(light music) (regal music) - [Narrator] For the crime
of committing adultery with the heir to the throne,
Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles, a 49-year-old housewife, has been handed down
an exemplary sentence. For the past five years, she has barely been able to
set foot outside her door. - She has been under
house arrest, effectively, for quite some time. She's just coming out of it. She'll go to parties
given by good friends. But even so, it's still her business and they have to go in back doors and keep a watch out for the paparazzi that run the gauntlet, as
she did outside the Ritz a year or so ago. - [Narrator] October the 10th, 1995, and the attentions of the
gentleman of the press were as rough and ready as ever. An early attempt by the loving couple to be seen together in
public ends in chaos. The prince leaves the party separately, not yet ready to be photographed
with the woman he loves. - If he wants her badly enough, he will come out and either say, "This is the woman I intend to marry, and I hope you will be understanding." Or he will say, "This is the woman I shall be
spending a lot more time with and therefore, you better
get used to the idea." - [Narrator] The problem for Charles is that the population is still
in love with Princess Diana. It doesn't think so much of Camilla. - I have known Camilla for 20, 30 years, and I've always found
her extremely attractive. She's got a terrific sense of humor. She's very funny. And she's also very sexy. But best of all, she's wonderful company. And she has been really cruelly treated. - She has had to suffer
a huge humiliation. In fact, indeed when she went shopping at a supermarket once, some of the women who had also
been buying their food there pelted her with bread rolls. - [Narrator] For a quarter of a century, Camilla Parker Bowles
has enjoyed the devotion of the Prince of Wales. Their relationship,
according to the Prince, was in three parts, but did
not contribute to the breakdown of his marriage. The world knows all about Diana, but what have they learned about Camilla? - The interesting thing
about Camilla Parker Bowles is nobody knows her, and this great sort of fascination and mystique about her still because nobody's even heard her speak. - [Narrator] Until now. The Parker Bowles motto
has been stay out of sight and keep your trap shut. But here in this amateur video
from a recent charity event, the real Camilla can be seen
and heard for the first time. (audience laughing) (operatic singing)
(audience laughing) - Just a very brief word to say, how grateful I am to you all, especially the artists coming here tonight and supporting so generously
at such a deserving cause. It is particularly poignant
to me and my family, as my mother died last year as a result of this terrible disease. Having witnessed the misery
and the pain it causes, I felt I had to try and do something to help others with
suffering such distress. So I hope the money raised this evening will go little a way
towards funding research for this very worthwhile cause. Thank you again for coming. I hope you enjoyed yourself. (audience laughing drowns out words) (audience applauding) - [Narrator] What has brought
Camilla out of the shadows is her newly acquired role as patron of the National
Osteoporosis Society. She cuts an unlikely figure
amongst the media-friendly faces recruited to boost the charity's profile. But she's a willing helper. - I asked her last year if
she would become a patron of the society to formalize her role because she'd been working with us for two years previous to
that since her mother died, in fact, of osteoporosis. And she saw her mother die
of this dreadful disease. She knows how severe it
is, how painful it is. - [Narrator] This higher profile is against all her instincts. Can she overcome her legendary reticence and become a persuasive figure? - Hello. - She certainly has the
ability to communicate well on an individual level
and among a small group. - [Narrator] Her
great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, started the 20th century as Camilla ended, in the arms of a prince. She was King Edward VII's mistress. - She was a very
vivacious, very attractive, very charming woman, very
sensuous kind of woman. There was Italian blood in her family. And so in a way, she caught his eye and he never really looked back. He was very taken with her. She was the perfect king's mistress. King Edward VII was a very
restless, very difficult man. She knew exactly how to handle him. So she was, as I say, the
perfect mistress for a king, for a man like him. - [Narrator] Edward, like Charles, first spotted his future
mistress at an equestrian event. Their relationship, noted a courtier, warmed up like a bonfire. - In those days, there was no scandal
about that kind of thing. The general public didn't
know about it at all. If photographs of them
appeared in British newspapers, then her face would be airbrushed out. You would see her hat,
you would see her dress, but you wouldn't actually see who it was. In that way, the newspapers
were very discreet about it. - Historians believe that
Mrs. Keppel's second daughter, Sonia, was the king's child, making Camilla his great-granddaughter. - There were two daughters,
Violet, and there was Sonia. And as the second
daughter, Sonia, was born after Alice Keppel had met
the then Prince of Wales, it's quite likely that
that he was her father. No one can know this
kind of thing for sure. But I think it is more than
likely that the future king, Edward VII, was Sonia Keppel's father. - [Narrator] The ghost of Alice Keppel watched over a new
generation of royal lovers, for in the year she
died, Camilla was born. Her grandfather's name was Cubitt. His family of builders
were raised to the peerage for having built London's
most fashionable district, Belgravia. But it is from her father, Bruce Shand, that much of Camilla's dowdy and complex character is inherited. The Shands weren't aristocrats,
but wealthy merchants. From them came a son who
helped create the Labor Party and who was jilted by a fiancee who preferred to marry Oscar Wilde. Camilla's Shand grandfather
counted amongst his friends the 20th century's greatest architects. Those Shands married often
and took particular pleasure in their many encounters
with the opposite sex. Camilla Rosemary Shand was born at King's College Hospital,
London on July the 17th, 1947, and grew up in the country. - She was very, very
pretty, very, very sort of, was very nicely turned out and always seemed to be in a
position of control somehow. She was not quite organizing events, but she was definitely
center of attraction. (crowd cheering) - [Narrator] 16 months
younger than Camilla, Prince Charles's birth in November 1948, assured the continuation of a dynasty still haunted by the
abdication only 12 years before of King Edward VIII. But the coronation five years later, courtiers convinced themselves that the child of so reliable
a monarch as Queen Elizabeth would never risk the throne
merely for the love of a woman. On the balcony that day, a young page boy called
Andrew Parker Bowles. Sussex in coronation year, where Camilla's family celebrated the dawn of a new Elizabethan age. Bruce and Rosalind Shand
had made their home here at the Laines, a former
rectory at Plumpton near Lewes, where they brought up
Camilla with her brother Mark and sister Annabel. Horses were an integral
part of daily life. - Bruce Shand, her father, was jointmaster of the South Town Hunt at the time. And so if you're the
daughter of the local MFH, I think you're bound to be thrown into it. But I mean, yeah, I
think she just loved it. - [Narrator] At 10, Camilla was sent to Queen's Gate School, a short walk from the other family home
in London's Kensington. Ever sporty, she excelled at
fencing and of course, riding. As she matured, she
became, if not a beauty, then extremely appealing
to the opposite sex. - She was enormously
attractive girl, very popular, quite snooty, and quite sort of
difficult to get to know. Twin set pearls, tweed
skirt, that sort of thing. - [Narrator] Did she have sex appeal? - Yes. Great sex appeal. I mean, as far as I can see as a female, I would say so, yes. She could have got any boy she wanted to. Strangely enough, when I
read at the very beginning that Charles was seeing
somebody called Camilla, instantly I read that, I
thought, I bet that's Milla. I bet that's Camilla. I wasn't the slightest bit surprised when I found out it was. I almost knew it would be. She was perfect for him. - [Narrator] Few Queen's Gate girls were destined for university. The school turned out
well-bred conformists, but Camilla wasn't one of them. - My ex-wife was at school. She had a room with her,
actually, at Queen's Gate. And smoking in those days was
considered pretty naughty. I mean, I think it was, you could either be sent down or gated or have to spend some long moments at home contemplating your faith
if you were caught smoking. And she certainly apparently used to, used to go out on the roof and smoke. And my wife was far too
frightened to do that. - It was quite a strict school. I mean, once you got
in, you didn't get out. There was somebody on the door. And so you couldn't escape
once you were in there, quite strict, very Victorian, full of slowly type girls, I would say. The majority of them
wore head scarf styling, a lot of twin sets around. Queen's Gate girls were only really taught how to write out checks. Do you know, I think actually
we did have a lesson in that, on how to write out a check. - [Narrator] The
hermetically sealed society Camilla was destined for, where no outsiders intruded, encouraged its members to find
spouses from its own ranks. - We were, I guess, all
prepared to meet the right man, to go to the right parties, to do this, the debutantes scene, and eventually marry somebody
that could keep you in luxury to which you had been accustomed to, living with mommy and daddy. We were certainly
discouraged to meet anyone from any other sphere, both
by school and our parents. So it was a very small circle, really, of boys from all the top public schools. - [Narrator] Freed from formal education and with no need to find a career, Camilla Shand found her
amusement at the polo field. In the early '70s,
still a relic of empire, polo at Smith's Lawn in the
shadow of Windsor Castle was an enclosed world for
tough guys and beautiful girls. - Today they talk about
Chukker Charlottes, whereby girls go there to
pick up their future husband. And there was always
something nice to drink and the weather would be decent, and it's not like sort of
standing on a freezing grass lawn. Polo's always been the great summer game, and all the young guards officers who'd be stationed at Windsor would naturally play at guards. - [Narrator] One such
was Andrew Parker Bowles, a handsome cavalry officer
who skills far outshown those of the newly
arrived Prince of Wales. Among the prettiest girls at Smith's Lawn. Jane Ward was one of
the Chukker Charlottes to catch the Prince's eye. - I don't think we were in a category when I was sort of doing it except for that, you
know, it's the summer, so you are always brown
and it's the sort of the predominance of blonde
or long floating blonde. We hadn't got into the Gucci sunglasses, but we were perhaps in the designer, we were going that way. The women weren't, you know,
if they weren't South American, they were well traveled,
you know, Hilary Westons, and you know, Kate Vestys in those days and things like that. And so they were always, so there was a lot of health and you know, vibrancy, I suppose. It was the era of Prince Charles. His father had stopped playing and Prince Charles had sort of taken over. I mean, he was quite a
loner when he was there. I mean, it was difficult for him to be, to be sort of mixed with all of us. I mean, he couldn't sort
of just rush around and be, because he's the Prince of Wales. - [Narrator] In the hot
summers of the early '70s, Smith's Lawn began to
sizzle with sexual tension. - He was a very attractive single man, driving his Aston Martin, crashing around, you know,
falling off, jumping back on. I mean, he was just part
of the team, really. - [Narrator] Still in his early twenties, Charles was making slow headway
in forging relationships with the opposite sex, often preferring friendship to passion. - We were just good mates,
good, good, you know, I mean, perhaps because I didn't
stand on ceremony. And in those days, you know, it was quite rare for
him to have someone who spoke their mind. - [Narrator] While Charles's
friendship with Jane Ward was light and uncommitted, Camilla's relationship
with Andrew Parker Bowles was far more serious. But a chance encounter in 1971 finally brought the two lovers together. For Charles and Camilla, none of the starchy formality
which surrounded the meeting between their famous ancestors. The atmosphere at Smith's
Lawn was pleasantly laid back. - I think that everybody was aware there was a very strong friendship
between the two of them. You know, they'd be talking and
chatting and fooling around, you know, as one did. I mean, I think that body
language is a strange, body language perhaps gives more away than anything else. And there was definitely a
feeling of ease and comfort between the two of them, which you, and that sort of familiarity, which isn't over familiar, which means that you know, you get on well and you know each other well. - [Narrator] It was Camilla
who made the first move. She teased Charles, "My great-grandmother and
your great-great grandfather were lovers, so how about it?" It was a challenge the
Prince found irresistible. Berkeley Square in late October. 25 years ago, into the exclusive basement
club called Annabel's, walked Prince Charles,
his sister, Princess Anne, and two lesser known figures,
landowner Gerald Ward and a blonde girl about
town, Camilla Shand. Their relationship had
moved from Polo Field to the watering holes of Mayfair. And from Mayfair, it
progressed to Camilla's flat in Stack House, Cundy Street, where finally the couple
expressed, if not their love, then their passion for each other. But fate was against her love match. Charles's naval duties
beckoned him abroad. And in any event, Camilla had committed herself
to Andrew Parker Bowles. But the attraction remained. - In the case of Prince Charles, and here I surmise, he apparently thought he was too young, which is a perfectly normal reaction, to get married at that time. And in her case, she still had the shadow of Andrew Parker Bowles
looming large over her. And it was large. She adored Andrew. And Andrew, as he would, was
playing fairly hard to get. And he's a very attractive man, I believe. I think she probably just found him too much of an influence. - [Narrator] The Prince
prepared himself for the navy and lonely exile, while Camilla wrote out
her wedding invitations. - Duke of Edinburgh was determined that he should have a naval career and go off and do this
and that and the other. So he had to get on and do those things before he could contemplate
getting married. Now, if you meet the love of
your life at the wrong time, bit difficult, isn't it? - [Narrator] After an on-off relationship that had lasted seven years, Camilla Shand finally
married her cavalry officer in July 1973. The guests included Princess Anne, Andrew Parker Bowles's former girlfriend. Blessed with money as well as breeding, the newlyweds set up home at
Bolehyde Manor in Wiltshire. Within a year, Camilla gave
birth to a son, Thomas. By the mid '70s, Charles's
Naval career brought him home and to Hall Place, the Hampshire home of
Camilla's grandmother, Sonia, daughter of King Edward VII. What had been a youthful
fling was now rekindled as an extramarital affair. - Well, they always had been
very, very good friends. And to me, there's
nothing remotely strange about good friends remaining or rebecoming good friends again. And the more you see of someone, if you like them and you
have a lot in common, which they do, the more
you may well like them. So it filled a void in Camilla's life. I mean, Andrew was rushing around a lot. And it's quite possible to have a lover, stoic husband and a very
close friend of other sex. It's happened to all of us. I hope it's happened to you. It's very simple. - [Narrator] Sooner or
later, Andrew Parker Bowles, pursuing his own army career, became aware of the
rekindled relationship. But with customary good grace, he continued to make Charles
welcome at Bolehyde Manor, as Jane Ward remembers. - Andrew would say occasionally that he had to sort of be
back in time to have dinner because the Prince of Wales was coming. And so I knew that they were good friends. - [Narrator] Within the tight-knit
circle of polo followers, the relationship had
become common knowledge. At the Cirencester Polo Club Ball, Charles and Camilla danced, perhaps a little too
enthusiastically with one another. - Personally, it was only
different in the fact that I, for the first time, was aware that they spent quite a
lot of the evening dancing. And maybe, you know, I was
quite conscious of that for the first time. - [Narrator] As the evening war on, partygoers became acutely
aware that Charles and Camilla, who monopolized the dance floor, were not only dancing,
but kissing quite openly. - [Narrator] Andrew Parker
Bowles was there, too? - Yes, he was. - [Narrator] And didn't seem to mind? - Didn't seem to mind. - [Narrator] And did the
people who were there, there must have been two or 300 people, would they have remarked on that? Or would they have all
looked into their glasses or looked the other way? - Well, it certainly wasn't brought up. - None of you talked about it?
- Not me, no, not at all. - [Narrator] Was there
any talk at that stage for the relationship being different from, from what one supposed,
which was, you know, a married couple and a single man? - We did all sort of think he's very long suffering, you know. I mean it was a very close threesome. But it was quite, it was a
little bit obvious maybe that- - [Narrator] That Andrew
was long suffering? - Yes, yeah.
- Yes. - [Narrator] With her husband's duties often taking him abroad, Camilla would find herself
invited to formal events, which Prince Charles also attended. Camilla Parker Bowles became
known to other members of the House of Windsor,
including the Queen, her married status causing few qualms to this worldly family. When Charles returned to the polo field with Camilla in attendance, it wasn't easy for local
reporters to spot the story. - Camilla was an ever-present at all the kind of various question events that the Prince Wales attended. And at that stage, one could have been forgiven for thinking that the relationship
was gonna go somewhere. Even though she was married
to Andrew Parker Bowles, it was a real kind of sexual
chemistry between them, even at that time. I used to speak to her on the
phone probably once a week, probably for at least 10 years. Little did I know I was missing the greatest story in history, knowing that all was going
on behind closed doors. - [Narrator] From Camilla's marriage to Charles's own engagement
was a mere seven years. If the public became bemused
by the number of pretty girls who graced the Prince's arm, each was heralded as a future bride. But many of these relationships
remained platonic. But Charles's romantic life
was fulfilled with Camilla. She, and from time to
time, their mutual friend, Lady Tryon, Kanga, were
his public escorts. - Those two ladies would be with him, just to check, as they always did, that everything was perfect
in Prince Charles's life, that his clothes were
properly looked after, that people didn't come up and pester him. And they were constantly there, two rather sophisticated dolly birds, just making sure that life
was perfection for him. And I have to say they achieved it with a great deal of humor. - [Narrator] But the pressure was on for Prince Charles to find a bride. There had been too many
purposeless relationships, and he was in danger of
becoming a figure of fun in the tabloid press. Charles's guru, Lord Mountbatten, pushed for an alliance
with his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull. - He was using Prince
Charles as a sort of pawn to exercise his own ambition. And many people, a good deal closer to the
royal family than I am, thought it was too great an influence. - [Narrator] But
Mountbatten's murder in 1979 drove Charles almost to breaking point. - They are carried up to the heaven and down again to the deep. - [Narrator] He was shattered by the death of Lord Mountbatten, who had
an enormous influence over him. And I'm quite sure, yes, that
he sought the close friendship of Camilla because she's very sensible. - In Gloucestershire Highgrove
House had come on the market. In the same year, Camilla
encouraged the Prince to buy it. Highgrove was a short 15-minute drive to the Parker Bowles
home at Bolehyde Manor, just 10 miles away. Within a year came a crucial
decision in the Prince's life. A new companion had been found for him, a kindergarten school helper,
and the daughter of an earl. Lady Diana Spencer already
knew much about the Prince. Her sister, Sarah, had
been his girlfriend. Prince Charles, under orders, had at last found a suitable candidate and was well pleased with his choice. Diana was paraded before the
public to gauge their reaction. At a race meeting at Ludlow, Diana was chaperoned by
a protective Camilla, 14 years her senior, as they watched Charles ride. - It was the first time, I think, the Princess had been seen in public. She was wearing a very green,
elegant country style coat. And Camilla was wearing,
as far as I can remember, something like a check country suit. And Camilla was very much
the kind of intermediary, had her arm around the Princess explaining the kind of
things that were going on. Diana, very, very nervous
in those old days. Clearly not the kind of
sophisticated character she is now, and a bit of a different shape. And her hair was a different
style, eyes kept looking down, very shy and very nervous in those days. And Camilla was in a
very caring role there, almost like a motherly role, if you like. - The interaction was mother and daughter. It was very much Camilla who was the woman in charge of the two. And I felt that Diana was treated almost like a child by Camilla. She was guided by Camilla. She listened to everything Camilla said. At the time, it was easy
to think it's charming and it's sweet. Isn't Camilla being wonderful? But I don't think that
was really the case. I think it was Camilla
was just making sure that Prince Charles was not going to step too far out of line as far as
she, Camilla, was concerned. I think she was very much
keeping an eye on a person whom she considered her personal property. - [Narrator] Camilla approved the match. By now, Prince Charles was 32, and she encouraged him to propose marriage to the 19-year-old Diana. - She certainly did encourage it, and I would say was very
largely instrumental in the whole thing. I think she saw herself as
doing everybody a good turn, and in some ways, in her
position as an ongoing, very, very unusually close
friend to Prince Charles, she probably saw it as a good chance of them all being continuing as friends, particularly if she encouraged it. That's the logical conclusion
that any of us might make. - [Narrator] Diana knew from
the outset about Camilla, but she believed that with
youth and beauty on her side, she could win Charles's affection. - Diana was a very naive 19-year-old girl who was absolutely besotted
with Prince Charles. Now, when he spoke to her
about his previous girlfriends, he said they were all
married and they're all safe. That is to say they were never
going to spill the beans. So she believed him. And she also believed him when he said that they were all consigned to the past. But during the courtship, she found all kinds of
telltale signs of evidence that Charles was still enamored
with Camilla Parker Bowles. - [Narrator] On November the 16th, 1980, three months before the
engagement was announced, the "Sunday Mirror" claimed
that Diana had spent the night with Charles on the Royal Train. Security logs clearly showed that a woman had entered the train parked
in a Wiltshire siding. Diana's protestations of
innocence were undeniable, but the press didn't understand how the security services
could have got it so wrong. - She did believe somebody
had been on that train, and she knew it wasn't her, and she was very anxious that
that should be put across. Maybe it was a shot across
the brows to Prince Charles to say, you know, okay,
somebody was on the train. But mate, it wasn't me. We know from telephone
records that a call was made from the Royal Train into
the Parker Bowles's home about nine and a half
before this lady appeared on the train, was smuggled on. Seen by police, this woman going on board. - [Narrator] Camilla's friends say she has never seen the
inside of the Royal Train. (lively orchestral music) But when Prince Charles took off for a scheduled tour of Australia, Diana's public tears were thought to show how much she was missing
the love of her life. Even on the announcement
of their engagement, when it came to Charles being asked to publicly pledge his love
for her, he was found wanting. - [Reporter] And I suppose in love. - Of course. - Whatever in love means.
- (giggles) Yes. - I cannot believe that she didn't realize that there was a very,
very close relationship, certainly a sexual one, between
Prince Charles and Camilla. I don't think women miss things like that, and certainly not Lady Diana Spencer. - [Narrator] July 1981, two
nights before the royal wedding, crowds gather in the mall for
the greatest royal show piece since the coronation
nearly 30 years before. (crowd chatting)
(cameras clicking) In a room at Buckingham Palace, according to Charles's
valet, Stephen Barry, the Prince and Mrs. Parker Bowles made their farewells for the last time. In the morning sunshine,
Charles prepares to stand and deliver the most public expression of devotion in history. 300 million people watch on television as the Queen and her family
welcome into their midst the woman who will provide
the House of Windsor with its next king. ("The Prince of Denmark's March") But all is not what it seems, for Diana's eyes are not on the altar, but looking among the congregation. - I remember Diana talking to her friends about the day that she got married and the moment that she
walked down the aisle at St. Paul's Cathedral. And she remembers seeing
Camilla Parker Bowles standing there with her son, Tom. She remembers that she was
wearing a gray pillbox hat and a gray suit. And she thought to herself, "I hope that that relationship
is now consigned to history." She was really convulsed
with two emotions. One was absolute adoration
and love for Prince Charles, and the other, a hope that
that relationship was over. - [Narrator] The Queen, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and others all knew the truth. - With this ring-
- I thee wed. - I thee wed.
- With my body- - With my body-
- I thee honor. - I thee honor.
- And all my worldly- - [Narrator] Later, Dr.
Runcie was to describe it as an arranged marriage. - In the name of the father- - The church was getting
a lot of credit from this. It was, if you like, a
rather nostalgic glimpse of an image of England, as called a Christian
England, if you like, the Church of England
performing its traditional role on a great national celebration and doing it enormously
well and splendidly. I think it does put a question
mark over the good faith, if you like, of the people who supported and arranged the marriage ceremony. If they had doubts about it, they certainly did not
convey those doubts. Indeed, there was a rather
dangerous invitation to the whole public to invest
emotionally in the event, but with this qualification that there was obviously
a fly in the ointment. And some in the church were aware of it and were prepared to take that risk. Well, I think now they're
faced with the consequences of that risk. - [Narrator] Though this
was a marriage built on shifting sands, each for their own reasons was
prepared to make a go of it. They carried with them the
goodwill of a trusting nation. Escorting the Prince and the
Princess to their honeymoon was the ever faithful, ever
promoted Andrew Parker Bowles. But even the best intentions can flounder on something as trivial
as a small photograph. - The time of the honeymoon
was both a romantic time, but it was also a time
of extreme bitterness and painful memories. There was one occasion
on the Royal Britannia where she opened Charles's diaries and two pictures of Camilla
fluttered to the floor. - [Narrator] Charles's
biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, described the Prince on
his honeymoon like this. "He seemed to go out of his way to avoid the moments of intimacy
with her that she craved." But Diana's problems
encouraged little intimacy. Bulimia, a reaction to
the unprecedented strain she had undergone, became a concern. Soon after these pictures
were taken at Balmoral, a psychiatrist was summoned from London. A chill her descended on
the fairytale marriage that was not yet a month old. (upbeat rock music) But the royal show went on. These were the glory days for the Waleses. And unknowing, the world
loved them for their love. But with a marriage that
was terminally damaged almost from the start, Charles's thoughts were
often with Camilla. - She realized that he
was so unhappy with Diana, I'm not saying whose fault it was, but was so miserable in that marriage. I would say within weeks of it, of the actual ceremony at St. Paul's, I think that she gave such
sympathy to Prince Charles and wanted to help him so much and felt so much for this man, whom she adored, that I think very fast, the affections that had been there, which both had tried to suppress, came flooding back, and she gave herself
completely to Charles, and I think to the
exclusion of her husband. - For a time, parenthood helped
cement the royal marriage, but both parties
acknowledged that it was over soon after the birth of Prince Harry. At this photo shoot on their
bucket-and-spade holiday with King Juan Carlos of Spain, royal observers began to
notice the body language between the so-called loving couple was frigid in the summer heat. Charles left early to return
to the chillier pleasures of Balmoral and the company
of Mrs. Parker Bowles. But it took time for Fleet Street to grasp what was going on. Too much had been invested
in creating the royal dream to see it shattered quite so soon. - I was an executive on "The Sun" during the period in which
questions began to be asked about whether or not
Princess Diana and Charles were getting on. In many ways, what our reporters,
Harry Arnold and Judy Wade would come back and tell us
we didn't want to believe. They got the most severe questioning. "Can you be right on this? Have you got a second source? Okay, so she broke down
in tears on that occasion, but perhaps she was
just upset by something. It doesn't mean anything more, does it?" And you would get Judy Wade saying, "Look at their body language," and we think, "Oh God,
this woman's an eccentric. She can't be right." We didn't want to believe it. - [Narrator] Occasionally
a lucky photographer would find evidence of the real story. But for the time being, the royal team kept up a united
front for the outside world. - Fleet Street wanted the fairytale and they wanted to enjoy it. And they didn't want to question it. They never thought to question it. It sold lots of newspapers. Fairy tales are good for sales. And so it was fine with them. As far as they were concerned, this was the brilliant
marriage of all time. (lively music) - [Narrator] Cautiously,
Charles and Camilla began to holiday together. In Turkey, where the British press failed to print the photographs, and then again, a very
different kind of holiday from the ones Diana favored. Another time they went to Florence, and to one very personal
place of pilgrimage, the house paid for by King Edward VII, where Alice Keppel spent the
Indian summer of her life. The couple indulged
their love of painting, which has been one of the
many points of mutual interest in their lives. Since the marriage, Diana
and Camilla had barely met. But now at Sir James
Goldsmith's house in Richmond, in February 1989, there was an acrimonious
encounter at a birthday party. - He expected to go on his own. Diana insisted on coming. And they went in the car together. And she remembers him as
being very uncomfortable. And so she confronted Camilla. She asked her about the relationship. Camilla was evasive. And from that moment onwards, all Charles's friends, and what she called dismissively,
the high growth set, continued to perpetuate this lie that Charles and Camilla
were just friends. - Revenge may not have been
sweet, but it was effective. Through her friends, Diana
told the whole story. The publication of Andrew Morton's book was more damaging to the House of Windsor than anything since the abdication. Camilla was named for the
first time as Charles's lover. - It was a public finger
being pointed at her by the one person who is
able to manipulate the media because she is very beautiful,
the Princess of Wales, and can be very persuasive
when she's in the right mood. And she had a nation
crying with her or for her. Therefore, they had to have, if they've got her as the good fairy, they've gotta have a wicked witch. And that was poor old Camilla. And she got it in the,
right between the eyes. - [Narrator] June 1992, named
as the guilty accomplice in Charles's adultery, Camilla Parker Bowles is
left, not for the last time, to cope alone. On the eve of publication
of Andrew Morton's book, and with the contents already known, she braves the press
by making an appearance at Smith's Lawn, the very place where 20 years before, she sealed her love with Charles. She's invited to take tea with the Queen. Country houses with high
walls and tight-lipped staff had for some time provided sanctuary. Garrowby, Yorkshire seat
of the Earl of Halifax, Eaton Hall, home of the
Duchess of Westminster, Northmore, owned by their
friend, Hugh Van Cutsem, and other houses, secretly
entertained the royal lovers. At Middlewick, Camilla's new home, the seeds of a disaster even greater than Andrew Morton's book were being sown. On January the 10th, 1993, the high octane contents of
a late night telephone call intercepted in tape three years before were published in the newspapers. The Camillagate scandal was on. - [Camilla] I can't bear a
Sunday night without you. - [Charles] Oh God. - [Camilla] It's like that
program "Start the Week." I can't start the week without you. - Obviously she was absolutely shattered, as anyone would be, because this was akin to
allowing the general public into her bedroom. And it was a horrible
thing to happen to anyone. Of course, the conversation was banal, even sort of mildly laboratorily obscene. But that is the way people talk sometimes, and not for publication. It's a terrible intrusion, possibly the most painful
intrusion of her life, I would say. - [Narrator] There was no protection against the ensuing press siege. Reaction against Camilla
was swift and ferocious. (camera clicking) Charles attempted to visit Camilla, huddled under rugs in the backseat of a chauffeur-driven car. The indignity of a future king
forced to hide in such a way was not lost on the general public. But it was Camilla who bore
the brunt of their disgust. - She was fighting, if
that's the right word, with both hands tied behind her back. And she had nowhere to go. And it was obviously
more difficult for her to see Prince Charles, who was
by then her closest friend. Her girlfriends were about the only ones who could get to her at that time. She's got four or five
very close lady friends. She had difficulty in going out in public, and therefore difficulty in
communicating and seeing people. - [Narrator] As she emerged
in customary silence from this latest controversy, it became clear that Camilla's problem was one of public perception. Whatever her attributes, and her friends claim there are many, she was inevitably and
unfavorably compared with the Princess of Wales. - It's largely because of
the way the two women look. And let's face it, the Princess
of Wales looks a lot better than Mrs. Parker Bowles, fine
woman, though she may well be. But Diana is still young and radiant and hugely attractive,
photographs beautifully. Camilla photographs less well. Somehow her public perception
just comes across as all wrong and all bad, and she infuriates people. And when her pictures
appear in the newspapers, I know newspaper editors are besieged with letters from readers. "Why are you showing that
woman's picture in your paper? We don't want to see her." - [Narrator] Charles had his
own reputation to salvage after Camillagate. Oblivious to the consequences, he confessed to Jonathan
Dimbleby on television that he had been an adulterer. - I think it was the most stupid
crass mistake of his life. And he's made a fair few mistakes. He's a good man. I'm sure in time he would be a good king. But that was a classic example of him being very badly advised and allowing himself to be so advised. It was a dirty thing to do. It left Camilla out with the washing. There was nothing for her to do or say. She couldn't come up and do
her own television thing. There was nothing for her. And it then opened the
floodgates of media intrusion because they could write what they liked without fear of contradiction. Once Prince Charles had said it himself, there was nothing more to be said. And this is a direct result
of his own indecision with good and better advisors in the past who he has failed to take note of, and they've all gone. - [Narrator] Do you
think that Prince Charles actually thought about the
effect on Camilla's family? - I sincerely hope that he
didn't think about that, because if he did think
about it and ignored it, it makes him a much worse
person than I think he is. And certainly Wales did not
show his correct friendship to her and the family, and for that matter, to
Andrew Parker Bowles. - [Narrator] In the wake
of the Dimbleby interview, a massive face-saving
disinformation campaign kicked in. One newspaper said Charles
had given up Camilla. Another claimed he would
no longer take her calls. Yet another stated that
Charles had abandoned Camilla two years before. The public felt they
were being bamboozled. When the Princess of Wales
confessed to "Panorama" that there were three in her marriage, Camilla's popularity sank to new depths. Once again, the opinion polls showed that it was Camilla who
was bearing the brunt of public dismay. With the adultery now out in the open, Andrew Parker Bowles had little option but to call for a divorce. Ever resilient, he happily remarried to old friend Rosemary Pitman. Charles and Diana's own
divorce followed soon after. Camilla started a new life here alone at Ray Mill House in Wiltshire, 10 miles from High Grove. Set in 17 acres, it was
bought and is administered by a trust headed by the Earl of Halifax. Losses in the Lloyd's Insurance market, where she was a member of
10 different syndicates, had dramatically reduced her fortune and caused much loved family heirlooms to be sold off at auction. - Well, Camilla was a very
wealthy lady during her marriage. As you know, she was a
member of Lloyd's List. When that crashed, she
lost an awful lot of money. It's no secret that the Prince
of Wales is helping her out in terms of her financing the house. And also he's providing his own
staff to run errands for her and also providing his own chauffeur when she needs to do trips to London and probably with her
charity work as well. And so she's just
traveling around Wiltshire. Sadly, she is now almost a
subject of daily paparazzi, so she can't go away unaided
or unguarded in any way. So the Prince of Wales is
helping her with that as well. - [Narrator] Driving from Ray Mill House one evening in June, Camilla
was involved in a collision. She was on her way to
High Grove for dinner. The other driver was left
trapped in a car in a ditch. And yet again, Camilla's actions drew a
welter of public criticism. (lively music)
(people chatting) Camilla and Charles continue
to play a courters' game. Charles riding to hands with
the Beaufort Hunt in morning, Camilla in the afternoon. It seems to have occurred neither that such a pursuit is not the easiest way to earn the public's approval. - By the laws of the
church and old convention, she hasn't behaved terribly well. She has, it would appear,
committed adultery with the Prince of Wales. But why is she held guilty for this? All she's guilty of is being there, being a very good, solid friend to him. And that friendship turned
to something stronger. - He needs to be rehabilitated. There needs to be a longterm strategy for the Prince of Wales. And part of that strategy has
to be Camilla Parker Bowles, how she fits into the circle, if you like. - Give it a few more years. It'll take a bit of time. They'll say, oh, she's
behaved beautifully, which is true. She has kept her mouth shut. She's been discreet. She's been loyal. She's been decent. She's everything that really
one admires in a person. And God, these two have been
in love now for 35 years. Why shouldn't we let them get married? - I think that if Camilla
became Queen Camilla, Diana would go ballistic. For a long time, she's tried
to come to terms with Camilla. But these days she is glad that actually Camilla has
taken Charles out of her life. In a way, Camilla's done Diana a favor. Diana married the wrong man, and Camilla's given her the excuse to get out of the marriage. - If Diana marries and finds happiness, which everyone wishes she would do, and hopes she does at
some stage in the future, then I think pressures will
ease on Charles and Camilla. Public pressure will certainly ease. Public will take the view, well, Diana's found someone, she's happy. Why on earth shouldn't Charles? And let's face it, we all
know he loves Camilla. - This year, Camilla Parker Bowles celebrates her 50th birthday. In 25 years of knowing Prince Charles, she has probably experienced the pleasure that comes with love for
no more than a week here and a week there. - Are we to condemn them in a way that we don't condemn any other people whose marriages break up? And the same for Camilla. She's a lovely lady. And clearly what the palace
have is a big dilemma into how they actually do this. My belief is that the Prince
of Wales will be the next king. There is no way that Prince
William will jump that. There's no way that Prince Charles will marry Camilla Parker Bowles. But I believe they will be seen in public by the end of this year. - It should be quite simple
for them to get married in due course, if they wanted to. And it would be quite simple
to alter the constitution a tiny bit, if at all, to allow
her to be the king's wife. She doesn't have to be called the Queen. Look at Prince Philip. Prince Philip is married to the Queen. What difference is it? It's just reversed, that's all. In the old days, the Queen was
very much the lesser figure in a royal relationship. In modern times, this
shouldn't bother anybody. She could be called Princess
Camilla or the Duchess of, any way you like, Sloane Square. Why not? I think they're entitled to each other. They've had all the hell. Why should they not have some pleasure? - Camilla's future lies
in Charles's hands. But ever present is the knowledge that the future king cannot
afford to make another mistake. - In the unreal world,
it would've been lovely if he could have married
her at the right time and, you know, they were both single and it was all the fairy tale. We had the fairy tale that didn't work. And to me, that's terribly sad. But maybe now it's time to go move forward and for everyone to find some happiness. (regal music)
(cameras clicking)
