10 things you didn't know about Camilla Parker Bowles
- Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, turns 74 on July 17.
- She came from an aristocratic family with royal connections.
- She has two rescue dogs, Jack Russell terriers named Beth and Bluebell.
Camilla Parker Bowles' parents, Bruce and Rosalind Shand, were wealthy aristocrats.
Camilla's father was a major in the British Army and heir to his father's baronry. Her mother, having been named "debutante of the year" in 1939, worked at an adoption agency and did charity work. They married in 1946.
Camilla came from an upper-class family with royal connections.
Four-year-old Camilla is pictured front left at the wedding of Jeremy Cubitt and Diana du Cane. She was a bridesmaid with her sister, Annabel.
Their great-grandmother Alice Keppel was the mistress of Charles' great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII.
Camilla is the oldest of three children.
Her sister, Annabel Elliot, is an interior designer. She helped the royal couple redesign their Restormel Manor in Cornwall.
Her brother Mark, who died of a tragic head injury in 2014, was a travel writer.
She was married to Andrew Parker Bowles from 1973 to 1995.
Her now-ex-husband was an officer in the British Army and dated Princess Anne for a short time in 1970. A fictionalized version of Parker Bowles, played by Andrew Buchan, appeared on season three of "The Crown" on Netflix.
According to Sally Bedell Smith's 2017 biography of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and Camilla reportedly began their affair in 1986.
Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles divorced in 1995, a year before Charles' divorce from Princess Diana.
She has two children from her previous marriage, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.
Tom is a cookbook author and restaurant critic, while Laura works as an art curator. Prince Charles is also Tom's godfather.
Camilla's engagement ring from Prince Charles belonged to the Queen Mother.
Prince Charles and Camilla got engaged in February 2005 and wed that April. Her engagement ring's 5-carat emerald-cut diamond is surrounded by three diamond baguettes on either side.
Camilla is technically the Princess of Wales, but she doesn't use the title since it's so closely associated with Princess Diana.
Duke of Cornwall is a title given to a reigning British monarch's oldest son. When Camilla married Charles, she took on the feminine version of the title as the Duchess of Cornwall instead of the Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana was still known as the Princess of Wales following her divorce from Charles in 1996. She died in 1997.
She has five grandchildren from her own two children, and five from her royal stepchildren.
Her son, Tom, has two children, Lola and Freddy. Laura has a daughter, Eliza, and twin boys, Gus and Louis. Eliza was a bridesmaid at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.
Camilla loves dogs, and she has two Jack Russell terriers named Beth and Bluebell.
She is a royal patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London, where she adopted her dogs.
She's an avid fan of the outdoors and loves gardening.
The Duchess of Cornwall used to enjoy fox hunting until it became illegal in 2005. She also told reporters on a 2018 visit to the Garden Museum in London, "I'd be out in my garden all day, every day if I were allowed. I love to get my hands dirty."
READ MORE ARTICLES ON
Popular Right Now
Advertisement