After Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated, the future King’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (now Queen Camilla) exploded into public view when a private, intimate phone conversation between them was leaked.
The transcript—described by some as containing “phone s*x”—dominated newspaper front pages and was dubbed both “Camillagate” and “Tampongate.” First teased in late 1992, the full content was published the following January, marking another blow in what had been a difficult year for the royal family.
The infamous phone call
The call reportedly took place on December 17, 1989, when Charles was still married to Diana and Camilla to Andrew Parker Bowles. Alongside arranging secret meetings, the pair exchanged steamy comments. Charles famously joked he’d like to be reincarnated as Camilla’s underwear, adding: “Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck! My luck to be chucked down a lavatory and go on forever swirling round on the top, never going down.”
In the exchange, Camilla teased: “Mmm. You’re awfully good at feeling your way along.” Charles replied: “I want to feel my way along you… all over you and up and down you and in and out… particularly in and out.” Camilla sighed: “I know it would revive me. I can’t bear a Sunday night without you.” Charles told her he needed her “several times a week,” and they ended with declarations of love.
The press printed the transcript in full and even set up a phone line so the public could hear the actual recording. In 1994, Charles admitted to cheating on Diana, claiming it was only after their marriage had “irretrievably broken down.”
How the call was leaked
Accounts vary on how the recording surfaced. Some suggested British secret services monitored royal calls; others pointed to a hobbyist intercepting the signal. Former Daily Mirror editor Richard Stott claimed in his memoir that a Merseyside man, after drinks and curry, tested an electronic device that picked up Cellnet signals. Charles was staying nearby, and the man recognised his voice.
Author Tina Brown noted intercepting calls was far easier in those days. She claimed the recording only reached the press after “Squidgygate”—a leaked 1989 call between Diana and her friend James Gilbey—hit headlines. That call, recorded by retired bank manager Cyril Reenan, featured Gilbey repeatedly calling Diana “squidgy” and her describing life with Charles as “real torture.”
According to Brown, Charles and Camilla’s tape was brought to the Daily Mirror in October 1992 for £30,000. It was teased that year but only fully released in January 1993, after both couples had separated.
The press defends itself
Sunday Mirror editor Colin Myler justified publication, arguing: “It is wrong that the near nine million readers of this newspaper should be denied the right to read something so important affecting the future King of England, when people in Australia, Germany, America, and Ireland already have.” Concerns about Diana’s emotional state and potential legal action delayed its release until the visible breakdown of her marriage to Charles during their 1992 tour.
Aftermath
Following the leak, Charles and Diana formally separated, finalising their divorce four years later. Camilla’s marriage also ended in divorce. The scandal shook Buckingham Palace, although rumours of the affair had long circulated. That same year, Andrew Morton’s biography Diana: In Her Own Words was released, secretly based on recordings Diana provided.
Despite the fallout, Charles and Camilla continued their relationship privately until Diana’s death in 1997. They went public afterward and married in a civil ceremony in 2005.
