Awkward Camilla Parker Bowles Moments That Were Caught On Camera

The world paid attention when King Charles III married his longtime partner, Camilla Parker Bowles, now queen consort, in 2005. The relationship between the two had been the worst-kept secret in Britain. After Princess Diana revealed to the BBC that there were "three" in her marriage (referencing Camilla), it seemed like the entire world was against the woman who "stole" Charles' heart.

Of course, Camilla and Charles ran in the same social circle for years, and a lot of us have asked ourselves why the two weren't allowed to get married in the first place — it certainly would've saved Diana years of heartbreak. Simply put, Camilla wasn't deemed good enough for the heir — she was divorced, seen as too experienced, and didn't have that pure, innocent look that the royal family was after.

But, of course, Camilla and Charles tied the knot eventually, and after years of being a working member of the royal family, she became Camilla, Queen Consort, in 2022. All eyes and cameras have been on her throughout the years, and while she's maintained pretty excellent decorum, there have been some snafus in front of millions of eyes.

Queen Camilla and Princess Diana were not exactly viewed as bosom buddies. But in 1980, the two women actually tried to forge a friendship. Because Diana was relatively inexperienced in the world of courtship and royalty, she sought support from Camilla, who she viewed as more seasoned in that arena. Camilla, naturally, did her best to advise the future princess. She even invited Diana to her country home, Bolehyde Manor, for chit-chats and good old-fashioned fun. As a childcare professional herself, Diana reportedly cared for Camilla Parker-Bowles' son, Tom, and her daughter, Laura.

Although Camilla and Diana started out on good terms, their relationship was ill-fated from the start. Diana was pursuing a relationship with the future King Charles III, even as Camilla was carrying on an affair with him. This love triangle, of course, would eventually become one of the most famous in recent history, but at the time, none of the participants could have ever imagined just how big of a scandal would proceed.

Thus, when Diana and Camilla were photographed together at the 1980 Ludlow Races, neither women knew how awkward of a moment this truly was. What was then viewed as a picture of Diana and a friend is now remembered as the uncomfortable interaction between Charles' two future wives. Perhaps Camilla, as the older and more experienced of the pair, should have avoided a friendship with Diana altogether. 

On July 29, 1981, Princess Diana married the future King Charles III. At the time, Charles had decided that he would end things with his then-mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles, to focus on his new marriage. Of course, things did not exactly work out that way in the long-run. But, at the time, it did seem that Charles and Camilla were going to take a break.

Because of this tense dynamic, some historians wonder why exactly the future Queen Camilla wore a pale gray — almost white — shade to Diana and Charles' wedding. As wedding expert, Zoe Burke, told the Express, "Wearing white to a wedding is probably the biggest sin you can commit as a wedding guest — especially if it's a floor-length, white lace number." While the motivation behind Camilla's color choice remains unclear, Burke noted, "If the love of your life who you were not permitted to marry invited you to their wedding to someone else, you may well be tempted to stage a quiet rebellion."

In the eyes of some, Camilla's clothing was far too bridal to be appropriate for someone else's wedding. However, as other experts have observed, her very presence at the event was awkward. In the same Express piece, fashion specialist Molly Elizabeth Agnew added, "Diana would have felt uneasy about Camilla's attendance regardless of what color she was wearing! Although, the fact she mentioned the colors specifically suggests she clearly noticed it."

While not a caught-on-camera moment for Camilla, Queen Consort, it is a caught-on-tape snafu, and it's so dramatic that it had to be included. King Charles III and Camilla were romantically involved for decades, and in 1993, a secret recording of one of their phone conversations leaked — cue "Camillagate." 

We'll give you all the details. It was 1989. Charles and Princess Diana were still married, and Camilla was still married to Andrew Parker Bowles. The future king and Camilla were chatting on the phone about private time they wanted to spend together. We'll give you some of the more PG snippets from the conversation. "I need you all the week. All the time," Camilla said, to which Charles replied, "I'll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!" The audio recording was leaked four years later and published in People with the headline, "Charles and Camilla — the tape." 

Most royal watchers have heard of Princess Diana's iconic revenge dress, but not everybody knows that Queen Camilla had a revenge dress of her own. Indeed, in 1995 — just a year after Diana wore a low-cut black dress to show then-Prince Charles what he was missing post-divorce — Camilla wore an eerily similar outfit. Some experts have postulated that she chose her attire to show Charles how lucky he was to have her. The future queen showed up at a party at The Ritz wearing a black frock with a plunging neckline. Camilla also accessorized the outfit with a pearl choker necklace adorned with a huge jewel — just like Diana had done.

Interestingly, that evening at The Ritz held a special significance for Camilla and Charles' relationship. Dubbed "Operation Ritz" by the media, this evening was to be the first time that Camilla and Charles were to be spotted together in public as a couple. Ultimately, though, it is quite strange that Camilla wore a copy of Diana's outfit on this special evening. Although many women in the 1990s took inspiration from the princess' wardrobe, it was perhaps inappropriate for Camilla to do the same, given the nature of their relationship. It would have been much less awkward for everyone if the future queen had simply embraced her own unique sense of style.  

Weddings can come with heaps of stress, and King Charles III's wedding to Camilla, Queen Consort, was full of tension. First and foremost, Queen Elizabeth II refused to attend the ceremony — while she had given her formal approval for the couple to tie the knot, she did not show up at the actual wedding, making for a rather awkward turn of events. While many speculated that her lack of attendance was a sign that she didn't approve of the marriage behind closed doors, it was reported that Queen Elizabeth didn't attend Charles and Camilla's wedding because she was the head of the Church of England and didn't want to publicly promote divorce and remarriage.

Now let's look at the caught-on-camera moment, specifically, the official portrait from the wedding. Blanca Cobb, a body language expert, told Geo News that Charles' sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were "visibly uncomfortable" during the wedding and the photos, evident to pretty much everyone. William, specifically, was analyzed by Cobb and described as "nervous," "stiff," and "plastered," and it was obvious that he was feeling "some anxiety." As for the happy couple, it's hard to say exactly how they were impacted by all the drama, but it couldn't have been the most painless experience.

Queen Camilla's entrance into the royal family wasn't particularly graceful — she had a lot of drama associated with her and King Charles III's long-lasting affair, so it's no wonder if the royals had hesitations. 

Just two months after Camilla married Charles, Princess Anne seemingly tried to ice Camilla out of a conversation between her and her brother. Body language expert Judi James told Express that Anne looked as though she wanted to establish a "barrier" between herself and Camilla, and it's pretty obvious from the photo that she was successful. "There seems to be a sense of exclusion here as Anne stands closer to her brother to apparently push Camilla out of the small group here, even raising her arm so that her elbow forms a barrier gesture," James said. "Both Charles and Anne look grim-faced here, rather than sociable."

This was an awkward caught-on-camera moment seen by millions. It was King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, vs. a bald eagle, and the photos did not disappoint. Charles and Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall at the time, attended the Sandringham Flower Show in 2015, and came face to face with Zephyr, a bald eagle. As the royal couple was engaging with Zephyr's handler, the large bird flapped its wings and totally caught them off guard. The facial expressions on both Camilla and Charles' part are as awkward as they are funny, and naturally, the photos were widely circulated. Charles clearly knew that something was bound to happen, as he reportedly turned down the chance to hold the eagle.

After the awkward (but very funny) incident, the royal couple walked around the annual flower show, bought some goods from the local vendors, and went on their way.

File this caught-on-camera moment under "awkward." While on a trip to New Zealand in 2015, Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, and then-Prince Charles made a number of stops at important locations, all in order to soak in the gorgeous New Zealand culture. But things didn't exactly go according to plan while they were meeting one local inhabitant.

The royal couple visited the Orokonui Ecosanctuary in the South Island near Dunedin. While at the sanctuary, they got up close and personal with a tuatara reptile — and from the photos, they seemed both enthralled and repelled. As the couple were intrigued by the little guy, a bumblebee did a straight dive toward Camilla, who swatted the buzzing creature away. So what did the bee do? It went for Charles who let out an audible yelp. Here's your friendly reminder that the royals might have crowns and jewels, but they're just as scared around bugs as we are.

We've all had fights with an umbrella, there's no doubt about it. Have you ever walked down a city street during a rainstorm and your umbrella just refuses to open because of the wind? There's no graceful way to recover from that, and it turns out that even royals have to deal with particularly awkward incidents like these. 

In 2015, Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, and then-Prince Charles were visiting Malta. As they stepped off the plane, blustery conditions proved to be quite difficult for the duchess and her umbrella. As she joined her husband outside the plane, Camilla was met by a gust of wind that basically forced her into fighting with her umbrella — she just could not get it to stay open. Luckily for her, a gracious man (who was not her husband, might we add) helped her with the device and she successfully got off the plane and joined the crowd. Camilla's hair also got a bit tussled in the wind, but she walked it off like a pro. 

The British royal family may not wield political power, but its members still occupy an important role in U.K. diplomacy. Royals are expected to attend state banquets, international events, and important gatherings as a way of promoting their country's interests on the world stage. Because of this, it was extremely awkward when King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, attended an Inuit throat singing performance in Canada in 2017. On this occasion, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall at the time, were expected to watch respectfully as two women engaged in a traditional katajjaq — or a throat singing competition. Instead, they burst into giggles mid-performance.

Reports indicate that it's impossible to know why Charles and Camilla were laughing. Perhaps they were mocking the performers, or perhaps they were chatting about some other kind of private pleasantry. Either way, the couple's reaction was largely seen as inappropriate. After all, their main role is to represent the British government abroad, and respecting others is viewed as a huge part of that. Some royal fans even critiqued Charles and Camilla online, calling them "disrespectful" and encouraging them to do better next time.

There's a lot to be said about having such a public life. Camilla, Queen Consort, especially in her proximity to King Charles III, has been in the spotlight for decades, so the cameras really have captured her at her happiest and at her most miserable. 

The opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in 2018 captured what appeared to be a very down-in-the-dumps Duchess of Cornwall, thought to be "miserable" and "uninterested." If you don't believe us, you might take the word of body language expert, Judi James. The expert old the Daily Star that the event saw Camilla looking "anxious, reluctant and lacking in bounce." And she certainly appeared that way in photos from the event.

James even went as far as to compare Camilla to younger royals like Prince William and Princess Catherine. "Charles and Camilla appeared at times anxious and reluctant and lacking in any youthful bounce that could imply keenness," James said. "Unlike the current royals and the younger royals they tend to have the effect of making you worried rather than happier." Yikes, talk about awkward.

Here's a lighter awkward moment to add to the list. In 2018, King Charles III and Queen Camilla, then known as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, were on a trip to Northern Ireland, and arrived at Omagh to pay their respects to the victims of the 1998 bombing.

Camilla had an umbrella with her, protecting herself from a rather gray day. Here's where things got a bit sweet and a little awkward — Charles tried to greet his wife with a kiss when she joined him at the event, but had to crouch under the umbrella to do so. 

Quick kiss as Duchess of Cornwall arrives in #Omagh to joint Prince Charles on #RoyalVisitNI today.
More here: https://t.co/iI1ebuFU84 pic.twitter.com/i4apwGxnLH

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 13, 2018

What's even worse was that Charles was pretty much separated from his wife for the entire day due to this rather wide umbrella in question.

You don't have to be a fan of the royals to know they're not the most affectionate bunch. The truth about Princess Diana and King Charles III's marriage was obvious in their public appearances together. At their peak, people thought they were the picture of love and happiness — but if you look back at pictures, they seemed to barely acknowledge each other, let alone show any kind of physical affection. While things seem to be far rosier between Camilla, Queen Consort, and King Charles, PDA is still rare, so when a fan from Korea hugged Camilla during a walk around in Liverpool, she appeared shaken up. 

The hug came in 2019 when Camilla was visiting Liverpool. As she said hello to the crowd, Moonsun Kim, a big fan, embraced the duchess. "I was so excited, I've never seen a member of the royal family before," Kim said (via Hello!). "I was passing and heard the prince and his wife were coming and decided to stay. I hope I wasn't wrong to give her a hug." Camilla's body definitely looked pretty stiff during the hug, but Kim revealed that the duchess said, "Nice to meet you," after the brief embrace.

In 2019, Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, was spotted with Catherine, then-Duchess of Cambridge, and Queen Letizia of Spain. Just a couple of international royals gabbing, right? Wrong. Catherine was accused of intentionally ignoring Camilla during her conversation with Letizia, as the Duchess of Cornwall was pretty much just left in the background of a conversation between the two royals. 

In the caught-on-camera moment, Camilla can be spotted trying to engage in conversation and seemingly butt in when she got an opportunity — at one point, Camilla even said something to Catherine directly. But Catherine just carried on talking with Letizia like Camilla wasn't there. Some people took to social media to point out the Duchess of Cambridge's behavior, with one user writing that the video posted on X depicting the exchange was "awful" (via the Mirror).

It literally felt like the sky had fallen on the monarchy when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would be stepping back as senior royals. But that was just the beginning — their departure led to a rather public and very brutal feud between Harry and members of the royal family, particularly with Prince William and King Charles III. 

In 2020, not too long after the news dropped about Harry and Meghan giving up their roles, Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, attended the 40th anniversary of the Prospect Hospice Swindon. A reporter asked Camilla, "Will you miss Harry and Meghan?" as she was leaving the event, and that's when things got awkward. 

Watch Camilla's face closely as she answers the question: "Will you miss Harry & Meghan?"
The Duchess of Cornwall smiles, pauses, then says "Hmmm. Course!" 😳😳pic.twitter.com/CbPbb92bAL

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) January 20, 2020

Camilla paused, smiled at another attendee, and said, "Course," while walking away, as seen in a video shared to X. The whole thing was rather cringeworthy. 

Whether intentional or not, Queen Elizabeth II created a very awkward scenario with Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, in December 2020. Camilla joined the queen, then-Prince Charles, and other senior royals in one of their first public appearances together since the COVID-19 lockdowns. To the untrained eye, the event — at which people socially distanced — looked pretty normal, but body language expert Judi James explained there was a lot of unspoken tension between the monarch and Camilla. 

James told Express that Camilla stood in a very "awkward" stance, which was only heightened by the queen's apparent confidence. James also noted that Elizabeth spoke to the band that was playing, as well as her family members — with one exception. "The queen then actively chats to the band, engaging Charles in the conversation while Camilla stands back slightly, with her rigidly-placed arms suggesting an air of tension or awkwardness," James said. We wonder what was going on behind the scenes after the event ended.

Queen Camilla's relationship with Prince William is believed to be tense. After all, in Prince Harry's bombshell tell-all, "Spare," he claimed that William was vehemently against Camilla's romance with his father. Describing the moment when King Charles III told his sons that he wanted to be with Camilla, Harry recalled, "Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings. We recognized that he was finally going to be with the woman he loved, the woman he'd always loved." Despite this awkwardness, William had to rescue Camilla on at least one occasion.

In 2022, just days after Queen Elizabeth II died, Camilla attended King Charles III's Proclamation meeting. As she attempted to step onto the stage, she tripped and began to fall. In this moment, William stepped in and caught his stepmother in his arms. Although William clearly chose to do the human thing in this situation, it was still quite awkward. Given all the tension between William and Camilla, it is likely that the queen consort did not want to have to depend on him in such a public way. Matters were probably not helped by the fact that a TikTok video of the encounter praised William for helping Camilla "after she replaced his mother." The dramatization of this moment highlights Camilla's awkward role in royal life.