Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles married in their 2005 royal wedding, after first meeting each other in the early Seventies. In the difficult years following the sudden death of Princess Diana, Charles fought hard within the Palace for the recognition of Camilla as his new partner. Their nuptials seemed to signal the acceptance of not just the British public, but the Queen herself, of Camilla as the new Duchess of Cornwall. 

However, according to reports at the time, Her Majesty was privately “lukewarm” about the marriage, and thought that her son had put his love for Camilla before duty.

Andrew Alderson wrote in The Telegraph in February 2005, just before the April wedding day: “The Queen has ‘distanced’ herself from the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles because she believes that her son is putting personal gratification before duty, royal courtiers have disclosed.

“The courtiers also say privately that the Queen is ‘lukewarm’ about the marriage and is worried that it could tarnish the monarchy.”

One courtier told the publication: ”The problems of the past week go back many years. The Queen believes that the Prince of Wales has put his own gratification and interests before duty by pursuing his relationship with Camilla, and she can never forgive that.”

Mr Alderson continued: “The courtiers said yesterday that Prince Charles’s private office had been outmanoeuvred by Buckingham Palace and that Sir Robin Janvrin, the Queen’s private secretary, had tried to protect her from becoming involved in a ‘town hall marriage’ which demeaned her own status.”

One courtier told the author: “Robin is very clever. As soon as he sensed controversy, he did what he always does and wrapped the Queen in cotton wool to make sure that she didn’t get damaged by events.”

According to Mr Alderson: “The courtier said that Sir Robin’s intervention was symptomatic of the Queen’s long-standing concern over Charles’s relationship with Camilla.”

The Palace at the time signalled that the Queen’s decision not to attend the couple’s wedding was because Charles and Camilla wanted to keep the wedding “low-key”.

Her Majesty instead attended the religious blessing at St George’s Chapel, and hosted a wedding reception for the newly-married couple. 

Discussions over the April 2005 marriage began at Christmas the previous year, when Charles signalled that he wants his “non-negotiable” relationship with Camilla to turn into marriage. 

Prince Charles sought the permission of the Queen to marry, as he must do by law, as well as the approval of Prime Minister Tony Blair and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

However, Camilla’s own family were critical of how long the prince took to pop the question.

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In her 2017 biography “The Duchess: The Untold Story”, Ms Junor describes how Camilla’s father, Major Bruce Shand, thought Charles “weak” for his dithering.

Ms Junor writes: “Someone who was key in persuading Charles to do the right thing was Bruce Shand.

“He was now 87-years-old and though he loved the prince dearly, he thought him weak, and he was worried about how vulnerable he had made Camilla by allowing her to live in limbo.

“He took him aside and said, ‘I want to meet my maker knowing my daughter’s all right.’”

She explains that the rest of Camilla’s family, although they were “fond” of the Prince, agreed with Major Shand.

Ms Junor continues: “They felt that Camilla’s situation was precarious and a bit shoddy, and although she herself had never wanted marriage in the past, things were different now.

“She felt herself to be neither one thing nor another and was secretly grateful to her father for putting pressure on Charles.”

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