The Gist
Queen Camilla needed a little liquid courage when she met Prince William for the first time.
Their introduction came as a surprise when William arrived home early from Eton College.
Camilla wanted to leave, but King Charles said she and William should “just get on with it.”
When Queen Camilla met Prince William for the first time, she needed a little liquid courage. That’s because the introduction came as a surprise, catching Camilla off guard, according to royal author Penny Junor.
Junor, who wrote Queen Consort: The Life of Queen Camilla, revealed it all unfolded in June 1998 when William returned home from Eton College a bit earlier than expected, per The Mirror. When Camilla suggested she leave to avoid making William—who had lost his mother, Princess Diana, just a few months earlier—uncomfortable, King Charles called her concern “ridiculous.” Charles told Camilla that she and William should “just get on with it” and that the young royal would meet them at the York House in London upon his return.
Queen Camilla and Prince William at the annual Remembrance Sunday service in 2006.
Credit: Getty
According to The Mirror, Camilla was “decidedly anxious” and about 30 minutes into their meeting, she quipped, “I need a gin and tonic.”
The moment came at a pivotal time, as Charles and Camilla prepared to make Camilla’s relationship with William and Prince Harry public, PR expert Mark Bolland told Junor, per The Mirror. That wasn’t an easy task either, with Bond saying it was “something awkward” initially. “It was difficult for them; it was a natural thing. You want your mum, you don’t want her, and she had her own family,” he said. “To be fair to Camilla, she never tried to be mummy, but she was the ‘other woman’ and she was there taking daddy’s time.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla on their wedding day in April 2005 with Prince Harry, Prince William and Camilla’s children Laura Parker Bowles and Tom Parker Bowles.
Credit: Getty
Today, Camilla and William share a warm bond. The two grew understandably closer amid Kate Middleton and Charles’s cancer treatments. “Recent events have obviously brought William and Camilla much closer,” royal expert Jennie Bond told OK! in March 2024. “They have been left, almost literally, nursing the Crown while the King and the Princess recover. Their teams will be working more closely to coordinate diaries and cover the engagements that have been planned, and Camilla and William are bound to have been in much closer regular contact.”
Kate Middleton, Prince William, Queen Camilla, and King Charles at the ‘No Time to Die’ premiere in September 2021.
Credit: Getty
Kate announced that her cancer is in remission in January 2025. Charles, for his part, is still receiving treatment—but his condition has improved. The royals have not disclosed the type of cancer.
Prince William, King Charles, and Queen Camilla at the Thistle Service at St. Giles’ Cathedral on July 1.
Credit: Getty
Most recently, Camilla and William attended a ceremonial event together on what would have been Princess Diana’s 65th birthday. They were spotted, alongside Charles, at the 2026 Thistle Service at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburg, Scotland on July 1. William—known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland—was there for the country’s annual Royal Week. The service honors the Order of the Thistle, which is Scotland’s highest and most ancient order of chivalry. The future king, as well as Camilla and Charles, were photographed in traditional green velvet ceremonial robes at the event
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