How Camilla transformed King Charles’ demeanor
King Charles’ love life has long captivated the public, but new insights from those who served him closely reveal just how starkly his demeanor changed between his two marriages.
According to two former royal butlers, the contrast between his early years with Princess Diana and his later marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles could not be more striking shifting from cold detachment to genuine happiness over time.
Paul Burrell, who spent over a decade serving the Princess of Wales, recounted a heartbreaking confession from Diana about the early days of her marriage.
In his book The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana, Burrell revealed that Diana said Charles admitted during an argument, “I never loved you.
I only married you to have children.” Following Prince Harry’s birth in 1984, she allegedly heard him remark, “Well, at least I’ve got my heir and spare now, and I can return to Camilla.”
For Diana, these words marked the definitive end of her hopes for a loving marriage.
Former butler Paul Burrell recalled her telling him how she cried herself to sleep one night, heartbroken by the realities of her marriage. “I gave him four good years, and he was gone.
And for the rest of the time, I had to pretend and put on a facade for the world,” she reportedly confided.
Burrell emphasized that she never sought divorce, believing love could still heal what had been lost. “Despite everything that happened, I have no doubt that Diana fell in love with Prince Charles. Unfortunately for Diana, the feeling was not mutual,” he wrote.
By contrast, Charles’ marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005 painted a very different picture. Grand Harrold, a former royal butler, described their union as one of companionship and warmth.
“He just got married, he was so happy, everything was going so well,” he told Marie Claire. Unlike the tension that defined his first marriage, the King appeared affectionate and relaxed, with Camilla bringing laughter and joy into his life.
Even those who observed the couple closely, including royal photographer Arthur Edwards, have praised the relationship.
Writing in The Sun, Edwards described it as “an extremely happy union,” noting that since their intimate wedding at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005, it has been evident that the couple makes each other feel “very happy and secure.”
Royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who has captured King Charles III on camera for nearly five decades, credited the Queen Consort with a profound impact on the monarch’s demeanor.
“The main thing I’ve noticed is that The King has become a nicer person,” Edwards wrote. “Thanks to Camilla, he has calmed down. These days, he rarely gets stressed or wound up about things.”