The Queen reportedly called Camilla Parker Bowles a “much maligned woman” after she became a “prisoner in her own home” following her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles

The late Queen reportedly felt sorry for Camilla Parker Bowles post-divorce, labelling her “a much maligned woman”, according to a Royal biographer and expert.

Camilla caught the-then Prince Charles’s eye back in 1970, with the pair hitting it off “immediately”, but they parted ways just a year on.

The now Duchess of Cornwall tied the knot with Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, leaving Charles heartbroken, before he entered into what was dubbed the ‘marriage of the century’ with Princess Diana in 1981.

But the plot thickened when in January 1993, intimate phone conversations between Prince Charles and Camilla were exposed, featuring both saucy innuendos and bold proclamations of affection.

Following Camilla and Andrew’s divorce announcement in 1995, Diana and Charles’s marriage also crumbled a year later, creating a “very unpleasant” chapter for Camilla, as per Royal commentator and writer Ingrid Seward, reports the Express.

In the 2023 documentary Queen Camilla : Defiant, Ms Seward reveals that post-divorce, Camilla was virtually a “prisoner” in her abode, earning compassion from the late Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 2022 – Platinum Pageant ( Image: (Image: Getty))
She said: ”Camila was in a very, very unpleasant situation. She was vilified, she was absolutely hated by everyone. I mean actually the Queen felt very sorry for her. She called her that much maligned woman.

“They’ve known the Parker Bowles’ all their life. Andrew’s father was a great friend of the Queen Mother and they were all acquaintances.

“So the Queen felt desperately sad for Camilla and it was a very, very, very difficult time for her especially after Diana died, then she was even more of a prisoner.”

Queen Camilla has been hailed as the linchpin “holding the Royal Family together” amid a tumultuous 2024. With both Princess Kate and King Charles battling cancer, and Prince William devoted to caring for his wife and children, Camilla has stepped up as one of the most diligent royals

Yet, in the documentary, Ms Seward revealed that Camilla “never wanted to be Queen” and “certainly didn’t envisage such a busy life”.

She explained: “She wasn’t brought up to it. She’s not used to sort of running down corridors at 20mph and working every hour of the day.

“Camilla is used to a more leisurely country life. But the Queen saw the change in Camilla and saw her dedication to duty and she also saw her dedication to Charles because she so helps him.”