Camilla Parker Bowles

Camilla Shand: from Sussex debutante and Charles's early love to his wife and queen.

via Wikipedia: Queen Camilla · see source

Camilla, born Camilla Rosemary Shand on 17 July 1947 and later known as Camilla Parker Bowles, is the wife of King Charles III and Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Her long, on-and-off relationship with Charles, which ran before and during both of their first marriages, drew intense press coverage around the world. She married Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973 and divorced him in 1995, then married Charles in 2005. She was Duchess of Cornwall until his accession and was crowned alongside him at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023.

Quick Facts

Born: 17 July 1947
Birth name: Camilla Rosemary Shand
First husband: Andrew Parker Bowles (1973-1995)
Second husband: Charles III (2005)
Coronation: 6 May 2023

Facts from the source article.

Background

Camilla was the eldest child of Major Bruce Shand, an army officer who went into the wine trade, and Rosalind Cubitt. She grew up between The Laines in Plumpton, East Sussex, and a house in South Kensington, and attended Queen's Gate School before finishing school in Switzerland and French studies in Paris. Her great-grandmother Alice Keppel had been a mistress of King Edward VII. She was introduced to Charles by their friend Lucía Santa Cruz in mid-1971, and the two became a couple until his Royal Navy posting abroad in early 1973. That year she married Andrew Parker Bowles, a Blues and Royals officer, at the Guards' Chapel in London, a wedding attended by 800 guests.

Did You Know?

She left Queen's Gate School in 1964 with a single O-level.
Schoolmates at Queen's Gate called her "Milla".
She was one of 311 debutantes presented in London in 1965.
Charles is said to have met her first at a friend's home, not at a polo match as often claimed.