Camilla & Charles: What Is Your Opinion Now?

[Skydragon]

Even though Camilla's been potrait as a nasty person beofre she and Prince Charles got together i think she must be a nice person for Prince harry to praise her at an interview here on uk channels saying that him and Prince william 'lover her to bits'. They clearly love their step mother to bits and they can see that shes making theyr beloved dad a very happy man, why sholud some people still hold a grudge against her if his sons have forgiven whatever happened in the past?!

You have summed it up in your first sentence, she has been portrayed as being nasty since she first began receiving a little publicity around 1996. Right up until the wedding, very little was written about her and virtually nothing by people who said they knew her.

It's quite strange if you think that Harry & William (who if all that has been written about Camilla was true, should hold a grudge), love her to bits!

 

[Nad25]

Well with the Princes they know camilla personally more than any of us , she must be a nice person, if i was in their place i wouldnt go publicly announcing to the world that my step-mum is a wonderful person unless she really is, and plus they look at their dad Prince Charles hes a picture of happiness iv never seen him so happy in years, she looks like a down to earth woman (even though i dont know her personally of course!)

 

[Katemac63]

Camilla has only been in public for a very short time and the public person is not always the same as the real person. The public person is how they are portrayed by the media and as we all know they can 'work' that to sell more stories. That is also what some people do to sell their books!

We all have our own idea on how posters on here might look or sound but, I am quite certain the reality will be far from the truth. I find it a little difficult to understand how anyone can make absolute judgements on someone's character, who has only been in the public eye a very short time and who has never spoken out, or 'allowed' her friends to do so.

IMO, from Camilla's public appearances, we can see she is a warm and caring person, able and willing to show real interest in a great many subjects. She seems to get on well with everyone she meets and has, from recent photo's and 'body language' been totally accepted into Charles' family. She also seems to have very loyal and genuine friends and you only get those by being a loyal and genuine person yourself.

However, even I have to accept that there will always be some unwilling to give her a chance or a pat on the back, based on lies written in some books and the press.

Do you know her? If not, why do you assume anything written in some books and the press are lies??

 

[AgnesK]

Do you know her? If not, why do you assume anything written in some books and the press are lies??

Because they are written by people who didn't know her and as far as I know didn't have acces to her circle.

 

[Maxie]

As a matter of fact there's one big problem with books. They all are interpretations or reality which can conclude some real facts, but a lot of what is reflected in them is just infected by the opinion of the writer. As a writer you choose to view something from a certain point of view and in a certain light, that has nothing to do with changing facts (and what are facts? How do writers know? How do we know?). So it's possible that two writers write two totally different books on the same subject. So what you believe when you read a book has to do with the question whether you agree with the writers point of view or not.

So, what's true or not is something we'll never know, we can only interpretate it, just as some writers have done for us...

 

[BeatrixFan]

Maxie picks up on something very important. Books always contain bias. Gyles Brandreth's book is obseqious, others are cruel. So we make our decision on what we see. Personally, their private life is nothing to do with me - all I want is to see is me getting value for money from my Royal Family. Camilla is a superb member of the RF and when she's on an engagement she's a natural. So, Camilla is a star IMO because she does what is required of her. The fact that she makes Charles happy and William and Harry love her is just a delightful bonus.

 

[love_cc]

I just regard Charles and Camilla's love as a part of their unknown destiny. They are made for each other and they shall be not prevented to get married now and in the past. But it was just an ideal idea that Charles can marry Camilla at the first place, but this time Charles made it possible even it still has a great controversy.

I think it is good for a fututure because Charles and Camilla's love has just proved how old absurd royal martial protocols are. Only a deep affection can help a couple to stay together whatever the difficulty is. People should live in reality and give royals more freedom to marry those who they really loves rather than an arranged marriage for convenience.

I think Camilla is a nice and warm person that could make Charles happy and has very loyal friends for so many years. It is her problem to treat Charles in such a precious way that makes them hard to live without each. Charles relies on Camilla and Camilla is happy to provide the help that she has. It was a bad luck for anyone except Camilla. Charles and Camilla just has an unbroken bond that combines deep frienships and affection.

 

[Skydragon]

Do you know her? If not, why do you assume anything written in some books and the press are lies??

I think Nad25, AgnesK & Maxie answered you beautifully but, I say again..."she also seems to have very loyal and genuine friends and you only get those by being a loyal and genuine person yourself".

 

[Margrethe II]

Well with the Princes they know camilla personally more than any of us , she must be a nice person, if i was in their place i wouldnt go publicly announcing to the world that my step-mum is a wonderful person unless she really is, and plus they look at their dad Prince Charles hes a picture of happiness iv never seen him so happy in years, she looks like a down to earth woman (even though i dont know her personally of course!)

Who is to say William & Harry are nice...only j/k Goodness, that one could go on forever if someone took that stance.lol.

I dont know Camilla, I dont have anything personal against her, I do know indaviduals (personally) who are in regular contact with the Duchess due to their most respective job's, who have shared their personal thoughts with me.

They, as indaviduals find her, well...not as wonderful as some in this thread, who are determined to give her a sparkling wrap. But each to their own!

Have thier views influenced mine? certainly not...I make up my own mind but admit I find it quite interesting to hear their thoughts concerning one of the worlds controversial figures, especially as they are, as I said, in regular contact.


"MII"

 

[Nad25]

Lol Im sure every person have their good points and bad ones because no one is perfect, and that certainly goes to Camilla!

 

[BeatrixFan]

Having met the Duchess twice, one as Mrs Parker-Bowles and the second time as an HRH, I base alot on that. I won't say exactly what was said but I will say that she was sweet, funny and charming. Of course, people can have a public face and a private face but as I said before, her private face really isn't anything to do with me. Her public one is.

 

[Charlotte1]

Rather than a vague "I know someone" equivalent to the tabloids "sources close to..." here's a comment on Camilla from a person who knows her, likes her, and isn't William or Harry.

Piers Morgan was the editor of the tabloid newspaper "The Daily Mirror", a very trashy tabloid and one that was very cruel to Camilla and therefore she would have every right to hold an ever lasting grudge against him. The fact that she doesn't shows what a gracious woman she is.

Piers Morgan is a broadcaster and this week has given an interview to the paper "The Daily Mail" ( about a new TV show "You can't fire me, I'm famous" I love the title!) He lost his job as editor of the Daily Mirror months before C & C were married over the fact that he unwittingly published bogus Iraqi abuse photos so he can't be accused of currying favour to get a scoop for his paper because he doesn't work for one.

His quote on Camilla "She's always been unbelievably nice to me, yet she owes me nothing. I probably made her life hell when I was an editor" And "Camilla's totally charming"

This seems to be the general consensus of people have gone on the record and have actually met Camilla, through the official events that she performs, that she's a lovely person and very charming.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I think that's amazing. Thanks for sharing that Charlotte. I think that I'd loathe Morgan with a passion if I was in Camilla's position but I think it's a great endorsement of her character that she never speaks on the past in public, doesn't hold grudges and just gets on with life.

 

[Skydragon]

Rather than a vague "I know someone" equivalent to the tabloids "sources close to..." here's a comment on Camilla from a person who knows her, likes her, and isn't William or Harry.

This seems to be the general consensus of people have gone on the record and have actually met Camilla, through the official events that she performs, that she's a lovely person and very charming.

What a lovely story (he was on the BBC morning news and said a similar thing and now it is in print in the Mail) and I couldn't agree more on the vague, "I know someone" or 'sources close to'. Those that have met her are willing to give details, those that know her, rarely feel the need to tell everyone about it!

 

[ysbel]

After discussion with the British forums moderating team, we're re-opening this thread with the following caveat:

As with all the threads in the forum, we invite the full spectrum of opinions of the royals. To keep the discussion reasonable with a mutual respectful sharing of diverse opinions, members should follow these guidelines:

1. Don't just post your opinions but think about them and try to explain why you think as you do so that others can understand.
2. When basing your opinion, stick to what you reasonably can know for certain and remember that none of us can know for sure the inner dynamics of any relationship of people we don't know.
3. Avoid purely visceral emotional responses that contribute nothing to the discussion and may well offend other members. Remember that not everyone will agree on a single royal and while we all want open and honest discussions, primarily we need to provide a conducive environment for people to share their passion for royalty without encountering undue hostility.
4. Remember, we're here to have fun! TRF is a great place to be because of the camaraderie we find with other members. Our opinions can change over time but the connections we make with other royal followers on the boards can last though several changes in our thoughts and attitudes towards royals who we cannot possibly know as well as we can get to know other members on this board.

As usual, the moderators will review the thread periodically and pull the posts that in our opinion do not follow the letter or the spirit of the guidelines.

Elspeth, Warren, ysbel
British forums moderating team

 

[Nad25]

Having met the Duchess twice, one as Mrs Parker-Bowles and the second time as an HRH, I base alot on that. I won't say exactly what was said but I will say that she was sweet, funny and charming. Of course, people can have a public face and a private face but as I said before, her private face really isn't anything to do with me. Her public one is.

Well said BeatrixFan. Theres public figures who have the reputation of being big headed publicly and privatly, what iv heard of Camilla from people close to her and the media she seems like a fine lady, not super-human being but fine!

 

[Katemac63]

Because they are written by people who didn't know her and as far as I know didn't have acces to her circle.

BUT YOU don't know that to be fact. You are surmising and assuming.. so another standoff!

 

[Skydragon]

I can't really think of one living person who has written nasty things about Camilla, ever having claimed they know her.

Nor do I know of anyone in her immediate circle who has even spoken to the press, either with her permission or not.

 

[Katemac63]

I can't really think of one living person who has written nasty things about Camilla, ever having claimed they know her.

Nor do I know of anyone in her immediate circle who has even spoken to the press, either with her permission or not.

Well actually APB's brother did speak out, but wouldn't repeat on this forum what was said..

IMO, only, and with a long memory... I choose to not be a fan, on the basis this lady should have been home tending to her own marriage and this fact conjures up "the feeling" one can have of "knowing" her a bit.
I will not continue on as I do not want to rile the moderators..
I have much admiration for others in the RF, which I can say , IMO, and from the heart, nice things about.
Regards

 

[Saragli]

Love is a mystery that creates and destroys. Not everybody experiences the same kind of love. Love is forbidden, Love is pure, Love is traditional, Love is immoral, Love is out of our controll. Camilla and Charles and other people in the relationship all did pretty bad things but they are not unforgivable. Even if you cant forgive a person for what they did that one act does not define them. Lets get into more detail in the person from what has been revealed about them. Post pros on cons on both of them. What do you think of there work. What do you think of the way they carry themselves. What is it that you dont like about them and what is that you do. Try to post both pros and cons so we can see the human side of the royals and not the either perfect or evil royal. I hope my rant makes sense.

 

[Elspeth]

BUT YOU don't know that to be fact. You are surmising and assuming.. so another standoff!

We're all surmising and assuming based on information in the public domain. On this forum we don't permit posts of the "I know Princess XXXX and Duchess YYYY and this is what they're like/what they think of Prince-so-and-so" or whatever, because we have no way at all of verifying whether these people are who they say they are or if they're just making it up in order to sound more plausible. If we take people at their word, we've had half the British aristocracy and a handful of junior members of the royal family posting in this forum over the last few years; interestingly, they've contradicted each other more often than they've agreed.

What we're looking for as support of an assertion is disclosure of the source of information if someone asks for it. It's OK to say "I read XXXXX somewhere - can't remember exactly where now, does anyone else remember?" as long as this isn't the sole source of some extremely damning or supportive statement that nobody else has ever heard of. Obviously the identity of the source would be preferable, whether it's a book or magazine article or poll or TV interview etc. We're trying to ensure that people are on the same page as far as the sources we're working from, whatever the conclusions they see fit to draw. We're also using our judgement to an extent about how reliable some of these sources are. If I understand your post, you're saying that we don't know if some of these books really are using the sources they claim to be using, so no source is more authoritative than any other source. We can take this sort of thing back to its logical conclusion and end up rejecting every single source because we don't personally know what the authors were thinking or who they actually spoke to; if that's the case, we might as well give up and not bother to try to discuss anything. Some sources are known to be more reliable than others. There's a difference between "Charles said this" and "xxx journalist claimed that Diana told him that Charles said this." There's a difference between "Camilla hasn't talked about this but her friends have spoken to the press" and "Camilla said this." We're all using our judgement, and we're trying not to break any libel laws in the process.

 

[Skydragon]

Well actually APB's brother did speak out, but wouldn't repeat on this forum what was said..

In actual fact, he made a few unsubstantiated comments, to line his own pockets, comments that were refuted by members of his own family.

 

[Skydragon]

You are right princejohnny25, love is a strange creature indeed. Some who are madly in love can grow apart, others closer still.

I think Camilla has shown herself to be diplomatic and discreet. Anyone who looks at the photo's of them or saw how he comforted her at the church service, can see the deep and abiding love for one another.

From what the public has seen of Camilla, over this last year as a royal, she is a warm and friendly woman, with a wicked sense of humour and the ability to bring happiness to Charles, William, Harry and her own children. The other royals seem to accept her (based on photos from the Queens 80th party at Kew and the presenting of the colours).

If you can make your own and your husbands family happy, that is an achievment in itself.

 

[Vita]

I'm sorry, but I will never like Camilla and I never did. I understand that she was in an akward situation that might not have necessarily been her entire doing. But the fact is that she was a grown woman who made the choice to carry on with a married man. Maybe she was part of a pair considered star-crossed lovers, but the fact is there was another woman involved in her relationship with Charles; Charles' wife, whom we all know was bit unstable because of things that were going with the Duchess and the Prince. I can't respect any woman who right up until the day before her lovers' wedding is with the lover. Not to mention the fact that she was married with children.

So, no I don't think that I could like her or respect her. Maybe she is nice and fun to be around, but I just can't get past her and Charles' actions.

It's a shame because I know that Charles has always loved his Camilla and I know Camilla loves him and maybe if Charles' mother wouldn't have been such a hard woman on the subject of those two, Camilla and Charles could have gotten together in the first place.

ETA (I accidentally clicked post before I could finish): While Camilla will never be my favorite and I may not like her for all of the reasons stated above, I just wanted to say that aside from that I think she and Charles are meant for each other. Charles was nevr happy with anyone but her it seems and I think she does a good job as Princess. I don't think she is better the late Princess of Wales, but I think she handles it differently. She's older and knew more about life than Diana did (she was innocent all around in the beginning) when she stepped in. And I think it would be immature of myself not to see where her stregnths are despite my personal feelings about her moral character.

Okay, now I'm done.

 

[AgnesK]

BUT YOU don't know that to be fact. You are surmising and assuming.. so another standoff!

Well, I actually know because nobody mention people from her circle in that books as a source. These "authors" didn't dare claim that somebody from her family or close friends contributed because they know that that would end in court.

 

[ysbel]

Vita,

I think even some people that like Charles and Camilla would have preferred that they had gotten to marriage by a different route. Royalty watchers are a pretty diverse group. Some like personalities, some like to follow the British monarchy as an institution and want it continue.

For many, a marriage that works is felt to be generally better for the monarchy that one that doesn't and that's why they like Charles and Camilla. And as you noted, they seem to work together well.

Charles had a well documented habit from before he was married of keeping up friendships with old girlfriends when he's in a relationship. Some may think its strange but other men have done the same thing so its not that uncommon. Another old girlfriend, Lady Jane Wellesley, kept up a friendship with Charles through his first marriage and is still a close friend through his second.

With his closest circle of friends not talking to the press and this habit of his of keeping friendships with several old girlfriends during his marriages, I think its impossible to say whether he and Camilla were together when he first got married. It wasn't an ideal situation even without that but since that seems to be the most damning of the accusations against Charles and Camilla and its something that we cannot know, my own two cents is that its better to make opinions on what can reliably be known for sure.

 

[Skydragon]

Very well said ysbel, what should be remembered is that the hate directed at Camilla is based on what the media told people to believe and what a troubled young woman wrote. A couple on here have said they still think highly of the Queen and the rest of the royals but, they all came under fire in that book, for not being helpful, supportive or loving.

A lot of people are now able to see the real Camilla, see the work she is doing, the love and support she is giving to Charles, the love she is giving to his children and her own and that is what they are basing their opinions on.

 

[Vita]

Very well said ysbel, what should be remembered is that the hate directed at Camilla is based on what the media told people to believe and what a troubled young woman wrote. A couple on here have said they still think highly of the Queen and the rest of the royals but, they all came under fire in that book, for not being helpful, supportive or loving.

A lot of people are now able to see the real Camilla, see the work she is doing, the love and support she is giving to Charles, the love she is giving to his children and her own and that is what they are basing their opinions on.

I see where you're coming from. I cannot say it's secure information for certain, but many of the biographies I've read on the BRF including Kitty Brown's The Royals, made reference to the incident that occured between DOC and POW before POW's wedding and that it actually happened. Of course, that could be false and I apoligize for adding to the continuation of such information if it is.

I'm sure that DOW is a lovely person. All the respectable reporters and royal watchers say she is. And certainly she must be for the POW to have had a 30 year love affair that turned into marriage with her. I mean who wants to be with someone who is quite nasty? But even with all of her wonderful qualities, that another woman could do that to another woman (and quite frankly one must include Diana in on this one because she let her hurt and rejection lead her to make the same mistakes) is beyond my imagination. And for that I cannot see all that is wonderful about her. At the end of the day, however, I don't have to live with her or deal with her so as long as the people who matter are happy, then go for it.

But it's a great testament to the British people, who seem to have a practical voice in all matters, that a country that seemed so against the idea of Camilla becoming POW's wife at first has embraced her and understands that she and Charles were made for each other.

That's why I kind of feel sorry for them because they had loved each other from the beginning and it was a law that kept them apart. That law brought an innocent person into the debacle and led ultimately to her demise. And I think that's the tragedy of it all.

 

[BeatrixFan]

The country was never against Camilla. The media was. The media hated her because she didn't provide them with endless snaps of leg and sparkle. Therefore, they reported that people disliked her, people tried to keep up with the Jones's and began to hate her because it was trendy. Now we see what a farce it all was.

 

[Vita]

The country was never against Camilla. The media was. The media hated her because she didn't provide them with endless snaps of leg and sparkle. Therefore, they reported that people disliked her, people tried to keep up with the Jones's and began to hate her because it was trendy. Now we see what a farce it all was.

Wow if that's true, that's a shame. I can only say that my family and some of the people I know who are British were staunch Diana fans from the get go. But the media does play a big part in what the rest of the world thinks because obviously that's where we get the info from. But you never really heard much about DOC and what she was doing because she definitely kept herself out of the public eye.