March 18, 2025 • 8 mins
What’s the real story behind the love affair and long delayed marriage between King Charles and Queen Camilla? Their love affair predated his marriage to Princess Diana by almost 20 years. But British rules about virginity caused one of the biggest scandals in history. This is how it all came down.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wish you were here. A whole lot about the British
royal family, their romances and marriages, but we don't hear
so much about King Charles and Queen Camilla back in
the old days fifty some years ago, when they were
kids with a wicked crush. But their relationship was the
last royal love affair in British history to get the
thumbs down because the lady wasn't a virgin. I'm Patty Steele.
(00:24):
Imagine having to prove to the nation you'd never had
a lover if you wanted to get married. That's next
on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. A lot
of us get really caught up in royal love stories.
Seven hundred and fifty million people around the world got
(00:44):
up in the US before dawn to watch Prince Charles
marry Lady Diana Spencer in nineteen eighty one, and depending
on who you believe, the weddings of Prince William and
Kate Middleton may have had close to two billion viewers,
while Prince Harry and Megan Markle intrigued somewhere close to
one point seven billion of us. But if you were
(01:04):
the couple getting married, there were some restrictions in the
past that don't exist today. It wasn't a rule on
the books, but it was highly expected that the bride
to be would be a virgin. In fact, before Diana
married Prince Charles in nineteen eighty one, her family was
asked to confirm her virginity. Really they asked your dad
(01:25):
about that. The palace thinking was that a royal bride
should appear pure. The fear was that any past relationships
could come back to taint the princess or queen's reputation.
They wanted to avoid tabloid's stories by ex boyfriends about
how I shagged the Princess of Wales. Of course, the
Charles Diana scandal changed that unwritten rule forever. Back to
(01:48):
Charles and Camilla now. They first met at a polo
match in nineteen seventy. He was smitten with her from
the moment they met. Her first words to him as
she introduced herself to the future king were my great
grandmother was the mistress of your great great grandfather. I
feel we have something in common. Ooh, sizzl sizzle. Insiders
(02:09):
say he went after Camilla passionately, with elaborate love notes
and late night phone chats. He loved the fact that
she enjoyed country life as much as he did horses,
hunting and gardening. They were a good match. Their early
love affair lasted a couple of years, but she had
a history. She had dated other men and was definitely
(02:29):
not a virgin. Older royals saw that as discreditable and
therefore she was not suitable. Wow. That nice. Then, in
nineteen seventy two, Charles left England to serve in the
Royal Navy. Camilla saw the writing on the wall and
she didn't wait for him. She'd been dating Andrew Parker
Bulls on and off since she was seventeen years old,
(02:51):
so it was a safe choice. One royal historian says
the number one rule before the looks or the breeding
of a potential royal spouse was that she'd be a
virgin first and foremost. It was a condition of marriage.
A marriage between Charles and Camilla wouldn't have been possible
in the seventies because she had a history and you
didn't want a pass that hung about. Charles, knowing he'd
(03:14):
be gone for at least eight months, thought she'd wait
for him. A few months in he found out Camilla
and Andrew Parker Bowles were engaged. His heart was absolutely broken,
but he was the future king and he had to
find a wife. He actually dated a number of women
over the years, including Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah Spencer.
(03:35):
She was a little older than Diana. That didn't work out.
That went south in nineteen seventy eight, when the pair
took a ski trip to Switzerland and Sarah had lunch
with two British journalists. She told him she didn't love
the Prince and wouldn't marry anyone she didn't love, whether
he were a dustman or the King of England. Charles
had met Diana the year before and just remembered her
(03:57):
as an amusing and attractive sixteen year old. At seventeen,
Charles invited her to his thirtieth birthday party, and that's
where things started to take off. She was tall, pretty
and aristocratic, but she was also sweet and shy and
very virginal, perfect in the eyes of the old royals.
Everybody pushed him to marry her, but once he and
(04:20):
Camilla reconciled, he was having another affair with her. Friends
said Camilla was the only person he could talk to
about anything. She was his best friend, his soulmate, and
after the murder of his much loved great uncle by
Ira terrorists, she became his lover again. But again he
needed a wife, not just a lover, and even Camilla
(04:41):
pushed him to marry Diana. He was attracted to Diana's
innocence and sweetness and told himself that was enough. Once
he proposed. The affair with Camilla ended, at least for
a little while. After Charles and Diana's insane wedding, things
started to go downhill really fast, like even during the honeymoon.
Problem is, Diana found love letters between Charles and Camilla,
(05:05):
as well as cuff links with two intertwined seas that
Camilla had had made for him. Charles told Diana they
were a gift from a friend, but she wasn't convinced.
She later said she was overwhelmed with jealousy. By nineteen
eighty six, they'd had two baby boys, but Charles and
Diana's marriage was basically over and he was back with Camilla.
(05:27):
Diana later told a biographer that she got in Camilla's
face about it. She said, I know what's going on
between you and Charles, and she said to me, You've
got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men
in the world falling in love with you, and you've
got two beautiful children. What more do you want? She said?
I told her, I want my husband. The marriage hung on,
(05:48):
sort of. They finally separated in late nineteen ninety two,
and then Camilla Gate happened. In January of ninety three.
Phone chats between Charles and Camilla that had been taped
a few years earlier while the pair were still together,
were leaked to the press, including the moment when Charles
told Camilla he wished he could be her tampon to
(06:10):
live inside her. He said. The trouble is I need
you several times a week. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles
got a divorce in nineteen ninety five. Charles and Diana
did the same a year later, and then Diana died
in a car wreck the following year in Paris. One
royal expert said all that misery could have been prevented
(06:31):
if Charles had been a little bit more like his mother.
The queen married the man she loved, despite some pushback.
If Charles would have married Camilla from the start, everyone
would have been much happier in the long run. Problem is,
Prince Philip didn't have to prove he was a virgin.
Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in nineteen
(06:52):
ninety nine and finally got married in two thousand and five.
So as heartbroken as we all were for the way
the story played out for Diana, U, you do have
to understand a little bit what Charles went through. On
the upside, it changed the marriage rules for a future
king forever. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele.
(07:17):
Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically,
and feel free to dm me if you have a
story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty
Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele.
The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis
Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser.
(07:40):
Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday
and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with
comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty
Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening
to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history
you didn't know you needed to know.
Wish you were here. A whole lot about the British
royal family, their romances and marriages, but we don't hear
so much about King Charles and Queen Camilla back in
the old days fifty some years ago, when they were
kids with a wicked crush. But their relationship was the
last royal love affair in British history to get the
thumbs down because the lady wasn't a virgin. I'm Patty Steele.
(00:24):
Imagine having to prove to the nation you'd never had
a lover if you wanted to get married. That's next
on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. A lot
of us get really caught up in royal love stories.
Seven hundred and fifty million people around the world got
(00:44):
up in the US before dawn to watch Prince Charles
marry Lady Diana Spencer in nineteen eighty one, and depending
on who you believe, the weddings of Prince William and
Kate Middleton may have had close to two billion viewers,
while Prince Harry and Megan Markle intrigued somewhere close to
one point seven billion of us. But if you were
(01:04):
the couple getting married, there were some restrictions in the
past that don't exist today. It wasn't a rule on
the books, but it was highly expected that the bride
to be would be a virgin. In fact, before Diana
married Prince Charles in nineteen eighty one, her family was
asked to confirm her virginity. Really they asked your dad
(01:25):
about that. The palace thinking was that a royal bride
should appear pure. The fear was that any past relationships
could come back to taint the princess or queen's reputation.
They wanted to avoid tabloid's stories by ex boyfriends about
how I shagged the Princess of Wales. Of course, the
Charles Diana scandal changed that unwritten rule forever. Back to
(01:48):
Charles and Camilla now. They first met at a polo
match in nineteen seventy. He was smitten with her from
the moment they met. Her first words to him as
she introduced herself to the future king were my great
grandmother was the mistress of your great great grandfather. I
feel we have something in common. Ooh, sizzl sizzle. Insiders
(02:09):
say he went after Camilla passionately, with elaborate love notes
and late night phone chats. He loved the fact that
she enjoyed country life as much as he did horses,
hunting and gardening. They were a good match. Their early
love affair lasted a couple of years, but she had
a history. She had dated other men and was definitely
(02:29):
not a virgin. Older royals saw that as discreditable and
therefore she was not suitable. Wow. That nice. Then, in
nineteen seventy two, Charles left England to serve in the
Royal Navy. Camilla saw the writing on the wall and
she didn't wait for him. She'd been dating Andrew Parker
Bulls on and off since she was seventeen years old,
(02:51):
so it was a safe choice. One royal historian says
the number one rule before the looks or the breeding
of a potential royal spouse was that she'd be a
virgin first and foremost. It was a condition of marriage.
A marriage between Charles and Camilla wouldn't have been possible
in the seventies because she had a history and you
didn't want a pass that hung about. Charles, knowing he'd
(03:14):
be gone for at least eight months, thought she'd wait
for him. A few months in he found out Camilla
and Andrew Parker Bowles were engaged. His heart was absolutely broken,
but he was the future king and he had to
find a wife. He actually dated a number of women
over the years, including Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah Spencer.
(03:35):
She was a little older than Diana. That didn't work out.
That went south in nineteen seventy eight, when the pair
took a ski trip to Switzerland and Sarah had lunch
with two British journalists. She told him she didn't love
the Prince and wouldn't marry anyone she didn't love, whether
he were a dustman or the King of England. Charles
had met Diana the year before and just remembered her
(03:57):
as an amusing and attractive sixteen year old. At seventeen,
Charles invited her to his thirtieth birthday party, and that's
where things started to take off. She was tall, pretty
and aristocratic, but she was also sweet and shy and
very virginal, perfect in the eyes of the old royals.
Everybody pushed him to marry her, but once he and
(04:20):
Camilla reconciled, he was having another affair with her. Friends
said Camilla was the only person he could talk to
about anything. She was his best friend, his soulmate, and
after the murder of his much loved great uncle by
Ira terrorists, she became his lover again. But again he
needed a wife, not just a lover, and even Camilla
(04:41):
pushed him to marry Diana. He was attracted to Diana's
innocence and sweetness and told himself that was enough. Once
he proposed. The affair with Camilla ended, at least for
a little while. After Charles and Diana's insane wedding, things
started to go downhill really fast, like even during the honeymoon.
Problem is, Diana found love letters between Charles and Camilla,
(05:05):
as well as cuff links with two intertwined seas that
Camilla had had made for him. Charles told Diana they
were a gift from a friend, but she wasn't convinced.
She later said she was overwhelmed with jealousy. By nineteen
eighty six, they'd had two baby boys, but Charles and
Diana's marriage was basically over and he was back with Camilla.
(05:27):
Diana later told a biographer that she got in Camilla's
face about it. She said, I know what's going on
between you and Charles, and she said to me, You've
got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men
in the world falling in love with you, and you've
got two beautiful children. What more do you want? She said?
I told her, I want my husband. The marriage hung on,
(05:48):
sort of. They finally separated in late nineteen ninety two,
and then Camilla Gate happened. In January of ninety three.
Phone chats between Charles and Camilla that had been taped
a few years earlier while the pair were still together,
were leaked to the press, including the moment when Charles
told Camilla he wished he could be her tampon to
(06:10):
live inside her. He said. The trouble is I need
you several times a week. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles
got a divorce in nineteen ninety five. Charles and Diana
did the same a year later, and then Diana died
in a car wreck the following year in Paris. One
royal expert said all that misery could have been prevented
(06:31):
if Charles had been a little bit more like his mother.
The queen married the man she loved, despite some pushback.
If Charles would have married Camilla from the start, everyone
would have been much happier in the long run. Problem is,
Prince Philip didn't have to prove he was a virgin.
Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in nineteen
(06:52):
ninety nine and finally got married in two thousand and five.
So as heartbroken as we all were for the way
the story played out for Diana, U, you do have
to understand a little bit what Charles went through. On
the upside, it changed the marriage rules for a future
king forever. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele.
(07:17):
Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically,
and feel free to dm me if you have a
story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty
Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele.
The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis
Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser.
(07:40):
Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday
and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with
comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty
Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening
to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history
you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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