How King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Wedding Day Was Plagued by Obstacles

King Charles and Queen Camilla celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary on April 9, their first since acceding to the throne in September 2022.

The couple’s romance has been one of the most widely written about of the past century, with the pair first connecting in the 1970s before separating to marry different partners. By the 1980s, Charles and Camilla had begun an extramarital affair. This became subject to increased tabloid reporting after Charles’ separation from Princess Diana in 1992.

In 1995, Diana famously described Camilla as the third person in her marriage during a TV interview broadcast internationally. The prince and princess divorced a year later.

After Diana’s untimely death at the age of just 36 from injuries sustained in a high-speed Paris car crash in 1997, Charles and Camilla’s popularity plummeted. However, the couple were determined to change the tide and eventually marry.

After a period of hard-won PR battles, Camilla’s public image appeared repaired enough that the decision to go public with her relationship with Charles was taken. The pair made their first joint appearance together as a couple in January 1999 at the Ritz London Hotel.

Five years later, the couple finally announced their engagement, on February 10, 2005. Queen Elizabeth II—who was famously reluctant to have anything to do with Camilla after Diana’s death—had been won around into giving her consent.

The wedding was set to take place on April 8, 2005, though the couple’s obstacles to the altar were not yet behind them.

Venue Drama

The announcement from Clarence House on February 10, 2005 that Charles and Camilla were to marry, also informed the public that the wedding would be a civil marriage. It would take place at the royal family’s residence at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England.

A civil marriage is legal and conducted outside of a place of worship. This option is believed to have been chosen to avoid added controversy surrounding Charles. As future head of the Church of England, it was more prudent for him not to marry inside a place of worship. Camilla was a divorced woman, and her ex-husband was still alive.

The formal marriage ceremony at the castle would be followed by a religious service of blessing at St….