Queen Camilla overcame her reputation as the "biggest threat" the monarchy has faced due to her strong relationship with King Charles and their similar backgrounds, a royal author has claimed.
Speaking on HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast this week, Catherine Mayer said Camilla has had the "opposite arc" to Meghan Markle, who was initially popular when she began dating Prince Harry but has seen a decline in her public likeability in the years since.
Watch the full episode below with our hosts, Royal experts Emily Nash and Andrea Caamano, to find out how Queen Camilla overcame her "biggest threat" reputation.
Catherine said: "Camilla has the opposite arc to Meghan. She has gone from the probably one of the most hated women in the world, where she was seen as the other woman in the Charles and Diana marriage breakdown, to being solidly up there in the popularity ratings.
"She's now seen as a stalwart of the monarchy as opposed to the biggest threat that it faced."
Charles and Camilla's relationship
The Divide & Rule author added that Camilla took to the royal family well and praised her "wicked" sense of humour.
She said: "Camilla has come into the royal family and taken to it like a duck to water. I do think that part of the reason that she and Charles have such a good relationship is their similar backgrounds.
© Getty"So, although he comes from this sort of cold and dysfunctional 'Planet Windsor', they have the same friends and attitudes and a world view that is in many ways closely aligned. But what she also has is a wicked sense of humour. She's very funny, quite blue."
A chance meeting at a polo match in 1970 marked the beginning of Camilla Shand's relationship with the then Prince Charles. The pair – both aged 23 at the time – began dating, but their romance cooled when the King-to-be was called away on naval duties overseas.
First marriages
Charles didn't ask his girlfriend to wait for him to return from service, and she went on to marry – and have two children – with another long-standing admirer, Andrew Parker Bowles.
© Getty ImagesThe two remained friends, however. Charles was made godfather to Camilla's son Tom, born in 1975, and continued to see his former girlfriend and her new husband on the social scene and at their old meeting ground – the polo circuit.
As Camilla got settled into family life, Charles found love again with Lady Diana Spencer, whom he went on to marry in July 1981.
However, both of their marriages fell into difficulty. Camilla divorced in 1995, and Charles was granted a divorce from Diana the year after. There was controversy when Charles admitted he was unfaithful while still married to Diana, having rumoured to have had a long-term affair with Camilla. The now Queen has never spoken publicly about the subject.
