WHEN people used to ask me, “Will Charles ever marry Camilla?”;, I always replied, “What is there in it for her?”;
In her Panorama interview in 1995, had labelled as the third person in her marriage to the then Prince of Wales.
After Diana’s death in August 1997, there was open hatred around the world for Charles’s mistress.
No way would Camilla ever marry the heir to the throne and become our queen.
How wrong was I? From the moment I took their engagement photo,
I followed the royal couple all over the world and I have never heard one disparaging remark against this lovely lady.
Next week, Charles and Camilla will celebrate 20 years of during their state visit to Italy.
I have seen their marriage up close and, in my opinion, it is an extremely happy union.
Since their wedding in Windsor on April 9, 2005, it has become very obvious that they make each other feel very happy and secure.
The main thing I’ve noticed is that the King, who I have been photographing for nearly 50 years, has become a nicer person.
Thanks to Camilla, he has calmed down. These days he rarely gets stressed or wound up about things.
In the past he would get angry if the windows were shut or there was no air in the room. All that pent-up anger seemed to disappear after he tied the knot with Camilla.
Occasionally, like the time when his pen leaked during an official ceremony, he will become a bit frustrated, but Camilla soothes the situation.
Like all couples, they have the odd disagreement. It is only natural.
But, unlike during his marriage to Diana, there is laughter even in the midst of an argument.
In Philadelphia, on their first overseas tour, I was asked to take some pictures of the couple and, when I got to the room, it was obvious Camilla had not been told about it.
There were raised voices and she was leaving the Prince in no doubt whatsoever that he should have told her.
She had not had her hair done and she was going to get changed.
As I walked into the room, she saw me, stopped rowing and said: “Arthur, tell us a joke.”;
Immediately, the argument was over and they both burst out laughing.
They both have a history of unhappy marriages behind them and are determined that it is never going to happen again.
The other secret to their success is that is a great supporter. Unlike Diana, Camilla never, ever outshines Charles.
When they are together on royal engagements, she always stands just a little bit behind.
Obviously, Camilla gets to meet all the people that matter, but only after Charles has introduced her.
Often the King stands there waiting for her because she just chats on and on.
But she is so good at what she does because Camilla has never ever lost the common touch.
On their first foreign tour, to the US in 2005, walking around a market in , someone gave her a peach and she bit into it.
I remember saying, “Diana would never have done that”;. But Camilla wanted to show her appreciation. It was a natural thing to do.
On that same trip, they signed the visitors’ book and Prince Charles lent her his beautiful pen.
KING TEASED
When he tried to get it back off her, she teased him and wouldn’t give it back.
They had a little game, where she was teasing him. I never once saw Diana do that.
It was obvious there was something special between the couple — they made each other laugh.
Over 20 years I’ve photographed them countless times, but I have never seen Camilla lose her temper with a photographer.
Once, , God rest her soul, had me kicked out of Great Ormond Street Hospital for no reason — she was just in a bad mood.
It is now well over 40 years since I photographed Diana being chaperoned by Camilla at Ludlow races where the Prince was riding.
At the time, I didn’t think it was odd. But around a decade later, I was coming out from the State Opening of and came across one of the royal staff and we got talking about rumours that Charles and Diana’s marriage was on the rocks.
He said to me, “It’s always been Camilla”;. I was a bit shocked. But to Charles, Camilla was “non- negotiable”;.
After 20 years of keeping their love an open secret, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his true love.
As they walked down the steps of St George’s Chapel in Windsor following the blessing of their register office wedding, Camilla looked stunning and so happy.
I think a lot of people changed their opinion of her that day.
Six years after their marriage, I was a castaway on Desert Island Discs.
Three days after the broadcast I got a handwritten letter from Camilla, who was at Balmoral.
She wrote: “Dear Arthur, I can’t stop crying listening to all the wonderful things you’ve said about my husband.”;
I thought it was so lovely. But since the King was diagnosed with cancer last year, this remarkable lady has helped carry the monarchy on her slim shoulders.
She insisted that one particular engagement in be brought forward because the King was not well enough to attend, but she did it on her own so people wouldn’t be disappointed.
I remember her saying to me at Rye in East that the King would be fine “if only he did what he was told”;.
I imagine she has pretty strong words with him to make him follow doctors’ orders.
The best thing Charles and Camilla ever did was get married.
I am delighted that I could not have been more wrong about them.
It has been one of the happiest royal marriages ever.
