the smallest number of people...

Diana was too vulnerable to marry Charles. It shouldn't have happened. But bloody hell she was annoying.

I think Meghan and Harry will be expected to have a supporting role to William & Kate; a bit like The Earl & Countess of Wessex: working Royals. I also think their children will not get Prince & Princess titles, but Lord & Lady. I am not sure what the letters patent say about the children of non heir prince. I guess the children are styled as children of a Duke...

Unless the Queen changes LPs then Harry's children will be Lord/Lady until Charles takes the throne, then as grandchildren of the monarch on the male line they'll be HRH Prince/Princess.

If they have children while the Queen is still alive I think they'll tweak the rules as they have for Princess Charlotte and the new baby (only the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales was entitled to HRH Prince/ss) to save any change to Prince/Princess while they are young.

To the posters questioning Diana's vulnerability, please watch The Diana Tapes. She talks at length about her eating disorder, her suicide attempt etc. She talks about William's christening. She was told when and what time it would be and she had nothing else to do with it. She says no asked her if it was a good time for the baby, when he napped/fed. She said he cried constantly during the endless and everyone ignored her. It all sounds so bloody sad.

"Unless the Queen changes LPs then Harry's children will be Lord/Lady until Charles takes the throne, then as grandchildren of the monarch on the male line they'll be HRH Prince/Princess."

You're right, but I expect she'll make the change at the same time as she creates Harry a royal Duke of somewhere or other, so hos future DC get essentially same style as the York princesses.

Given some incidents in Harry's past, I'd like to see him created Clarence (just for boozy butt jokes)

My friend's granny used to clean for the DofC's parents, and her mum used to play with Camilla when they were young. According to her mum, they were "quite down to earth, for posh people". She also said that their garden was so big that the village fete was held there!

C’mon Puzzled tell us how it works then and why the PoW & Camilla may not be legally wed?

Yes, I'd like to know too.

By the time the question of whether the D & D of Cornwall are married in the eyes of the Church becomes an issue, Charles will be head of the church, so he can do as he pleases. Its highly unlikely the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time will turn round and say 'excuse me King Charles, but you are not married to this woman you have claimed is your wife for over 20 years'. They are married under the laws of this country, unless you want to annul all second marriages?

I really like Camilla, she seems very genuine. Looks like she’d be a good laugh to share a bottle of wine with.

As I understand it, the issue over the union's legality rests on the Marriage Act of 1836 (which prohibits royals from marrying in register offices) and the 1949 Marriage Act which was previously deemed to make no difference from the royal angle, until Lord Falconer said that he considered the earlier opinions "too cautious"

Basically it was this that led to a period of advice being taken and the writing of the supposedly definitive report, which was the subject of Freedom of Information applications and has since been hidden

As I've said, I'm no lawyer and can't put this as well as I'd like; however I've always believed that Charles would be unlikely to favour the sealing of any report which supported him in doing as he wished

If anyone wants to read further there are also contributions from Dr Stephen Cretney, an Oxford fellow of law, which shed further light on this, as well as the views of a previous Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir, who was consulted when a civil marriage was also considered for Princess Margaret