Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has opened up about how she dealt with the media storm that arose following the revelation of her affair with her now-husband, Prince Charles, and the major impact it had upon her life.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday ahead of her 70th birthday in July, Camilla revealed that after the news broke, she was forced to keep an extremely low profile, and remained in her home for a year. She got through this difficult time, however, with the support of her two children from her first marriage, Laura and Tom Parker-Bowles.
‘I couldn’t really go anywhere,’ she told the paper. ‘But the children came and went as normal – they just got on with it – and so did great friends. It was horrid. It was a deeply unpleasant time and I wouldn’t want to put my worst enemy through it.’
‘I couldn’t have survived it without my family,’ she added.
Charles and Camilla were eventually married in April 2005, with the latter taking on the title of Duchess of Cornwall to avoid her being known as the Princess of Wales: a title that will always be associated with Charles' late first wife, Diana.
In the interview, published in the newspaper's You supplement, the Duchess explained that she does not think about the possibility that she might one day become Queen, and revealed how she uses her good humour and positive attitude to remain grounded in the face of a hectic royal schedule.
'You also have to laugh at yourself because if you can’t, you may as well give up,' she said. 'I sometimes think to myself, “Who is this woman? It can’t possibly be me.” And that’s really how you survive.’
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