King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s relationship has long been the subject of public scrutiny, having begun while both were married to other people.
But 21 years into their marriage, the couple appears to have found an unconventional routine that works for them.
On Tuesday, the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English revealed that one reason Charles and Camilla’s relationship has endured is surprisingly simple: spending weekends apart.
“They live quite independent lives, and I don’t think it affects their relationship at all,” English said on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast.
Instead, King Charles, 77, often retreats to Highgrove House, his country estate in Gloucestershire, where he “potters around his gardens” and enjoys quiet hobbies.
King Charles, pictured in 2019 at Highgrove House in Tetbury, England. / Chris Jackson / Getty ImagGetty Images For Clare
Queen Camilla, 79, meanwhile, typically spends time at Ray Mill House, the Wiltshire home she bought after her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles in 1995.
English said the arrangement fits the couple’s lifestyle: “They’ve been married for a long time now, but they’ve also lived apart for long periods of their lives, so it’s something they’re quite used to.”
English explained that, in addition to sharing a home as a couple, Charles and Camilla work closely together as senior royals, which comes with the expected “pressures.”
According to the BBC, the couple first met at a polo match in 1970, and dated for some months before calling it quits and marrying other people.
Charles kisses Diana’s hand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 29, 1981. / Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
Charles married the late Princess Diana (née Spencer) in 1981, while Camilla (née Shand) wed Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973.
Camilla and Charles rekindled their romance in 1986, while both were still married.
Camilla Shand marries Major Andrew Parker-Bowles at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, on July 4, 1973. / Wood / Getty Images
“I can understand why it looks a little odd to people,” English said of the weekends spent apart. “But it actually works for them.”
Ray Mill House has remained an important retreat for Camilla ever since she married the future king in 2005.
Queen Camilla in July 2025 at the Ray Mill House. / The Royal Family Instagram
At the time, there were questions about whether she would keep the property because maintaining security at another residence would add costs.
But Camilla was determined to hold onto it, according to English.
King Charles and Queen Camilla married in a civil ceremony in 2005. Pictured here with their children: Prince Harry and Prince William from King Charles’s previous marriage, and Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles from Queen Camilla’s. / Hugo Bernand/Anwar Hussein Collection via Getty Images
The home has become a relaxed gathering place for her children, grandchildren, and dogs—far removed from the formality of royal residences.
Fellow royal commentator Robert Hardman said on the podcast that the property gives Camilla’s family a chance to spend time together without the palace protocols.
“Her grandchildren need to have somewhere that they feel is theirs, where they can run around,” he said.
King Charles has two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, with the late Princess Diana, and five grandchildren.
Prince William, 44, has three children with his wife, Princess Catherine: George, 13, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, 8. Prince Harry, 41, shares his two children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, with his wife, Meghan Markle.
Prince William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in Glasgow, Scotland on Aug. 1, 2026. / Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
Queen Camilla, in turn, had two children from her marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles.
Her eldest is cookbook author Tom Parker Bowles, 51, who has two children: Lola, 18, and Freddy, 16, from his previous marriage to Sara Buys.
Camilla’s youngest is art curator Laura Lopes, 48, who has a daughter, Eliza, 18, and twins Gus and Louis, 16, with her husband, Harry Lopes.
“When they’re at granny’s house, it’s granny’s house,” Hardman said of Queen Camilla’s 10 grandchildren. “And everyone can put on jeans and run around without having to call anybody ma’am or royal highness or anything else. It’s a sort of decompression, I think.”
King Charles III and Queen Camilla pictured at the Royal Albert Hall, celebrating the 50th anniversary of The King’s Trust in London on May 11, 2026. / Aaron Chown/Pool via Reuters
Even when the couple returns from official royal tours together, English said they often head in separate directions before reuniting for work the following week.
“They’ll give each other a kiss, and one will go after one, and one will go after the other,” she said. “It just works for them, and I’ve learned not to judge at all.”