52 Facts About Camilla Parker Bowles

1.

Camilla Parker Bowles was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in England and educated in England, Switzerland, and France.

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2.

In 2005, Camilla Parker Bowles married Charles in the Windsor Guildhall, which was followed by a televised Anglican blessing at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

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3.

Camilla Parker Bowles carries out public engagements representing the monarchy, often alongside her husband.

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4.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the patron, the president, or a member of numerous charities and organisations.

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5.

Since 1994, Camilla Parker Bowles has campaigned to raise awareness of osteoporosis, which has earned her several honours and awards.

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6.

Camilla Parker Bowles Rosemary Shand was born at King's College Hospital, London, on 17 July 1947.

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7.

Camilla Parker Bowles grew up in The Laines—an 18th-century country house in Plumpton, East Sussex—and a three-storey house in South Kensington, her family's second home.

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8.

Camilla Parker Bowles's parents were British Army officer-turned-businessman Major Bruce Shand and his wife The Hon.

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9.

Camilla Parker Bowles has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot, and had a younger brother, Mark Shand.

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10.

Camilla Parker Bowles's mother Rosalind was a charity worker, who volunteered at the Chailey Heritage Foundation in the 1960s and 1970s located at North Chailey, East Sussex, while her father had various business interests after retiring from the army.

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11.

Camilla Parker Bowles grew up with dogs and cats, and, at a young age, learnt how to ride a pony by joining Pony Club camps, going on to win rosettes at community gymkhanas.

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12.

Camilla Parker Bowles is often described as having had an "Enid Blyton sort of childhood".

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13.

Camilla Parker Bowles left Dumbrells at the age of 10 to attend Queen's Gate School in Queen's Gate, South Kensington.

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14.

Camilla Parker Bowles later moved into a larger flat in Belgravia, which she shared with her landlady Lady Moyra Campbell, the daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, and later with Virginia Carington, daughter of the politician Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington.

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15.

Camilla Parker Bowles was reportedly fired from the job after "she came in late having been to a dance".

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16.

Camilla Parker Bowles became a passionate horse-rider, and frequently attended equestrian activities.

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17.

Camilla Parker Bowles had a passion for painting, which eventually led to her private tutoring with an artist, although most of her work "ended up in the bin".

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18.

In December 1994, after 21 years of marriage, the Parker Bowleses issued divorce proceedings on the grounds they had been living separately for years.

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19.

Andrew Parker Bowles had ended his relationship with Shand in 1970 and was courting Princess Anne, Charles's sister.

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20.

Camilla Parker Bowles later met Queen Elizabeth II, for the first time since the relationship was made public, at the 60th birthday party of the former King Constantine II of Greece, in 2000.

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21.

Camilla Parker Bowles sat in the royal box behind the Queen for one of the concerts at Buckingham Palace.

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22.

In 2004, Parker Bowles accompanied Charles on almost all of his official events, including a high-profile visit together to the annual highland games in Scotland.

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23.

The parents of Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles did not attend; instead, Camilla Parker Bowles's son Tom and Charles's son Prince William acted as witnesses to the union.

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24.

On 14 February 2022, Camilla Parker Bowles tested positive for COVID-19, four days after husband had contracted it, and began self-isolating.

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25.

In March 2022 and amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Camilla Parker Bowles made a "substantial" donation to the Daily Mails refugee campaign.

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26.

Camilla Parker Bowles's first solo engagement as Duchess of Cornwall was a visit to Southampton General Hospital; she attended the Trooping the Colour for the first time in June 2005, making her appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace afterwards.

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27.

Camilla Parker Bowles was unable to carry out her engagements on their tour of Eastern Europe after developing a trapped nerve in her back.

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28.

Camilla Parker Bowles became queen consort on 8 September 2022 upon her husband's accession as King, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

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29.

On 10 September 2022, Camilla Parker Bowles attended the Accession Council where Charles III was formally proclaimed King, where she served as a witness together with her stepson Prince William.

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30.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the patron of a non-British body, the P G Wodehouse Society of The Netherlands.

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31.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Medical Service.

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32.

Camilla Parker Bowles is an honorary member of other patronages and in February 2012, she was elected a bencher of Gray's Inn.

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33.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the first female chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and only member of the royal family to hold the post since it was created in 1860.

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34.

In March 2022, as President of the Royal Voluntary Service, Camilla Parker Bowles launched the organisation's Platinum Champions Awards to honour 70 volunteers nominated by the public for their efforts in improving lives in their communities.

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35.

In 1994, Camilla Parker Bowles became a member of the National Osteoporosis Society after her mother died painfully from the disease that year.

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36.

Camilla Parker Bowles became patron of the charity in 1997 and was appointed president in 2001 in a highly publicised event, accompanied by the Prince of Wales.

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37.

In 2006, Camilla Parker Bowles launched the Big Bone walk campaign, leading 90 children and people with osteoporosis for a 10-mile walk and climb around Loch Muick at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland to raise money for the charity.

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38.

Camilla Parker Bowles continues to attend conferences around the world, and meets with health experts to further discuss the disease.

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39.

Camilla Parker Bowles is patron of the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, which provides home security for victims of crime and domestic abuse, and of SafeLives, a charity that campaigns against domestic abuse and violence.

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40.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the patron of the National Literacy Trust and other literacy charities.

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41.

Camilla Parker Bowles has been patron of the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition since 2014.

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42.

Since 2015, Camilla Parker Bowles has been involved with 500 Words, a competition launched by BBC Radio 2 for children to write and share their stories and was announced as the competition's honorary judge in 2018.

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43.

Since 2019 Camilla Parker Bowles has supported Gyles Brandreth's initiative Poetry Together, which aims to bring younger and older generations together through poetry recitation.

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44.

Camilla Parker Bowles is the patron of Emmaus UK, and in 2013 during her solo trip to Paris, she went to see the work done by the charity in that city.

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45.

Camilla Parker Bowles topped Richard Blackwell's list of "Ten Worst-Dressed Women" in 1994, and her name appeared on it again in 1995,2001 and 2006.

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46.

In 2022, Camilla Parker Bowles took part in her first magazine shoot for British Vogue, appearing in the July 2022 issue.

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47.

Legally, Camilla Parker Bowles was Princess of Wales but adopted the feminine form of her husband's highest-ranking subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, because the title Princess of Wales became strongly associated with its previous holder, Diana.

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48.

Buckingham Palace has stated that whether Camilla Parker Bowles will eventually be known as "Her Majesty The Queen", as queens consort traditionally are, is "a question for the future".

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49.

Camilla Parker Bowles is a Royal Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, recipient of the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II and a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

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50.

Camilla Parker Bowles has Dutch, Scottish, Colonial American, French and French–Canadian ancestors.

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51.

Camilla Parker Bowles is descended from Dutch emigrant Arnold Joost van Keppel, who was created Earl of Albemarle by King William III of England in 1696, through her maternal great-great-grandfather William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle.

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52.

Camilla Parker Bowles is descended from several American Loyalists through Sophia, such as Ephraim Jones, born in Massachusetts in 1750, who fought with the British during the American Revolution, was captured at the Battle of Saratoga, and later settled in Upper Canada.

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