Duchess Camilla and Prince Charles tied the knot on 9 April 2005, but the ceremony almost didn’t go ahead, as the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles was so sick at the time.
According to Vanity Fair, Duchess Camilla was suffering from a serious bout of sinusitis, which meant her friends were worried she wouldn’t be well enough to walk down the aisle
Lucia Santa Cruz, the woman who introduced the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles and Camilla to each other said: “She was really ill, stressed.
“She literally couldn’t get out of bed.”
In line with wedding tradition, the Duchess had stayed apart from Prince Charles the night before their nuptials, instead of spending it with her sister Annabel Eliot, and her daughter, Laura at Clarence House, Charles and Camilla’s main home in London. It was reportedly only for Annabel dressing Camilla herself, that she managed to muster up the energy to walk down the aisle and say, ‘I do’.
Annabel said: “Ok, that’s all right. I’m going to do it for you. I’m going to get you into your clothes.”
Sure enough, Camilla managed to pull it together, and you’d know no different from the photos – she looked truly glowing.
The pair had a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, followed by a marriage blessing at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Anne, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, the Queen and the late Prince Philip all attended the wedding.
Camilla’s children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Parker Bowles were also there to celebrate, as well as her father, Major Bruce Shand.
Several photos were taken during the day, and the family were clearly in high spirits.
