What was behind The Queens eventual acceptance of Camilla and Charles getting married?
‘Well, who knows? But I think it must have been her being persuaded that, in the interests of not only Charles’ private happiness, but of the public perception of the monarchy, it was something which had to be allowed to proceed. It must have been very difficult, because by then it was so clear they were living together, and that he was very, very happy to be with her, and wanted her by his side, so it would have been anomalous to pretend that they weren’t a cohabiting couple. ‘I think a lot earlier in their relationship there was a very efficient screen provided by their loyal friends, to protect their privacy. But by now they’d already taken steps to appear in public, and to be seen as a couple. There was a slightly daft anomaly of us knowing one thing, but officially something else was happening. ‘I think the Queen must have been persuaded by her office and by her closest advisors, that the only way forward was to allow the marriage to proceed. Also, of course, Camilla is a very dec
