When Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall became a figure of public interest in the 1990s she was regarded as the "radioactive" mistress of Prince Charles and one of the most hated women in Britain. Now, three decades later as she celebrates her 75th birthday, Camilla will one day be queen.
The transformation of the once Mrs. Parker Bowles into a future Queen Consort has been long, not without its complications and is by no means over. Just this month it was announced that Clarence House, the official office of Camilla and Charles, had recruited a PR guru in the form of former Daily Mail deputy editor Tobyn Andreae to head their media team, safeguarding against any future disasters.
Queen Consort
The biggest seal of approval given to Camilla came from Queen Elizabeth II herself in February of this year.
After a reportedly frosty start to their relationship following the death of Diana in 1997, the queen has seemingly warmed to the duchess, agreeing to Charles marrying her and awarding her the style of "Her Royal Highness," a title not formally given to divorcee Wallis Simpson who married into the royal family.
The queen used her accession day statement on February 5 to signify the trust she holds in Camilla by negating previous palace statements that when Charles becomes king, Camilla would be styled as Princess Consort, a lesser title than the traditional Queen Consort.
"When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King," she said. "I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service."
"Operation PB"
The long road to public acceptance and popularity predates the death of Diana in a carefully constructed chain of events orchestrated by Charles' palace staff and nicknamed "Operation PB" (Parker Bowles), according to former editor of Vanity Fair, Tina Brown in her latest book The Palace Papers.
By 1997 Camilla was firmly established in the public's consciousness as the "other woman." Diana was the first to put it in writing by telling biographer Andrew Morton about her dealings with Camilla for the book Diana: Her True Story in 1992.
This was almost confirmed by Charles when in 1994 he told a BBC interviewer that Camilla was a friend and would remain one, before later stating that he had been faithful to Diana only until the marriage had become "irretrievably broken down."
After their 1996 divorce, Charles and Diana began publicly seeing other people, with Charles reuniting with Camilla. For her 50th birthday, a large party was planned as part of "Operation PB" hosted by the prince for Camilla at his Highgrove home, intended as a gentle PR move to familiarize the public with their relationship.
After Diana
In August 1997, any PR gains Charles and Camilla had made were lost when Diana died tragically in a Paris car crash.
"With Diana being canonized by the public," Brown writes in The Palace Papers. "The Other Woman who had caused her so much pain had become radioactive."
The person on Charles' staff credited with taking Camilla's public image from rock bottom to future royal was deputy private secretary Mark Bolland. Between 1997 and his departure from the royal household in 2002, Bolland had navigated the couple to a stable public position through consistent public exposure.
Despite this, and after winning around the queen to the idea of a marriage between Charles and Camilla taking place, there was still a feeling that the public would not react with overwhelming positivity.
A wedding did take place in April 2005, but the couple were not permitted to marry in St George's Chapel having both been divorced, an issue that by 2018, with the marriage of Meghan Markle, herself a divorcee, and Prince Harry, was overcome.
Charles and Camilla's marriage ceremony took place at Windsor's Guildhall with limited guests and the queen not attending. Later in the day a blessing ceremony was held at St George's Chapel, with the queen and other members of the royal family present.
A New Royal Role
With her marriage and absorption into the royal fold, Camilla began a process that has seen her slowly grow in popularity among Brits.
A series of carefully constructed documentary films marking important occasions, magazine interviews, Buckingham Palace balcony appearances alongside the queen and favorable coverage of her many public duties have seen Camilla become an expected royal fixture.
In terms of public opinion, Camilla has seen fluctuations in favorability according to polling undertaken by YouGov. In May 2022, 47 percent of Brits viewed her positively with 38 percent submitting a negative response making her the sixth most popular polled living royal.
The duchess received a ten year low in the polls in 2017 with only a 33 percent positive response and 52 percent negative. This year marked the 25th-anniversary of the death of Diana, a powerful reminder of the potency of the late-princess' legacy.
Today, with the queen reducing her working output and, owing to health and mobility issues, pulling out of important state occasions, Charles and Camilla find themselves taking on more responsibilities and greater public facing roles.
This, along with the Queen Consort announcement, can in part account for the large PR push regarding Camilla around the time of her 75th birthday.
To celebrate the duchess' milestone she has so far appeared for the first time in British Vogue, guest-edited Country Life magazine and given access to an ITV documentary team, as well as taking part in magazine interviews with commonwealth publications.
Despite all this good will and with her status as a future queen firmly established, Camilla may have tough PR hurdles yet to face.
With the 25th anniversary of Diana's death fast approaching in August and the publication of Prince Harry's official memoir, which is expected to reference his family relationships, the appointment of the Daily Mail's Andreae to deal with media communications may prove to be an important move to keep the public on side.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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