Camilla Parker-Bowles

Family ties

Camilla Parker-Bowles, born the July 17th 1947 with London, passed its youth to Plumpton, a small village lost in the hills of Sussex. It is the girl of major Bruce Shand, officer of the British army reconverted into the trade of the wine, and Rosalind Cubbitt, the family of the barons Ashcombe.

By her father, it is the niece of Elspeth Howe, woman political and even British, grand-daughter of the writer Philip Morton Shand.

By her mother, it is the back-small-girl of Alice Keppel (born Alice Edmonstone) (1866-1947), which was the mistress of prince de Galles Edward, future king Edouard VII (1841-1910), great-great-grandfather of prince Charles. Same side, it is the small-niece of Violet Trefusis (1894-1972), girl of Alice Keppel and British writer, whose manners defrayed the chronicle in first half of the 20th century. It is by this branch that Camilla is a cousin distant from Madonna and of Céline Dion.

She also counts, among her ancestors, with a degree more moved away, Arnold Joost van Keppel (v. 1670-1718), first count d' Albemarle, Favori and lover of the king Guillaume III of Orange (1650-1702), stathouder of the United Provinces (1672-1702) and king of England (1689-1702).

By her brother Mark, it is the sister-in-law of the actress Clio Goldsmith.

Of its marriage with Andrew Parker Bowles, it had a son, Thomas, in 1975 and one girl, Laura, in 1979.

Relations with the prince of Wales

Camilla Shand became acquainted with prince de Galles in 1972 and the legend reports that as of their first conversation, it would have evoked in front of her future lover the relation having existed between their respective ancestors Alice Keppel and Edouard VII.

Titulature

The new wife of the heir to the British crown does not carry the title of princess of Wales - following the example Diana Spencer (1961-1997) -, but only that of duchess of Cornouailles, the duchy of Cornouailles being the “secondary” title of prince de Galles.

In the possibility of an accession of prince Charles to the British throne, it was initially expected that Camilla does not become either queen and preserves simply her ducal title. However, of the developments which have occurred between the advertisement (February) and the celebration (April) of the marriage, that is to say the March 21st 2005, seem to cancel these projections.

Because of a marked hostility of a considerable fringe of the public opinion (and press) British, it was initially expected that Camilla Parker-Bowles, after its marriage with the prince of Wales, would receive the simple title of “duchess of Cornouailles” and that, in the possibility of an accession to the throne of her husband, she does not become queen, but preserves simply her ducal titulature.

However the British government lengthily studied the question and, although he initially recommended the preceding solution, the Minister for the Constitutional deals, Christopher Leslie, had to recognize, the March 21st 2005, in his answer written to a question emanating of a lawyer, that nothing made it possible to affirm that the marriage of prince de Galles and Mrs. Parker-Bowles can be of a character “morganatic”. Andrew Mackinlay, the lawyer who had put the initial question, thus drew the conclusion from it that the accession with the throne of prince Charles would automatically involve a titulature of “queen” for his wife (“ This is absolutely unequivocal that she automatically becomes queen when He becomes king ”). This interpretation was immediately confirmed by the department of the Constitutional deals, which specified that the constant use, since centuries, having always been that the wife and nonmorganatic of a king itself is titrated queen, only the vote of a law in contrary direction would be likely to change this irrefutable fact.

In the immediate future, the marriage should not modify arrangements envisaged as long as the prince of Wales does not reach the throne. Camilla will acquerra the predicate of “Its Royal Highness” (“ Her Royal Highness ”) and the titles of “duchess of Rothesay” (in Scotland) and of “duchess of Cornouailles” (everywhere else), without carrying the title of “princess of Wales”.

Complete Titulature

Since its marriage, its complete titulature is the following one: Its Highness Royal the Princess of Wales (not-carried, but it is titular), duchess of Cornouailles, duchess of Rothesay, countess of Chester, countess of Carrick, baroness of Renfrew, rams Islands, princess of Scotland.

Its names were, by chronological order:

Miss Camilla Shand (before 1973)

Mrs. Andrew Parker-Bowles (1973-1995)

Mrs. Camilla Parker-Bowles (1995-2005)

duchess of Cornouailles (everywhere, except in Scotland) (2005 -)
the duchess of Rothesay (in Scotland only) (2005 -)

See too

Marriage of Prince Charles with Camilla Parker-Bowles

External bonds

French origins of Camilla Parker-Bowles

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