Why Queen Elizabeth II was not there

Wedding of Charles and Camilla - Why Queen Elizabeth II was not there

The wedding of the current King Charles III (75) and Queen Camilla (76) will be shown in the finale of the Netflix series "The Crown". The royals are played by Dominic West (54) and Olivia Williams (55). The story of the royal couple is known to be a drama in several acts, even in reality. Charles and Camilla had to overcome these obstacles to finally say yes to each other on April 9, 2005...

According to media reports, the relationship between Charles and Camilla began in the 1970s. The separation allegedly came about when Charles joined the Royal Navy and had more to do in his role as heir to the throne.

Was Camilla's family history too scandalous for the royals?

In addition, Camilla Shand is said to be a great-granddaughter of Alice Keppel (1868-1947), who was a mistress of King Edward VII (1841-1910), Charles' great-great-grandfather. For the royals, this was obviously not exactly the right background for a relationship with a future king... Camilla then married Andrew Parker Bowles (83) in 1973. However, she and Charles are said to have remained friends. Camilla had two children with Parker Bowles: Tom (48) and Laura (45).

When Charles married Lady Diana Spencer (1961-1997) in 1981, Camilla was one of the wedding guests. The heir to the throne and Princess Diana had two sons, Prince William (41) and Prince Harry (39).

Charles admits adultery on television

Charles and Diana officially separated in 1992. Shortly afterwards, the heir to the throne's extramarital relationship with Camilla became public through leaked telephone conversations. The tapes with intimate content caused a worldwide sensation and became known as the "Tampongate" scandal.

In 1994, Charles admitted in a television interview that he had committed adultery. A year later, Diana was asked in her own TV interview whether Camilla had played a role in the breakdown of their marriage. Diana famously said, "Well, there were three of us in that marriage, so it was a bit close."

William and Harry didn't want the wedding

Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in 1995. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, after which Camilla became Prince Charles' official partner. She initially remained largely unpopular with the public.

Prince Charles' sons, William and Harry, are also said to have been against their father's possible marriage to Camilla, even though they supported the relationship. Prince Harry wrote in his autobiography "Reserve", published in January 2023, that he and William had begged Charles not to marry again, allegedly to avoid stirring up the press and provoking comparisons between Diana and Camilla.

Many problems before the wedding

In February 2005, Charles nevertheless announced his engagement to Camilla. However, the marriage then presented the couple with a few more challenges.

A few days before the planned wedding, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) died in Rome. As heir to the throne, Charles was appointed to represent Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) at the Pope's funeral, which was to take place on his wedding day. Charles and Camilla had to postpone the date by one day.

The wedding was then supposed to take place at Windsor Castle. However, as Charles and Camilla were already married, a ceremony in a church was obviously out of the question. A civil ceremony was therefore to be arranged at the castle, followed by a church blessing. It was later announced that the civil ceremony would be moved to a registry office in Windsor due to certain regulations.

Why the Queen did not come to the registry office

When it then became public that Queen Elizabeth II would not be attending her son's civil wedding, there was further speculation: Is a registry office beneath her dignity or does she disapprove of her marriage to Camilla?

The explanation is probably simpler: as monarch, she was head of the Church of England. Although she recognizes divorce "as a sad fact of life", she does not approve of it, as the Daily Mail reported. Because Charles and Camilla were both divorced, the Queen therefore stayed away from the ceremony. She did, however, host the couple's blessing and the wedding reception.

When Charles and Camilla married in Windsor on April 9, 2005, not everything went according to plan. Camilla is said to have suffered from extreme nervousness and even picked the wrong shoes on her journey from London to Windsor, as she herself later revealed. As the couple drove through the town of Windsor, boos were reportedly heard amidst the cheers of onlookers. And Queen Elizabeth's decision to wear white at the blessing ceremony was seen by some as a sign of disapproval of her son's second marriage. Nevertheless, King Charles' second marriage seems to have been a happy one, with the couple living a scandal-free life together to this day.