The early days of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s relationship were undoubtedly difficult and Camilla has revealed the one thing that helped her through those dark times

It has been 25 years since they first went public with their relationship, but it’s no secret that King Charles and Queen Camilla were forced to survive painful public hostility and emotional angst in the early days. In the wake of leaked audio tapes, TV confessions of infidelity and an explosive tell-all book by Diana, Camilla later admitted there were times when she found it all too much.

“It was horrid. It was a deeply unpleasant time and I wouldn’t want to put my worst enemy through it. I couldn’t have survived it without my family,” she said in 2017. But she refused to crumble, and two years after Diana’s death in 1997, she and Charles made their first public appearance together at the 50th birthday party of Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot at The Ritz in London.

The moment they left the hotel together sparked a media frenzy. Royal author Angela Levin says, “Photographs of them were in demand from around the world and their appearance, although brief, was the start of a new beginning for them both.”

Then their wedding on 9 April 2005 was a huge contrast to Charles and Diana’s, which cost nearly £60 million. When Charles and Camilla were finally able to exchange vows, they are reported to have paid only £285 to hire the Ascot Room at Windsor Guildhall, a high street register office.