Opinion And Debate

THE FOUNDER October 2022 OPINION AND DEBATE 7 From “most hated woman” to Queen Consort

OLIVIA SCATTERGOOD | CONTENT WRITER

From wicked stepmother to Queen Consort, how did Camilla Parker Bowles go through such a dramatic public relations transformation? Could the answer simply be in the turnaround of press portrayal or the work of the royal PR machine? Or has the public come to recognise a genuine likeability in the royal who was once dubbed “the most hated woman in Britain”? Older generations were introduced to Camilla through the infamous tragedy that was the marriage of then Prince Charles and Diana. Camilla was painted as the woman who destroyed the fairy-tale, but the truth is less straightforward. The reality is though, that Charles and Camilla had reportedly been in love years before Diana had been on the scene. History has a way of repeating itself within the royal family as we can recall through the ill-fated relationship of Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, as both were forbidden to be together by the institution. Charles and Camilla suffered a similar fate. Their love affair began in the 1970s but came to a halt when Camilla was not deemed appropriate enough for a future Queen. Diana however, a 16-year-old girl when she first met Charles, was someone who the institution may have believed they could mould into their perfect queen, considering her young and impressionable position. The ending of these two love affairs, separated by 30 years in history, are examples of when “the firm” has overplayed its hand in the personal lives of the royals, and how misery ultimately followed. Whatever the public may think of Camilla’s role in the past, she has ultimately brought some stability to Charles, and in turn, the stability of the monarchy, standing by her partner as he steps into his new role as King. This is vital if he is to fulfil his role to build and improve relations between the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Camilla has not been idle either, as she has worked to support over 90 charities, including in areas of domestic violence, where she recently pioneered a scheme to provide toiletry bags for women who have undergone medical examinations for sexual assault.

The younger generations do not have the same emotional connection to the late people’s princess, so it may be argued they can face the new royal couple with a more objective viewpoint. It could be argued that while Camilla has not filled the position of “people’s princess” as Diana once did, she has an important role as the new Queen Consort in relation to Charles and the country, and that can count for much more.

We should rightfully call out the inappropriate and unbecoming behaviour of our national figureheads, but as a nation we should not always expect the perfect fairy-tale, and to be able to box real and complex people into strict roles based on events that happened over 30 years ago. It is possible to view the story of Charles, Diana, and Camilla as a simple, yet complicated, love story, a storyline which is often repeated in the families of everyday people. Unfortunately for them, however, it must play out on the world stage, and perhaps through this mindset, the public view of Camilla Parker-Bowles has shifted through time.

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