Yep, *that* lunch meeting between Princess Diana and now-Queen Camilla Parker Bowles at a restaurant called Ménage à Trois. It was… simply next-level.
Princess Diana once confronted Queen Consort Camilla at a party about her affair with Charles in what she later described as the “bravest moment of her marriage”.
Aside from the lovable Dame Judi Dench, attendees included two men who have launched attacks against Meghan Markle: Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson.
Did Camilla and Diana really meet for lunch? According to royal writer Andrew Morton, the two women did in fact meet for lunch prior to the royal wedding.
Diana and Camilla might have never had a close friendship, but when Charles and Diana started dating the pair were friendly with each other. At the time Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles and had two children with him.
Camilla may have been at Diana's wedding but she was not welcome at her funeral, which was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world. Still, to many her absence echoed around the ancient hall. The Queen made it clear to Charles that he could not take his paramour to the service.
As we see in The Crown, royal biographer Penny Juror said that Camilla herself approved of Diana and thought the then 19-year-old was "sweet and funny," and she was great with her kids.
Naturally, being the nosy parkers that we are, we've done a bit of digging... and it seems that royal biographer, Penny Junor, has confirmed that Charles did indeed give Camilla a bracelet with a 'F' and an 'G' inscribed on it.
It's rumored that Camilla's father planted a fake Camilla-Andrew engagement notice in The Times, apparently forcing Andrew's hand. Literally. Prince Charles returned home to news of Camilla and Andrew's engagement. According to Bedell Smith, that fake engagement announcement explains why Charles didn't marry Camilla.
In 1991, Diana revealed to biographer Andrew Morton that at her wedding, she looked for Camilla in the congregation. She revealed (per Good Housekeeping), "I knew she was in there, of course. I looked for her." She continued, "So walking down the aisle, I spotted Camilla, pale gray, veiled pillbox hat."
The Queen Consort has come under fierce criticism after hosting a lunch reportedly attended by two of her daughter-in-law's most vocal critics, Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson.
Writer Tom Bower claims Camilla started calling Meghan "that minx" after the couple left England to live in Montecito, California. The word minx can be used to describe a "bold, flirtatious or scheming woman".
Camilla's children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, were pictured arriving at the Abbey ready to pay their respects to the late monarch. It is the first time they have been photographed publicly since King Charles aceded to the throne following his mother's death on 8 September.
Yet the late Princess is said to have never fully reconciled with Camilla, who was criticised by the press and Diana's supporters – especially when the beloved royal was tragically killed in the famous 1997 car accident.
Camilla Originally Wanted to Be “Princess Consort”
Apparently, this decision was made partly out of respect to Princess Diana—which is also why Camilla doesn't use the title Princess of Wales and instead goes by Duchess of Cornwall.
Diana remembered Camilla saying that she had “everything she could ever want” and “all the men in the world.” When asked what more she could want, Diana told the Camilla, “I want my husband.” Oddly enough, Diana apologized to Camilla for being in the way of her and Charles, but she was still outraged.
"One of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn't love her," Thornton said. "I think Charles didn't want to go into the wedding on a false premise. He wanted to square it with her, and it was devastating for Diana."
According to the BBC, it was the Queen's stamp of approval. Five years later, Charles and Camilla were engaged after the Queen gave them her blessing. However, Queen Elizabeth didn't attend the legal ceremony, but she did make an appearance at a secondary blessing, which she hosted at St. George's Chapel.
Talking about King Charles and Princess Diana, Khan said: "Their marriage was essentially arranged. "It used to happen here, even with our Royal Family. "I know it can often seem like a really alien concept but most marriages even in the world today are arranged if you look at the global population.
Charles Didn't Gift Camilla The Same Pearls As Diana In Spencer, Diana is torn up after realizing the pearl necklace Charles gave her for Christmas is the same set he bestowed upon his mistress Camilla. By 1992 Diana and Charles were officially separated, and in 1996 they divorced.
“[Charles and Camilla] also have other nicknames for each other, including 'darling' and 'mehbooba,'” Rae said.
Though it seems almost comically old fashioned now, the fact that Camilla had a dating history was a major strike against her. "The conventions of the time called for the heir to the British throne to marry a woman who at least appeared to be virginal," writes Bedell Smith.
Despite Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' dating history, she still made the royal wedding's guest list — likely due to her husband Andrew Parker Bowles' role as the Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
“The Royals were thought to have preferred an innocent girl to marry Prince Charles,” the outlet further shared, and thus Princess Diana was secured for marriage with the future King Charles.
“It was horrid,” Camilla admitted in a rare interview, of the media scrutiny that imprisoned her in her home after the shocking death of Diana, Princess of Wales. “I wouldn't want to put my worst enemy through it.”