Camilla stuns as she arrives at Royal Ascot in blue coat

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Charles and Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, have been happily married for 16 years. It’s been a bumpy ride for the heir to the throne, who went through a tumultuous marriage with Princess Diana that ended up in a messy divorce. Charles was 32 when he got engaged to Diana and, for a time, was considered the world’s most eligible bachelor.

This period will be explored tonight, in Channel 5’s ‘Charles and the women who could have been Queen’.

Royal author Penny Junor claims that Camilla was ever-present in Charles’ life and, as Diana would later bemoan, the now Duchess of Cornwall would influence the Prince of Wales when he was dating other women.

Writing in ‘The Duchess: The Untold Story,’ Ms Junor notes how, when Charles met Diana in 1980, “he had just broken up with Anna Wallace”.

Ms Wallace was a Scottish heiress and reportedly rejected the Prince of Wales’ marriage proposals twice during their relationship.

She is also said to have spectacularly dumped Charles after she saw him dancing with Camilla.

Ms Junor continues: “Charles had taken her to two successive balls and then danced with Camilla for most of both evenings.

“Anna dumped him with the words: ‘No one treats me like that – not even you.’”

The royal author adds: “He was now 32. The press was on his case and so was his father, who he wanted nothing more in life than to please.”

READ MORE: Tom Parker Bowles lifted lid on nickname his children have for Charles

Ms Junor argues that the pressure led to Charles and Diana’s engagement in 1981, adding that this “catastrophic” decision was based on his reading of a note from Prince Philip, which he “misinterpreted” as an ultimatum.

Charles and Camilla broke off their romantic relationship once the Prince of Wales became engaged to Diana.

Nevertheless, Diana was uncomfortable with the pair’s close friendship.

She reportedly told her butler Paul Burrell that she was looking for Camilla when she walked down the aisle at St Paul’s Cathedral. 

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In 1994, the Prince of Wales admitted that his affair with Camilla began again in 1986 when his marriage to Diana had “irretrievably broken down”.

Charles and Camilla eventually married in 2005, when they tied the knot at Windsor Guildhall.

Charles & The Women Who Could Have Been Queen airs on Channel 5 at 9pm.

Penny Junor’s ‘The Duchess: The Untold Story’ was published by William Collins in 2017. It is available here.

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