Irish Examiner view: Queen Camilla, uncertainty removed

Parker-Bowles' reputational rehabilitation is complete

The UK's Elizabeth II has used her platinum jubilee message to remove any uncertainty about Camilla Parker Bowles' succession as queen consort when Charles cebomes king. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

As an example of reputational rehabilitation it would be hard to point to a better case study than the erstwhile Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Widely regarded as the wicked witch in the collapse of the marriage between Charles, the heir to the British throne, and Diana, the “People’s Princess”, she was lampooned as a scheming Sloane Ranger in the Netflix series The Crown.

Her relationship with the prince of Wales, after the release of the notorious “Camillagate” tapes in 1993, was mercilessly exposed as being both deep and long-running. They came into the public realm one month after Charles and Diana separated. Her esteem plummeted and reached its lowest point following Diana’s death in a fatal car accident in a Paris motorway tunnel.

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Charles and Camilla married in 2005 and her stock has risen year on year. She took her husband’s secondary title as duchess of Cornwall and has been a sure-footed and reliable performer for the royal family.

Now Elizabeth II has used her platinum jubilee message to remove any uncertainty about her succession, saying that it was her “sincere wish” that her daughter-in-law should become “queen consort” when the prince of Wales becomes king. In the Camillagate tape the woman now destined to succeed told Charles: “I’d suffer anything for you. That’s love. It’s the strength of love.” And there we have it. Everyone loves a romance. And a happy ending.