Wish you were here. A whole lot about the British royal family, their romances and marriages, but we don't hear so much about King Charles and Queen Camilla back in the old days fifty some years ago, when they were kids with a wicked crush. But their relationship was the last royal love affair in British history to get the thumbs down because the lady wasn't a virgin. I'm Patty Steele. Imagine having to prove to the nation you'd never had a lover if you wanted to get married. That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. A lot of us get really caught up in royal love stories. Seven hundred and fifty million people around the world got up in the US before dawn to watch Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer in nineteen eighty one, and depending on who you believe, the weddings of Prince William and Kate Middleton may have had close to two billion viewers, while Prince Harry and Megan Markle intrigued somewhere close to one point seven billion of us. But if you were the couple getting married, there were some restrictions in the past that don't exist today. It wasn't a rule on the books, but it was highly expected that the bride to be would be a virgin. In fact, before Diana married Prince Charles in nineteen eighty one, her family was asked to confirm her virginity. Really they asked your dad about that. The palace thinking was that a royal bride should appear pure. The fear was that any past relationships could come back to taint the princess or queen's reputation. They wanted to avoid tabloid's stories by ex boyfriends about how I shagged the Princess of Wales. Of course, the Charles Diana scandal changed that unwritten rule forever. Back to Charles and Camilla now. They first met at a polo match in nineteen seventy. He was smitten with her from the moment they met. Her first words to him as she introduced herself to the future king were my great grandmother was the mistress of your great great grandfather. I feel we have something in common. Ooh, sizzl sizzle. Insiders say he went after Camilla passionately, with elaborate love notes and late night phone chats. He loved the fact that she enjoyed country life as much as he did horses, hunting and gardening. They were a good match. Their early love affair lasted a couple of years, but she had a history. She had dated other men and was definitely not a virgin. Older royals saw that as discreditable and therefore she was not suitable. Wow. That nice. Then, in nineteen seventy two, Charles left England to serve in the Royal Navy. Camilla saw the writing on the wall and she didn't wait for him. She'd been dating Andrew Parker Bulls on and off since she was seventeen years old, so it was a safe choice. One royal historian says the number one rule before the looks or the breeding of a potential royal spouse was that she'd be a virgin first and foremost. It was a condition of marriage. A marriage between Charles and Camilla wouldn't have been possible in the seventies because she had a history and you didn't want a pass that hung about. Charles, knowing he'd be gone for at least eight months, thought she'd wait for him. A few months in he found out Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles were engaged. His heart was absolutely broken, but he was the future king and he had to find a wife. He actually dated a number of women over the years, including Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah Spencer. She was a little older than Diana. That didn't work out. That went south in nineteen seventy eight, when the pair took a ski trip to Switzerland and Sarah had lunch with two British journalists. She told him she didn't love the Prince and wouldn't marry anyone she didn't love, whether he were a dustman or the King of England. Charles had met Diana the year before and just remembered her as an amusing and attractive sixteen year old. At seventeen, Charles invited her to his thirtieth birthday party, and that's where things started to take off. She was tall, pretty and aristocratic, but she was also sweet and shy and very virginal, perfect in the eyes of the old royals. Everybody pushed him to marry her, but once he and Camilla reconciled, he was having another affair with her. Friends said Camilla was the only person he could talk to about anything. She was his best friend, his soulmate, and after the murder of his much loved great uncle by Ira terrorists, she became his lover again. But again he needed a wife, not just a lover, and even Camilla pushed him to marry Diana. He was attracted to Diana's innocence and sweetness and told himself that was enough. Once he proposed. The affair with Camilla ended, at least for a little while. After Charles and Diana's insane wedding, things started to go downhill really fast, like even during the honeymoon. Problem is, Diana found love letters between Charles and Camilla, as well as cuff links with two intertwined seas that Camilla had had made for him. Charles told Diana they were a gift from a friend, but she wasn't convinced. She later said she was overwhelmed with jealousy. By nineteen eighty six, they'd had two baby boys, but Charles and Diana's marriage was basically over and he was back with Camilla. Diana later told a biographer that she got in Camilla's face about it. She said, I know what's going on between you and Charles, and she said to me, You've got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men in the world falling in love with you, and you've got two beautiful children. What more do you want? She said? I told her, I want my husband. The marriage hung on, sort of. They finally separated in late nineteen ninety two, and then Camilla Gate happened. In January of ninety three. Phone chats between Charles and Camilla that had been taped a few years earlier while the pair were still together, were leaked to the press, including the moment when Charles told Camilla he wished he could be her tampon to live inside her. He said. The trouble is I need you several times a week. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles got a divorce in nineteen ninety five. Charles and Diana did the same a year later, and then Diana died in a car wreck the following year in Paris. One royal expert said all that misery could have been prevented if Charles had been a little bit more like his mother. The queen married the man she loved, despite some pushback. If Charles would have married Camilla from the start, everyone would have been much happier in the long run. Problem is, Prince Philip didn't have to prove he was a virgin. Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in nineteen ninety nine and finally got married in two thousand and five. So as heartbroken as we all were for the way the story played out for Diana, U, you do have to understand a little bit what Charles went through. On the upside, it changed the marriage rules for a future king forever. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.

Wish you were here. A whole lot about the British royal family, their romances and marriages, but we don't hear so much about King Charles and Queen Camilla back in the old days fifty some years ago, when they were kids with a wicked crush. But their relationship was the last royal love affair in British history to get the thumbs down because the lady wasn't a virgin. I'm Patty Steele. Imagine having to prove to the nation you'd never had a lover if you wanted to get married. That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. A lot of us get really caught up in royal love stories. Seven hundred and fifty million people around the world got up in the US before dawn to watch Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer in nineteen eighty one, and depending on who you believe, the weddings of Prince William and Kate Middleton may have had close to two billion viewers, while Prince Harry and Megan Markle intrigued somewhere close to one point seven billion of us. But if you were the couple getting married, there were some restrictions in the past that don't exist today. It wasn't a rule on the books, but it was highly expected that the bride to be would be a virgin. In fact, before Diana married Prince Charles in nineteen eighty one, her family was asked to confirm her virginity. Really they asked your dad about that. The palace thinking was that a royal bride should appear pure. The fear was that any past relationships could come back to taint the princess or queen's reputation. They wanted to avoid tabloid's stories by ex boyfriends about how I shagged the Princess of Wales. Of course, the Charles Diana scandal changed that unwritten rule forever. Back to Charles and Camilla now. They first met at a polo match in nineteen seventy. He was smitten with her from the moment they met. Her first words to him as she introduced herself to the future king were my great grandmother was the mistress of your great great grandfather. I feel we have something in common. Ooh, sizzl sizzle. Insiders say he went after Camilla passionately, with elaborate love notes and late night phone chats. He loved the fact that she enjoyed country life as much as he did horses, hunting and gardening. They were a good match. Their early love affair lasted a couple of years, but she had a history. She had dated other men and was definitely not a virgin. Older royals saw that as discreditable and therefore she was not suitable. Wow. That nice. Then, in nineteen seventy two, Charles left England to serve in the Royal Navy. Camilla saw the writing on the wall and she didn't wait for him. She'd been dating Andrew Parker Bulls on and off since she was seventeen years old, so it was a safe choice. One royal historian says the number one rule before the looks or the breeding of a potential royal spouse was that she'd be a virgin first and foremost. It was a condition of marriage. A marriage between Charles and Camilla wouldn't have been possible in the seventies because she had a history and you didn't want a pass that hung about. Charles, knowing he'd be gone for at least eight months, thought she'd wait for him. A few months in he found out Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles were engaged. His heart was absolutely broken, but he was the future king and he had to find a wife. He actually dated a number of women over the years, including Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah Spencer. She was a little older than Diana. That didn't work out. That went south in nineteen seventy eight, when the pair took a ski trip to Switzerland and Sarah had lunch with two British journalists. She told him she didn't love the Prince and wouldn't marry anyone she didn't love, whether he were a dustman or the King of England. Charles had met Diana the year before and just remembered her as an amusing and attractive sixteen year old. At seventeen, Charles invited her to his thirtieth birthday party, and that's where things started to take off. She was tall, pretty and aristocratic, but she was also sweet and shy and very virginal, perfect in the eyes of the old royals. Everybody pushed him to marry her, but once he and Camilla reconciled, he was having another affair with her. Friends said Camilla was the only person he could talk to about anything. She was his best friend, his soulmate, and after the murder of his much loved great uncle by Ira terrorists, she became his lover again. But again he needed a wife, not just a lover, and even Camilla pushed him to marry Diana. He was attracted to Diana's innocence and sweetness and told himself that was enough. Once he proposed. The affair with Camilla ended, at least for a little while. After Charles and Diana's insane wedding, things started to go downhill really fast, like even during the honeymoon. Problem is, Diana found love letters between Charles and Camilla, as well as cuff links with two intertwined seas that Camilla had had made for him. Charles told Diana they were a gift from a friend, but she wasn't convinced. She later said she was overwhelmed with jealousy. By nineteen eighty six, they'd had two baby boys, but Charles and Diana's marriage was basically over and he was back with Camilla. Diana later told a biographer that she got in Camilla's face about it. She said, I know what's going on between you and Charles, and she said to me, You've got everything you ever wanted. You've got all the men in the world falling in love with you, and you've got two beautiful children. What more do you want? She said? I told her, I want my husband. The marriage hung on, sort of. They finally separated in late nineteen ninety two, and then Camilla Gate happened. In January of ninety three. Phone chats between Charles and Camilla that had been taped a few years earlier while the pair were still together, were leaked to the press, including the moment when Charles told Camilla he wished he could be her tampon to live inside her. He said. The trouble is I need you several times a week. Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles got a divorce in nineteen ninety five. Charles and Diana did the same a year later, and then Diana died in a car wreck the following year in Paris. One royal expert said all that misery could have been prevented if Charles had been a little bit more like his mother. The queen married the man she loved, despite some pushback. If Charles would have married Camilla from the start, everyone would have been much happier in the long run. Problem is, Prince Philip didn't have to prove he was a virgin. Charles and Camilla went public with their relationship in nineteen ninety nine and finally got married in two thousand and five. So as heartbroken as we all were for the way the story played out for Diana, U, you do have to understand a little bit what Charles went through. On the upside, it changed the marriage rules for a future king forever. Hope you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.