Before becoming King Charles’ consort, Queen Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles for over 20 years. Although the pair’s marriage ended, the divorce didn’t close the door on Camilla and Andrew’s relationship, or rather their “lasting friendship” as they said in their own 1995 split announcement. “There’s still a closeness there, but clearly on a different level… It’s not a frosty, awkward relationship,” Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine, told HELLO!. “It just seems to be a natural evolution of a marriage that was dissolved and then became something else.”
The cordial exes, who were introduced by Andrew’s younger brother Simon, met in the 1960s, prior to Camilla meeting Charles in the early 1970s. Biographer Sally Bedell Smith wrote in Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life that “pressure was building on Andrew Parker Bowles to make a commitment” in 1973.
Andrew’s alleged pressure to propose
Sally penned that Andrew and Camilla’s respective fathers, Derek Parker Bowles and Bruce Shand, were “thoroughly exasperated by Andrew’s dithering,” and according to Andrew’s cousin John Bowes-Lyon, the patriarchs “intervened by publishing an engagement notice in The Times“.
“His hand publicly forced, Andrew proposed to his girlfriend of nearly seven years,” Sally wrote. Per the biographer, John said that Camilla’s parents were “very keen that Andrew should marry her”.
The Queen wed her first husband on July 4, 1973 at the Guards Chapel in Wellington Barracks with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Anne among the guests.
‘Challenges’ in their marriage
“Whether Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles were sort of a marriage convenience, rather hard to say, but no reason to suspect that she didn’t love him when they married because they were together for 20 years,” Joe told HELLO!. “But I think there would have been undoubtedly challenges throughout that marriage.”
In her 1995 BBC Panorama interview, Diana famously remarked “there were three of us” in her marriage to Charles, a pointed reference to Camilla. While Charles and Camilla made headlines during his first marriage, Joe pointed out: “It’s been well-documented that Andrew Parker Bowles had a roving eye, not only before he married, but during his marriage to Camilla.”
In The Duchess: The Untold Story, biographer Penny Junor claimed that Andrew did not “make a fuss” when he became aware of his wife’s affair with Charles. “Andrew was in no position to complain; and when he discovered what was going on, he wisely didn’t make a fuss,” Penny wrote, in an excerpt published by the Daily Mail.
© David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Fortnum and MasonCamilla and Andrew eventually divorced in 1995, announcing that the decision to end their marriage was “taken jointly”. “Throughout our marriage we have always tended to follow rather different interests, but in recent years we have led completely separate lives,” the former couple said in a statement, revealing that they had “grown apart to such an extent that, with the exception of our children and a lasting friendship, there is little of common interest between us, and we have therefore decided to seek a divorce.”
Amicable for the kids
During their marriage, Camilla and Andrew welcomed two children: son Tom Parker Bowles and daughter Laura Lopes. The exes are now grandparents to five grandchildren: Eliza Lopes, Gus Lopes, Louis Lopes, Freddy Parker Bowles and Lola Parker Bowles. Despite their divorce and the press that surrounded it, Camilla and Andrew have remained on good terms, a dynamic Joe attributes to their kids. He said: “I think, like many divorced couples, it’s down to the children. The children were teenagers, I think, at the time that Andrew and Camilla separated, or rather divorced, but nevertheless, they maintained this amicable relationship because of the children, and that’s continued to the present day.”
© Dave Benett/Getty ImagesTom, in 2024, referred to his mom and dad as “still great friends”. While discussing celebrating Christmas with his parents, Queen Camilla’s son told PEOPLE: “It is something to work towards. It’s a maturity that is a great thing if – despite a marriage sometimes not working – you can keep it together for the sake of the children and the sake of each other then it’s a very good thing.”
Lady Lansdowne, who is a friend of Camilla’s and godmother to the Queen’s daughter, has previously told The Times that the former couple has kept a “really good family ethic”. She said: “Everybody loves Andrew, he’s a real charmer, but he’s always terribly misbehaving. Andrew will ring her up and tell her when she’s got something wrong and she’ll ring him up and say when he’s misbehaving. Through adversity they’ve kept a really good family ethic. It helps with their children and grandchildren.”
Supportive exes
Over the years, Andrew has been spotted with his ex at events like Royal Ascot and has formally represented Camilla, as well as her sister-in-law Princess Anne. He even attended King Charles and Camilla’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in 2023.
© Indigo/Getty ImagesFollowing his marriage to Camilla, Andrew remarried in 1996. Camilla was said to have been “deeply saddened” by the death of her former husband’s second wife, Rosemary Parker Bowles, in 2010, and attended a memorial service for her.
“I think it’s an extremely comfortable relationship,” Joe said of Camilla and Andrew, describing it as “very civilized.” He added: “It’s not forced. It’s a very natural friendship.”
© David Hartley/ShutterstockCamilla’s ‘backup team’
Though it’s been reported that Camilla and Andrew are “joined at the hip,” Joe suggested that may be an overstatement. Still, the Queen and her ex-husband are certainly close.
© Karwai Tang/WireImage“We don’t know how much contact they have, but clearly there must be a lot of interaction because of the children, so I suppose that he has her back when needed,” Joe said. “Camilla has a lot of close friends that she’s known for many years. So I think her backup team is very important to her and Andrew Parker Bowles will be part of that team.”
And Joe imagines Camilla and Andrew’s relationship is one King Charles is perfectly happy with. As he explained to HELLO!: “Because had he not been, then the relationship wouldn’t be as we see it in public.”
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