Angela Levin - Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort

Camilla

From Outcast to Queen Consort

Angela Levin

For Daren

I have always been curious about people. As a journalist, I like to start without any preconceived opinions, dig deep, and then use whatever insight I have, together with what the person Im writing about and the people around them say, to create a rounded portrait. I have written extensively about the Royal Family, and for some years have longed to write at length about Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. I wanted to bridge the gulf between her public image and what she is really like. I was curious to know how she has dealt with the appalling abuse she received for decades because of her relationship with Prince Charles, and why some people still blame her for the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, when we know that Dianas marriage to Prince Charles was a disastrous misfit and her death the result of a drunken driver.

I was keen to understand her strengths and weaknesses: she has been strong and persevering in her love for Charles, but dislikes making public speeches, flying especially by helicopter using lifts, and cant bear needles. I also hoped to discover how she has survived the cold-heartedness within the royal ranks.

I spent a few months with her in 2015 to write a profile for Newsweek magazine and was surprised how good she was with people, how welcoming she seemed and how she dealt with unexpected nerves.

It wasnt enough in words or time for me to get a fully rounded picture of her, and I wanted to see and write more. My personal alarm was triggered while watching the third season of The Crown on Netflix and seeing how negative it was about Camilla. I was equally shocked by what Prince Harry, whose biography I wrote in 2018, said about his family when he and his wife Meghan were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on American television in March 2021, and when he listened in silence to Meghans grievances when he knew some were untrue. I was particularly surprised as he was seen as the most family-conscious royal and good at repairing feuds. Sadly, all that seems to have been washed away. I decided that the time was right to write Camillas biography.

Camillas life is comprised of two very different parts: before and after she and Prince Charles married in April 2005. For years I have been piecing together a wide variety of views from her friends and those who have worked with and for her. I have also spoken to key individuals who are connected to her in a variety of ways. Very few asked to be off the record; they were only too pleased to present the real Camilla.

What was unexpected was that most of them, who had no idea who else I would talk to, described her character and temperament in very similar ways. I couldnt keep repeating the same analysis in the biography, so halfway through my research I started telling my interviewees that I had heard their descriptions from other people. They werent surprised. Thats because shes authentic, I was told, and she doesnt pretend to be what shes not. Someone who has known her for a very long time said, She hasnt changed a bit. To say such things about a woman who has been assailed by vile verbal attacks but has managed to retain her dignity, self-respect and mischievous sense of humour is extraordinary.

Camilla has got used to Charles being a workaholic and doing his best for Queen and country and his hundreds of charities, and she has developed her own strenuous work ethic. Her primary role is to be there for Charles, and she has made a huge positive difference. She is trustworthy and has good instincts, and he knows she is on his side. She has shown no sign of crossing any royal lines and attempting to job-share with her husband. Most of the time when they are on an official engagement together, she walks just behind him and sometimes hovers in the background. It is not because she feels inferior or diminished; she respects and loves Prince Charles and, on such occasions, defers to him.

When she undertakes solo engagements, she comes into her own and is daring and brave. She does a considerable amount of research beforehand, makes original suggestions that she will ensure come to fruition, and wants to help rather than be praised. In the same way, she encourages rather than lectures and usually tries to get ordinary people and children along to any suitable engagement. I was surprised to discover how much work she did for her various charities behind the scenes, quietly, effectively and without looking for applause.

Her inner strength has meant that she doesnt claim to be a victim and it has become very clear that the work she does is not chosen to boost her ego. She has used her experience of a positive childhood and a stable, loving family plus her own powerful instinct to find something positive in whatever she does or happens to her. She has taken on charities that other members of the Royal Family would prefer to sidestep, such as those dealing with rape and violence to women. It has made her a great asset to the Royal Family.

Nor does she seem to worry about her age. She accepts it, wrinkles and all, and seems to have more energy the older she gets. She even jokes about it. She and Prince Charles returned from a four-day official visit to Jordan and Egypt in November 2021. On the flight back she stressed that their foreign tours were working trips and not holidays. Im a lot older now, she said, but to quote Richard Ingrams [former editor of Private Eye and the Oldie], I like to think weve still got a snap in our celery. Its such a good expression!

I think the Royal Family and the public are lucky to have her and hope that readers will put aside the weight of media bias over the past twenty-five to thirty years and take a fresh look at our new queen consort.

Diversion Books

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Copyright Angela Levin 2022

Published by arrangement with Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

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First Diversion Books edition October 2022

Trade Paperback ISBN: 9781635768381

eBook ISBN: 9781635768343

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Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data is available on file.

All photos reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster UK.

E ven the most diehard royalist would have to concede that the British monarchy has begun to look a bit wobbly over the past few years. It is surviving largely thanks to the personal popularity of Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrated a record-breaking seventy years on the throne on 6 February 2022. Despite the harm done to the institution by the disgrace of Prince Andrew and the self-exile and departure from the Royal Family of Prince Harry, the Queen has laid out the road ahead by naming her heir Prince Charless wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as the future queen consort, finally laying to rest the long debate as to whether she should receive that title or be merely known as princess consort.

Although Camillas name and face are recognised around the world, what she is really like as a person has remained shrouded in mystery. Having immersed myself in Camillas story, I see her as her own woman who is happy to learn from others but is comfortable in her own skin a quietly determined female with a hint of vulnerability who enthusiastically supports women but not to the detriment of men.