Perhaps the most infamous "other woman" of
all time, Camilla Parker Bowles needs no introduction. This royal is now beloved, but let's rewind
to when Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall was known as the shadiest of all. Camilla Shand met Andrew Parker Bowles in
1966, and despite his womanizing reputation, the 19-year-old was completely smitten. Unfortunately, the British army officer allegedly
cheated on Camilla repeatedly throughout their on-again, off-again relationship. Although the duchess put up with her boyfriend's
cheating, according to biographer Penny Junor, "Camilla saw [Andrew's] car parked outside
the home of one of her best friends, and she let the air out of his tires." In the early '70s, Andrew began a secret,
intimate relationship with Princess Anne. Camilla must have decided that when your ex
is dating a princess, vandalizing his car for a second time just won't cut it. So instead she apparently sought revenge by
dating a future king, who also happened to be Princess Anne's brother. According to Junor's The Duchess: The Untold
Story, "[Camilla's] principal motivation was to have
some excitement and make Andrew jealous." While revenge may have been her initial motivation,
Camilla and Charles clearly became infatuated during their 18 month affair. But Andrew was never completely out of the
picture. In Camilla and Charles: The Love Story, author
Caroline Graham claims that Camilla told a friend at the time, "I love Charles very much but I simply can't
forget about Andrew. [...] Is it possible to love two men at the
same time?" It appears that Camilla Parker Bowles' revenge
plan worked. After Princess Anne and Andrew's fling had
run its course, the military man ran back to Camilla and asked for her hand in marriage
in 1973. And while some may wonder if the duchess carelessly
tossed Prince Charles aside, the truth is far more complex. Apparently Camilla was aware that a marriage
proposal from Charles was highly unlikely, as the royal family would never approve of
the relationship. In Battle of Brothers: William and Harry,
author Robert Lacey wrote that when Charles was deployed with the Royal Navy, "He wanted to marry Camilla [...] but he did
not have the courage to tell her." Without Charles declaration of love, and knowing
the realities of royal marriage traditions, Camilla accepted Parker Bowles' proposal. When news of the impending nuptials reached
him, the Prince of Wales was said to have been utterly devastated. Per Marie Claire, "Charles wrote of his sadness to his uncle,
Lord Mountbatten, that 'such a blissful, peaceful and mutually happy relationship' had ended." According to royal biographer Penny Junor,
the prince also wrote to Camilla one week before her wedding in an attempt to convince
her to call it off. In The Duchess, Penny Junor noted that when
Prince Charles began dating Diana Spencer, Camilla Parker Bowles approved. Junor explained, "At first, Diana liked Camilla and appreciated
her friendship — a friendship that was genuine." However, their "friendship" soon soured after
Charles proposed. Diana revealed in Andrew Morton's biography
Diana: Her True Story In Her Own Words that Camilla allegedly invited her to lunch and
shadily said, "Such exciting news about the engagement. Do let's have lunch soon. [...] I'd love to see the ring." Soon after, Diana realized that Camilla was
certainly no friend. The princess told Morton, "I couldn't understand why she kept saying
to me, 'Don't push him into doing this, don't do that.' She knew so much about what he was doing privately
and about what we were doing privately. [...] Eventually, I worked it all out and
found the proof of the pudding." It's been largely assumed that the Prince
and Princess of Wales separated due to Charles' ongoing affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Diana famously told the BBC in 1995, "Well, there were three of us in this marriage,
so it was a bit crowded." The year before, Charles defended himself
in his own televised interview, insisting that he was only faithful to Diana, “Until it became irretrievably broken down." Several media outlets reported that Charles
and Camilla began seeing each again in 1986, only five years after his marriage to Diana. Various royal biographers have maintained
that the Prince of Wales felt pressured by his family into choosing a bride and settling
down. In Charles at Seventy: Thoughts, Hopes & Dreams,
author Robert Jobson described Charles' deep anguish and anxiety after the engagement announcement,
claiming that as Charles got to know Diana, he realized that they had nothing in common. While the media painted Charles and Camilla
as villains, Jobson further insisted, "The bottom line is that their [Charles and
Diana's] 'fairytale' marriage [...] was doomed from the start." It's only natural that Princess Diana and
Camilla Parker Bowles loathed one another. In the book Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion
and Defiance of Prince Charles, author Tom Bowers alleged that the Duchess of Cornwall
disliked Diana, as he wrote, "Her friends, at least, were never in any
doubt about what Camilla thought of her lover's young wife. In the early days of the marriage, she'd dismissively
called the Princess 'a mouse.' Later, she'd refer to her as 'that mad cow.'" Camilla wasn't the only using nasty nicknames
to describe her rival. Diana's friend, Simone Simmons, wrote in Diana:
The Last Word that the princess called her husband's lover "the Rottweiler." Simmons claimed that Diana chose this nickname, "Because once [Camilla] has got her teeth
into someone she won't let go." As far as the public knows, Camilla Parker
Bowles never apologized to Princess Diana for her affair with Prince Charles. In Rebel Prince, Tom Bowers claimed that Camilla
was unrepentant about her actions and considered Diana to be a hypocrite. The duchess allegedly told friends that while
she only had "one lover," Diana had several. Ironically, Princess Diana somehow ended up
apologizing to her husband's mistress in 1989. In secret recordings made for Andrew Morton's
biography Diana: Her True Story In Her Own Words, Diana recounted confronting Camilla
about the affair, and said, "[Camilla] said to me: 'You've got everything
you ever wanted. All the men in the world fall in love with
you and you've got two beautiful children, what more do you want?' [...] So I said, 'I want my husband.'" The Princess of Wales probably wanted an apology
as well, but Camilla reportedly refused to give her one. Instead, Diana said that she told Camilla, "I'm sorry I'm in the way [...] and it must
be hell for both of you. But I do know what's going on. Don't treat me like an idiot." Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your
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