Royal family
Here’s what several royal aides have shared about the reason Camilla never really wanted to be queen.
The saying goes, “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” And that is what Queen Camilla (formerly known as Camilla Parker Bowles) thought about the job that she had to take on following Queen Elizabeth II’s death. That’s according to numerous royal courtiers who have broken their silence about Camilla’s true feelings when it came to being queen.
Here’s why she used to loathe the idea of it and what she wanted King Charles to change.
What Camilla said about becoming queen and royal protocol
For his book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, author Tom Quinn spoke to hundreds of former and current palace staffers to get a feel for what goes on and what is said behind closed doors in the House of Windsor. One of the things he learned is that at one point, Camilla was so against the idea of being queen.
“Camilla definitely didn’t want to be queen because she’s intelligent enough to know that once you become queen, or a senior member of the royal family, you are constantly under the microscope,” Quinn told Fox News Digital. “And I think Camilla, right back in the 1970s when she first met Charles, decided, ‘I don’t want to marry [him].’
“Not because she didn’t love him. I think she would’ve liked to marry him. But apparently, she said, ‘I’m not going to be able to cope with being queen. I don’t want to be queen because it’s too much focus, too much attention on me.’ She enjoyed being able to have a private life away from the limelight.”
A member of her staff claimed that Camilla “hated the idea of being queen” so much that she would regularly say to Charles, “Can’t we get away from all this protocol? It’s all bollocks.” But Charles would reply, “You’re going to do it [become queen] for me, darling.”
Former staffer says King Charles is certainly ‘proud’ of the queen his wife has become
Jack Stooks knows the king and queen very well as he was the monarch’s senior gardener at the Highgrove estate for more than two decades. He says that Charles is almost certainly “proud” of the job his wife has done in her role as queen, no matter how much she once resisted it.
Speaking on behalf of Genting Casino, Stooks explained: “[Camilla] has never put a foot wrong while she’s been the Duchess of Cornwall. She’s never put a foot wrong while she’s been the queen. She’s been amazing through all her duties. She’s by Charles’ side whenever he needs her to be there … she’s the queen who is always behind him and following his lead.”
The former royal gardener continued: “The royal family has moved forward a lot in recent years and Camilla has played an important part in that. They’ve come far as a family and people have seen what the king is doing to keep the royal family going. She’s been there for him through hard times and will always be a massive support.
“She obviously adores him and always will, and he obviously adores her and always will. Charles will continue to be very proud of her and what she’s had to endure over the years from the general public, particularly in the early stages. There’s literally nothing that he couldn’t be proud of her for.”
