At 76, Camilla Celebrates First Birthday As Queen Alongside King Charles III

Jul 17, 2023 by apost team

King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s relationship has definitely raised eyebrows over the years. The couple had an affair while Charles was still married to Princess Diana, and during the last few years of her life, it was reported that the alleged affair tormented the late princess.

Then tragedy struck when Diana passed away due to a car accident in 1996. Following this, Charles and Camilla began officially seeing each other two years after Princess Diana's death. Because of Diana's untimely passing, Charles did not want to overwhelm his family with the sudden inclusion of a new spouse. Prince Harry and Prince William were still minors when their mother passed, and Charles decided that it would be best to wait until they were adults to get married to Camilla.

But one major difference between Charles' second wife is that Camilla didn’t go by the title of princess, despite Diana, his first wife, doing so. In fact, the reason why has something to do with Diana — Camilla paid her respect to Diana by opting to take on a different title. However, after Charles became king following Elizabeth II’s passing in September 2022, Camilla became known as the Queen Consort before taking on the title of Queen Camilla.

Now, Camilla has been an intricate part of the royal family for several years, taking on leadership roles and accumulating many responsibilities as time has gone by. Not only that, but Camilla has also celebrated many events alongside her loving family and is now celebrating yet another milestone – her 76th birthday, as she was born on July 17, 1947. Not only that, but it is her first birthday as Queen Camilla.

According to Royal UK, Camilla encountered some struggles during her childhood. She is the eldest of three children. She has a younger sister named Annabel Elliot. Sadly, her younger brother, Mark Shand, passed away in 2014. 

During her youth, Camilla attended Dumbrells School and Queen’s Gate School. She also studied at Mon Fertile School in Switzerland and the Institut Britannique in Paris. As an adult, Camilla married Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, having tied the knot in 1973 at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, in London. 

At the time, Camilla was 25 years old, while her then-husband was 33. It was a highly appreciated society wedding that included many royal guests, including Princess Anne, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Camilla and her then-husband welcomed two children together: Thomas Henry and Laura Rose. However, their marriage was dissolved in 1995.

Even though Camilla’s first marriage ended in heartbreak, she soon found a new love. It wasn’t long before Camilla found herself involved with the royal family, although the beginning of her relationship with them had not been off to the best of starts.

Upon King Charles III and Camilla’s engagement in February 2005, a statement from the palace was released in which questions about Camilla's status and title as queen were addressed. The statement, released on Feb. 10, 2005, announced their marriage and immediately mentioned that Camilla would be using the title "HRH The Duchess of Cornwall." 

Harper’s Bazaar noted that Camilla had the opportunity to pick up the title "Princess of Wales," but since the beloved, late Diana was bestowed that title, Camilla avoided it.

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Just a couple of short months after Camilla and Charles’ engagement was announced, Camilla remarried and tied the knot with Charles on April 9, 2005, officially making her a member of the royal family. 

Ever since she wed Charles, Camilla has since become a patron or president of multiple charities and typically attends events in support of those organizations. As the wife of Charles, Camilla also helps the king carry out his royal duties by embarking on public engagements.

While Camilla has played an important role in the royal family for quite some time now, many people around the world still don’t know all of her story or have been able to see her in action. Fortunately, she has continued to make her mark.

She guest-edited a July 2022 edition of Country Life, according to the magazine. During that time, the magazine’s team followed Camilla around to create an hour-long documentary, highlighting the editing process and the process of making the magazine. The documentary aired on July 13, 2022.

According to Vanity Fair, many other royal family members have used Country Life to celebrate milestone birthdays, including Princess Anne and Camilla’s very own husband, Charles. The king’s wife also asked Kate Middleton to photograph Camilla for the occasion.

Camilla was even sure to share the limelight with her husband, albeit it was a bit more behind the scenes. According to Vanity Fair, she wrote an essay about Charles as a way to honor him as one of her “countryside heroes.” Camilla said, “It’s not easy to write about your husband. I bit through several pencils.”

Although she is clearly a very busy woman, Camilla still has time for celebrations. According to Vanity Fair, she worked up to her 75th birthday in 2022 as she visited an elementary school to help open a new library. She also launched the Duchess’ Birthday Books Project at the school, which gave “mini libraries” to 25,000 children at 75 elementary schools in underprivileged neighborhoods, according to the Literacy Trust.

According to ITV, Camilla had a very relaxed birthday that year despite it being a milestone. She simply held a small family dinner. Also, in honor of Camilla’s 75th birthday, the Clarence House released several stunning portraits of Camilla.

The portraits were taken by Chris Jackson. The official Clare House Twitter account shared the image and a sweet message in a Twitter post on her 75th birthday that said:

“Thank you for all your kind messages and well wishes on The Duchess of Cornwall’s 75th birthday today!”

In the photograph, Camilla looked elegant as she was in a pose while she wore a blue outfit adorned with a flower pattern. She also held onto her adorable little pup!

In the days leading up to Camilla’s 76th birthday in 2023, Queen Camilla was seen busy as ever on royal engagements alongside Charles. However, Yahoo reported that it was likely that Camilla would celebrate her 76rh birthday in a similar fashion to her 75th. In fact, William and Kate, as well as their three children, were reported to have delayed their summer vacation to stay close to home for potentially important events, such as Queen Camilla’s birthday.

We wish Queen Camilla a very happy 76th birthday!

Did you know about Camilla’s life? What do you think about her involvement in the royal family? Let us know, and be sure to send this to any royal family fan you know!