Camilla, the wife of King Charles III, has been Queen Consort since her husband succeeded to the throne, though she has been a part of the Royal Family and in the public eye for years.
Camilla turned down the royal title of Princess of Wales out of respect for Charles’s first wife, Diana. She was previously known as the Duchess of Cornwall.
It has been confirmed that King Charles’s coronation ceremony on May 6 will involve the coronation of both Charles and Camilla, who will be crowned alongside each other.
Find out everything you need to know about Camilla, the Queen Consort.
How old is Queen Consort Camilla?
The Queen Consort is 75 years old, and was born on July 17, 1947.
Who is Queen Consort Camilla?
The Queen Consort was born Camilla Rosemary Shand, to parents Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand and The Hon Rosalind Maud Shand (née Cubitt). She has a sister named Annabel Elliot, and she had a brother, Mark Shand, who died in 2014.
She attended Dumbrells School, a co-ed school in East Sussex, before attending Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington. Camilla also studied abroad at Mon Fertile School in Switzerland and at the Institut Britannique in Paris.
Who was Camilla first married to and does she have children?
In 1973, she married Andrew Parker Bowles, a retired British Army officer.
Together, they had two children: Tom Parker Bowles, food writer and critic, born in 1974, and Laura Lopes, an art curator born in 1978. Camilla and Andrew divorced in 1995.
Tom has spoken about how Camilla cooked for the family when he was growing up, saying: “My father was often away with the army, or in London, but mum did a lot of the cooking. She never liked cakes, not baking. Meat. Fish. That’s what she did.”
Queen Consort Camilla has five grandchildren, not including the Prince of Wales’s grandchildren, to whom she is step-grandmother.
Camilla’s son, Tom, has two children: Lola, born in 2007, and Frederick, born in 2010, and Tom has previously described Camilla as being “brilliant” with his daughter.
Camilla’s daughter, Laura, has three children: Eliza, born in 2008, and twins Gus and Louis, born in 2009.
When did Camilla and Charles marry?
Camilla married Charles, then the Prince of Wales, at the Guildhall in Windsor on April 9, 2005, in a civil ceremony.
The wedding had to be a civil ceremony because both the bride and groom had previously been divorced, and Charles became the first member of the Royal Family to marry without a religious service.
They then had a service of prayer and dedication in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, over which the Archbishop of Canterbury officiated. The Queen then hosted a reception for the couple at the castle.
When did Camilla become the Queen Consort?
On September 8, Camilla became Queen Consort when Charles succeeded to the throne. She will be crowned and anointed alongside King Charles during his coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey and will wear a smaller version of her husband’s imperial state crown.
The coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6.
Queen Elizabeth herself wanted Camilla to become Queen Consort.
At her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen said: “It is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”
