Camilla Opens Up About the 'Horrid' Aftermath of Her Affair with Prince Charles
The complicated relationship between Prince Charles, 68, and Camilla has been a topic of discussion for decades, and now, 12 years after tying the knot, the Duchess of Cornwall is finally speaking out about the media storm that erupted after the pair's scandalous love affair was revealed.
In a recent interview with The Mail on Sunday's You magazine, the 69-year-old royal said that she felt like a prisoner in her own home while dealing with press scrutiny that surrounded her illicit relationship with the Princes of Wales in the early '90s, when she was still married to her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, and Charles was still married to the late Princess Diana. (Camilla divorced Bowles in 1995; Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and officially divorced in 1996, the year before her death.)
"For about a year ... I couldn't really go anywhere," Camilla told You. "It was horrid. It was a deeply unpleasant time and I wouldn't want to put my worst enemy through it. I couldn't have survived it without my family."
To avoid being chased by paparazzi, Camilla says she holed up at home, spending her time reading and painting, while her two children, Tom Parker-Bowles and Laura Lopes, "came and went as normal."
"The paparazzi used to follow us everywhere and lurk around like spooks," Camilla's son told You. "We used to keep binoculars in my mother's bathroom [at Middlewick House], and one of us would look out every morning to see how many paparazzi were hiding in the bushes ... it seemed entirely normal."
Nearly 35 years after their on-and-off relationship began, Camilla and Charles married in 2005. Since then, the Duchess has spent her time adjusting to life as a royal and the duties that come along with it.
"You also have to laugh at yourself because if you can't, you may as well give up," Camilla told the publication. "I sometimes think to myself, 'Who is this woman? It can't possibly be me.' And that's really how you survive."
(h/t People)
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