Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – Levin Angela (2022)

This biography of Camilla, Queen Consort, reveals how she transformed her role and established herself as one of the key members of the royal family. For many years, Camilla was portrayed negatively and blamed by the public for the breakdown of the marriage between Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Initially, the Queen refused to see or speak to her, but after the death of Prince Philip, Camilla became one of the Queen’s closest companions. Her confidence in Camilla, and the transformation she saw in Prince Charles after their wedding, led the Queen to announce on the first day of her Platinum Jubilee year that she wanted Camilla to be Queen Consort rather than the demeaning Princess Consort proposed in 2005. Angela Levin traces Camilla’s difficult journey towards acceptance by the royal family and examines how she coped with her brutal portrayal in Netflix’s The Crown. The public has witnessed her considerable contribution to helping those in need, especially during Covid. Levin has spoken to many of the Duchess’s long-term friends, staff members, and executives from the numerous charities of which Camilla is patron. She explains why Camilla focuses on previously taboo subjects such as domestic violence and rape. Above all, Levin tells the story of how Camilla changed from a fun-loving young woman into one of the hardest-working senior royals. She has retained her mischievous sense of humour, becoming a role model for older women and an inspiration to younger ones. This is both an extraordinary love story and a fascinating portrait of an increasingly confident Queen Consort, offering insight into the royal family.