Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Anne have been butting heads for years, but in recent weeks it’s been getting out of control.
While the sister-in-laws put on a united front for the public, behind closed doors the pair are said to be at loggerheads – and it’s all due to Prince Charles forging ahead with his plan to make Camilla a queen when he ascends the throne.
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“The official line has always been that Camilla will be known as Princess Consort,” royal expert Penny Junor tells New Idea. “My feeling is that Charles would very much want Camilla to be known as Queen [Consort], which is, after all, the correct title for the wife of a king. So my guess is she will be Queen Camilla.”
A palace insider reveals that Charles’ decision to go back on his word has Anne seeing red. In fact, the Princess Royal has laid down the law, telling Camilla that, in her eyes, she will never be a queen.
“Rumours that Charles may walk back on his promise that Camilla would not be queen has riled Anne to no end, and she’s told both Charles and Camilla as much,” shares the source.
“Anne has made it plain that Camilla will never be a true queen in the eyes of the British subjects. Anne wields a lot of power and has a lot of respect in that family, so you will find that the Wessexes, and maybe even the Cambridges, will back her on this. Charles and Camilla will face a lot of pushback.”
The women’s fraught relationship goes back half a century to the 1970s, when Anne dated Camilla’s former flame, Andrew Parker Bowles, while Camilla was in a relationship with Charles.
Anne was reportedly devastated when Andrew ended things in 1973, only to announce he had rekindled his romance with Camilla and they were set to be married.
After 21 years of marriage, Camilla divorced Andrew in 1995 and married Charles in 2005. Anne married Captain Mark Phillips in 1973. They divorced in 1992 and she later wed Sir Timothy Laurence.
WATCH: Princess Anne accepts award from Duchess Camilla (Article continues after video)
But, it seems time has healed some wounds since the women were embroiled in the scandalous love triangle.
“In the past, Camilla was always rather frightened of Anne – she can be very haughty – but I think she has mellowed a little with age, and the relationship is much warmer than it was,” adds Penny.
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