How Camilla Parker Bowles Uses ‘Saviors’ To Escape Royal Life With Prince Charles

Although Camilla Parker Bowles is often photographed appearing to be in great spirits during royal outings, she reportedly enjoys escaping her royal duties and spending time away from her husband, Prince Charles.

The Prince of Wales married Camilla in 2005, nine years after he finalized his divorce from Princess Diana. The couple struggled to get the public to support their relationship after Diana exposed their affair in 1994.

Although Prince Charles and Camilla appeared to have built a solid relationship, royal biographer Penny Junor told Vanity Fair that they struggled to adjust to their new life when they decided to move in together.

READ: Prince William And Prince Harry Blamed Camilla For Princess Diana’s ‘Terrifying Unhappiness’

“Her homes have always felt lived in, full of clutter, dogs and stuff that children have dumped; his are like country-house hotels with not a photograph or a magazine out of place,” Junor told the publication in 2018.

Since Camilla spent the majority of her life without obligations to the crown, becoming the wife to the heir to the throne was challenging.

“Her saviors have been her family, who keep her feet on the ground, a couple of good friends, who are prepared to tell her she’s talking nonsense, and Ray Mill, which she kept when she married Charles. She has an escape. She can forget she is a Duchess,” Junor explained.

Although the remote residence provides Camilla with the ultimate escape away from the royal spotlight, Prince Charles hasn’t had the same experience. “She will quite often have dinner with Charles at Highgrove, and if there is nothing on the agenda the next day, go home for the night afterward,” Junor said.

“It’s not so much an escape from him – the Prince sometimes goes and stays with her there – as from the baggage that comes with him. Besides, he is up working most nights until well after she’d like to be in bed and asleep.”

Although there are times that Prince Charles and Camilla need time away from the royal spotlight, the couple has remained dedicated to fulfilling their royal duties.