LONDON - Camilla will be crowned queen on May 6 alongside her husband of 18 years King Charles III, in a first for a divorced queen consort in British history.
Here are 10 key dates in her life:
- July 17, 1947 - Born Camilla Rosemary Shand, the eldest of three children of Rosalind Cubitt, a baron's daughter, and Bruce Shand, a former military officer turned wine merchant.
Camilla grows up in the countryside and enjoys what she describes as an idyllic childhood.
She is sent to a Swiss finishing school before spending six months learning French language and literature in Paris.
Jobs follow as a secretary and receptionist, while she cultivates a love of gardening and horseracing.
- 1970 - Begins a brief relationship with Charles, Prince of Wales, but it ends when the following year he leaves to join the Royal Navy.
- July 4, 1973 - Camilla marries army officer Andrew Parker Bowles.
The couple have a son, Tom, in 1974 and a daughter, Laura, in 1978.
-July 29, 1981 - Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
- 1986 - Charles and Camilla resume their relationship.
- January 11, 1995 - Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorce but remain on good terms.
- August 28, 1996 - Charles and Diana formally divorce after officially separating in December 1992.
Diana dies in a car accident in Paris the following August.
- April 9, 2005 - Charles and Camilla marry in a civil ceremony in Windsor, west of London. Queen Elizabeth II does not attend but throws a reception for the newlyweds at her Windsor Castle home.
- September 8, 2022 - Camilla becomes queen consort when Charles accedes to the throne after the death of his mother. Before her death, Elizabeth said it was her "sincere wish" that Camilla uses the title.
- May 6, 2023 - Charles's coronation at Westminster Abbey. Three of Camilla's five grandchildren will be pages of honour, helping to carry her heavy dress train. -AFP
Here are 10 key dates in her life:
- July 17, 1947 - Born Camilla Rosemary Shand, the eldest of three children of Rosalind Cubitt, a baron's daughter, and Bruce Shand, a former military officer turned wine merchant.
Camilla grows up in the countryside and enjoys what she describes as an idyllic childhood.
She is sent to a Swiss finishing school before spending six months learning French language and literature in Paris.
Jobs follow as a secretary and receptionist, while she cultivates a love of gardening and horseracing.
- 1970 - Begins a brief relationship with Charles, Prince of Wales, but it ends when the following year he leaves to join the Royal Navy.
- July 4, 1973 - Camilla marries army officer Andrew Parker Bowles.
The couple have a son, Tom, in 1974 and a daughter, Laura, in 1978.
-July 29, 1981 - Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer.
- 1986 - Charles and Camilla resume their relationship.
- January 11, 1995 - Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorce but remain on good terms.
- August 28, 1996 - Charles and Diana formally divorce after officially separating in December 1992.
Diana dies in a car accident in Paris the following August.
- April 9, 2005 - Charles and Camilla marry in a civil ceremony in Windsor, west of London. Queen Elizabeth II does not attend but throws a reception for the newlyweds at her Windsor Castle home.
- September 8, 2022 - Camilla becomes queen consort when Charles accedes to the throne after the death of his mother. Before her death, Elizabeth said it was her "sincere wish" that Camilla uses the title.
- May 6, 2023 - Charles's coronation at Westminster Abbey. Three of Camilla's five grandchildren will be pages of honour, helping to carry her heavy dress train. -AFP