Camilla Duchess of Cornwall has spoken out in a rare interview about her life in the public eye. The wife of Prince Charles opened up about what life was like when her relationship with the soon to be King was revealed to the world.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, she said ‘I couldn’t really go anywhere. 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.’ It is reported that royal PR teams were trying to increase Camilla’s popularity behind the scenes. However, following the death of Princess Diana in 1997 she was vilified by the press and her popularity plummeted.
Camilla said that she didn’t want to waste the time that she was spending indoors and instead taught herself how to paint. ‘I thought, ‘Well if I’m stuck here I might as well do something positive like read all the books I want to read and try to learn to paint’—though that wasn’t a huge success!’
The Duchess said that her upbringing has made her tough, with her parents instilling her with a stiff upper lip attitude. ‘I don’t think I’m tough but I do think I’m quite a strong character. She added ‘You have to be, but I think it also comes from my upbringing. We were brought up in a very happy family and I can’t whinge about my childhood because it was idyllic.’
In a shocking revelation, Camilla’s son said that at times they would spy on the paparazzi with binoculars through their bathroom window. ‘The paparazzi used to follow us everywhere and lurk around like spooks. We used to keep binoculars in my mother’s bathroom, and one of us would look out every morning to see how many paparazzi were hiding in the bushes. We could tell by the flash of sun on their camera lenses.’