Apr 10, 2005
Throne vs. Camilla .... Throne & Camilla
The 23-year-old Prince Charles left his lover Camilla for full-time Navy service in 1971. It's not clear to me if at that time he actively decided not to marry her. (I'm no royals buff.) She married in 1973.
It seems quite clear that the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas (er, Windsors) found Camilla unsuitable then, and that Charles felt unable to marry her with family approval.
So Charles drew two history lessons. Like his great uncle, Edward VIII, he could not expect to be king with a wife rejected by the establishment. And like his Aunt Princess Margaret, who called off her wedding to Peter Townsend, Charles faced a certain ostracization from his family if he pursued his true love.
Presumably, then, Charles either felt unable in the 1970s, or knew it to be an impossibility, to make Camilla Princess of Wales. He seems to have chosen the throne over Camilla either volitionally or by default. Many unforeseen events and decades later, he is in position to have both.
It seems quite clear that the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas (er, Windsors) found Camilla unsuitable then, and that Charles felt unable to marry her with family approval.
So Charles drew two history lessons. Like his great uncle, Edward VIII, he could not expect to be king with a wife rejected by the establishment. And like his Aunt Princess Margaret, who called off her wedding to Peter Townsend, Charles faced a certain ostracization from his family if he pursued his true love.
Presumably, then, Charles either felt unable in the 1970s, or knew it to be an impossibility, to make Camilla Princess of Wales. He seems to have chosen the throne over Camilla either volitionally or by default. Many unforeseen events and decades later, he is in position to have both.