SARAH VINE: As personally frustrating as the last months have been for Charles, there is one huge positive – how Camilla has shown herself worthy of not just being his Queen, but our Queen too
As Charles III prepares to celebrate the anniversary of his coronation on May 6, he may be reflecting on what has been a bittersweet first year as king.
After preparing all his life for the solemn responsibility of succeeding his formidable mother on the throne, being thrown off track with a cancer diagnosis must have been painful – to say the least.
Just when he should have made his stride, he was forced to hit the brakes. Not easy for a man who is always in a hurry to get things done.
After preparing all his life for the solemn responsibility of succeeding his formidable mother on the throne, it must have been painful for the king to be thrown off track with a cancer diagnosis, writes Sarah Vine.
Mail columnist Sarah Vine writes that when she first met Queen Camilla, she was immediately put at ease by the way the then Duchess of Cornwall
But every cloud has a silver lining. As personally frustrating as the past few months have been, his illness has produced one huge positive outcome. And so Queen Camilla has shown that she is worthy of being not only his queen (as she undoubtedly always has been), but also our queen.
I first met the Duchess of Cornwall, as she then was, many years ago at a dinner hosted by mutual friends. She and the king had not been married long, and she was still not fully accustomed to the role of royal consort. He had, as you might expect, an old-fashioned, formal look and was rather stiff and worried. She was the opposite: warm-hearted, mischievous, conniving and sometimes indiscreet. She immediately made a person feel at ease – and it made him seem more relaxed, because it was obvious that everything about her delighted him. If you made her laugh, he’d chuckle too – that kind of thing. It was like she was balm to his soul.
A long time afterwards I again had the privilege of dining with them privately, this time at Clarence House. The intervening years had changed us all enormously, but the Queen remained the same: warm, hospitable, gossipy, always that mischievous twinkle in her eye. As for the king, he seemed so much happier, so much more comfortable in his own skin. I remember a cheerful, informal dinner with delicious food and easy conversation. In many ways their story is one of the greatest love stories of our time, not least because they overcame so many obstacles to be together.
But in people’s minds the specter of Princess Diana still hangs over their union. And it’s understandable that Diana’s loyal fans still feel an element of at best ambivalence and at worst hostility toward the former Mrs. Parker Bowles.
It was for this reason, I think, that the king was determined to see his wife crowned with him. He wants the world to recognize how important she is to him, and to accept their deep commitment to each other, a commitment that has survived the test of time and the shame of many.
It was a grand gesture, and an important one. But I think it’s only now, having seen her rise up in his hour of need, that people are really starting to appreciate her qualities. She will always have her critics. But she has worked hard for many years to earn the nation’s trust and forgiveness. This time she really deserves it.